33 replies to this topic

[Mumbles]

I don't mean to go off topic, but all this talk about volume calculations and factors and "math(s) things" really hurts my head/ confuses the ###### out of me/ makes me wish I had private schooling from some British teacher that would actually explain it to me and not tell me "you better figure it out because we are moving on next class" like my high school teachers did.

[Mohammad]

Mumbles, on 29 August 2012 - 02:20 PM, said:

I don't mean to go off topic, but all this talk about volume calculations and factors and "math(s) things" really hurts my head/ confuses the ###### out of me/ makes me wish I had private schooling from some British teacher that would actually explain it to me and not tell me "you better figure it out because we are moving on next class" like my high school teachers did.

Actually what you need is an Indian tutor.

[pyruvate]

Mumbles, on 29 August 2012 - 02:20 PM, said:

I don't mean to go off topic, but all this talk about volume calculations and factors and "math(s) things" really hurts my head/ confuses the ###### out of me/ makes me wish I had private schooling from some British teacher that would actually explain it to me and not tell me "you better figure it out because we are moving on next class" like my high school teachers did.

Volume of a cylinder = pi * r^2 * h

Weight is... weight.

What is confusing?

[Mohammad]

^See what I mean? And he's not even a teacher Mumbles.

[pyruvate]

Mohammad, on 29 August 2012 - 02:26 PM, said:

Actually what you need is an Indian tutor.

Trigonometry was ###### horribly taught in India.  I wasn't able to catch up with Physics for a while because of it, you need to visualize and not just ###### memorize

Mohammad, on 29 August 2012 - 02:27 PM, said:

^See what I mean? And he's not even a teacher Mumbles.

It just might be his afternoon slump, it was late at night when I got my volume wrong by orders of magnitude

Edited by pyruvate, 29 August 2012 - 02:29 PM.

[Chief_Bean]

Mumbles, on 29 August 2012 - 02:20 PM, said:

I don't mean to go off topic, but all this talk about volume calculations and factors and "math(s) things" really hurts my head/ confuses the ###### out of me/ makes me wish I had private schooling from some British teacher that would actually explain it to me and not tell me "you better figure it out because we are moving on next class" like my high school teachers did.

It's all very simple...probably just stuff you've forgotten?

Take a simpler example: If I have a 100L capacity box, it should be pretty clear that I can fit 100 1L cartons into the box (100/1 = 100), or 50 2L cartons (100/2 = 50), etc., you get the idea.

Now, we can find online that a nickel has a volume of 688.98 cubic mm, and an A380F cargo hold a maximum capacity of 1,134 cubic m. So, as $1bn = 20bn nickels, 20bn nickels (if packed so there is no space between them) occupy a volume of 20,000,000,000*688.98 cubic mm (number of nickels*volume of one nickel) = 13,779.6 cubic metres. So, if we divide that figure by the cargo hold capacity of an A380F, we can see that it would take 14 A380Fs to fit all those nickels in.

However, in real life, nickels would not fit into a cargo hold leaving no space between them; there will always be air gaps, especially as one can't pack circles together, so one would need a container bigger than 13,779.6 cubic metres. As for the weight, I just took the weight of 20 bn nickels and divided by the max cargo weight of an A380F.

[Mumbles]

pyruvate, on 29 August 2012 - 02:26 PM, said:

Volume of a cylinder = pi * r^2 * h

Weight is... weight.

What is confusing?

I know Pi, no idea what the rest of that is.

Chief_Bean, on 29 August 2012 - 02:42 PM, said:

It's all very simple...probably just stuff you've forgotten?

Take a simpler example: If I have a 100L capacity box, it should be pretty clear that I can fit 100 1L cartons into the box (100/1 = 100), or 50 2L cartons (100/2 = 50), etc., you get the idea.

Now, we can find online that a nickel has a volume of 688.98 cubic mm, and an A380F cargo hold a maximum capacity of 1,134 cubic m. So, as $1bn = 20bn nickels, 20bn nickels (if packed so there is no space between them) occupy a volume of 20,000,000,000*688.98 cubic mm (number of nickels*volume of one nickel) = 13,779.6 cubic metres. So, if we divide that figure by the cargo hold capacity of an A380F, we can see that it would take 14 A380Fs to fit all those nickels in.

However, in real life, nickels would not fit into a cargo hold leaving no space between them; there will always be air gaps, especially as one can't pack circles together, so one would need a container bigger than 13,779.6 cubic metres. As for the weight, I just took the weight of 20 bn nickels and divided by the max cargo weight of an A380F.

Nope, I never forgot it because I never knew it. In high school we would spend a day, two days if we were lucky, on a subject then it was followed up with a test. When I would tell my teachers "I don't understand how to do this" they would just tell me to look in the book (which made no sense and was several years old) and figure it out because we were "moving on next class". Half the time I would get the general idea of the subject, half the time I would only confuse my self worse. Maybe I'm just no good at math, I don't know...

Your post made more sense to me than anything I was taught in any of my high school math classes.

[Chief_Bean]

Mumbles, on 29 August 2012 - 04:54 PM, said:

I know Pi, no idea what the rest of that is.


Nope, I never forgot it because I never knew it. In high school we would spend a day, two days if we were lucky, on a subject then it was followed up with a test. When I would tell my teachers "I don't understand how to do this" they would just tell me to look in the book (which made no sense and was several years old) and figure it out because we were "moving on next class". Half the time I would get the general idea of the subject, half the time I would only confuse my self worse. Maybe I'm just no good at math, I don't know...

Your post made more sense to me than anything I was taught in any of my high school math classes.

What pryuvate mentions is the formula for the volume of a cylinder: π*(r^2)*h, where r is the radius of the cross-sectional circle, and h is the height of the cylinder. It makes intuitive sense since the formula for the area of a circle is π*(r^2), and a cylinder is effectively...a lot of circles (if you want to think of them as flat, 2D objects, think disks) stacked on top of each other to a height of h.

And thanks...I worry about my ability to articulate even simple mathematical concepts, so that's some relief! It's a shame that teaching of maths is often so poor (there's a multitude of reasons), but couple that with a general unwillingness to learn or enjoy it, and it's a recipe for disaster!

[pyruvate]

Chief_Bean, on 29 August 2012 - 05:01 PM, said:

What pryuvate mentions is the formula for the volume of a cylinder: π*(r^2)*h, where r is the radius of the cross-sectional circle, and h is the height of the cylinder. It makes intuitive sense since the formula for the area of a circle is π*(r^2), and a cylinder is effectively...a lot of circles (if you want to think of them as flat, 2D objects, think disks) stacked on top of each other to a height of h.

Reminded me of integration applications to 3D figures.  Need to review that stuff before Physical Chemistry gets crazy in the Winter semester, looking forward to Schrodigner's equations.  Not looking forward to the exams.

[SwitchFX]

Samsung is going to appeal the decision. The jury didn't even understand what they were voting for. Apple's lawyers are less than pleased.

[_NW_]

Mumbles, on 29 August 2012 - 04:54 PM, said:

I know Pi, no idea what the rest of that is.

I know what it all is..   I'm really surprised I could understand it, then again, it's a simple formula.

I feel smarter now though =)

[Chief_Bean]

pyruvate: You beat the front page of reddit to it

[SwitchFX]

Screw Reddit, I saw it in the news.

[pyruvate]

SwitchFX, on 31 August 2012 - 06:51 PM, said:

Screw Reddit, I saw it in the news.

You mean like TV News?