Jedo's School Help Thread

[Jedo the Jedi]

Well, the nutshell meant that there was fluff ahead of the question. I couldn't remember all of this fluff, hence the "nutshell" comment.

Before I go on, notice that I said my teacher "always says this". That means that he didn't say it on this occasion, because I didn't voice my opinions in class. It was just what he would have said, had I done that. Thanks for getting that wrong, Guest.

extro, I was meaning to say that the question made it seem like beauty had nothing to do with art's purpose. It made it seem like artists only wanted to convey a meaning, not beauty. Perhaps I interpreted it wrong. Though I do see what you mean.

True that beauty is a function/purpose, but that is far from what this prompt was refering to. Maybe I misinterpreted it, as I mentioned. It still struck me as very wrong.

Btw, I did develop my own thoughts on the subject, Guest. Try not to act all superior, you prat.

[Courk]

I think sometimes art is usually made for beauty and sometimes for function. Ideally, to me, it does both. Also, sometimes art isn't made for beauty. Soem things I've drawn/painted were not for beauty.

Examples:
Strictly beauty: something like the Mona Lisa
Strictly function: an advertisement. (Not the best example - obviously an ad shouldn't be repulsive, but it's main purpose is function)
Beauty and function: The Mexican Revolution by Rivera. Tells the history of Mexico, and is also beautiful
Neither: That self-portrait I had to do using monochromatic blue.

[Jedo the Jedi]

That had crossed my mind as well, Courk. Thanks for putting it in an easily understood manner.

As for the Mona Lisa being "just for beauty", I think da Vinci always had a deeper meaning in his paintings. I know that may be Da-Vinci-Code-esque, but most of his stuff did have a hidden meaning, IMO. Good examples though.

[Lucky Wizard]

Courk:

*checks thesaurus, imagines how each of the words listed might be used*

Does "parallels" work?

And I've heard of some examples of functional artwork recently, but can't think what it was offhand.

[ZutAlors!]

Furniture, I would think, would be pretty close to purely functional artwork. An Eames chair (here's a pic) might be an example, or mission furniture (couple pics here of Stickley and Roycroft furniture) where simple, functional design and emphasis on construction techniques results in a beautiful piece. Very old handmade furniture is often beautiful, even those pieces that are nearly devoid of decoration. The Art Institute of Chicago has a big section devoted entirely to furniture -- some of it is very decoratice of course, but some of it is very plain, very functional, and beautiful nonetheless.

[Jedo the Jedi]

This is just something I came across, but I thought I'd post it in here.

[Samadhi]

All right triangles follow the formula a ² + b ² = c ²
And all triangles that follow that formula are right triangles.
So if true then:
(2n) ² + (n ² -1) ² = (n ² + 1) ²
.
4n ² + n ⁴ - 2n ² + 1 = n ⁴ +2n ² + 1

Which is equal, so it's true.

[Lucky Wizard]

And a counterexample for the converse:

If the converse is true, all Pythagorean triples will have a pair of numbers differing by two. Thus we simply have to find one that doesn't have such a pair, such as 7,24,25.

By the way, math software packages were mentioned earlier in the thread; what recommendations do people have?

[guest_austinap]

I would highly recommend Mathematica, and second to that MATLAB. Please, dont get Maple.

[Quagmire]

necro'd

This question on our assignment is absolutely boggling me. Here:

The heating coil of a hot water heater has a resistance of 20 ohms and operates at 210 V. How long of a time is required to raise the temperature of 200 kg of water from 15 degrees Celsius to 80 degrees celsius?

[Dread Pirate Westley]

That would be a simple question if we knew how much heat was lost to the surroundings.

If you want to get lazy and assume a closed system, it may be useful for you to remember that 1 watt=1 Joule/second.
_________________
The sooner you accept one simple truth, the sooner we can all get along with our lives.

I'm right.

[Quagmire]

That's assumed in the problem; that it's a closed system.

[ZutAlors!]

Did you figure it out? If not:

1) Ohms and volts can be used to calculate power consumption in Watts.

2) Watts (power) is Joules/sec (energy per second).

3) It takes a very specific amount of energy to raise the temperature of one gram of water one degree Celcius.

4) So how much energy does it take to raise 200 kilograms of water 65 degrees?

5) And at the energy consumption rate you calculated above, how long would it take to supply this amount of energy?

[austinap]

even more specific (on the ohms and volts thing...)

V = iR (i = current in amps, R = resistance in ohms, v = voltage in volts)
P = i(R^2)

so... you can find the current in the coil, then the power dissipated by the coil, and then how much total energy is needed to heat up the water. Solve for x.

[Lucky Wizard]

Except that should be P=R(i^2).

But yeah, ZutAlors and austinap have the steps right.

[austinap]

You're right, sorry about that. It was a long day.

[Quagmire]

Thanks! I was having trouble relating resistances/electricity to energy loss/temperatures.

Got it right, too.

[Jedo the Jedi]

Well, it's that time of year again. Jedo is back in school as a Senior, and he is pumped! Unfortunately, there is the small matter of which college will he attend after high school.

Okay, so my dilemma is that I don't know that many colleges. I know that I would like to eventually become a film director, but that's a long, hard road and I will have to start small. I was thinking being a theatre director first, or being on a camera crew. This doesn't really matter. What matters is what colleges offer programs centered around this sort of thing. I know that NYU does, and that is where I would love to go, but I can't depend on just one college only for it not to work out.

If you have any suggestions about colleges for me, please post them here. If you have any tips regarding scholarships (which ones, how much, when to apply), please let me know. Thanks for all your help!

[Quailman]

You live in Texas, don't you? Have you considered Texas College.

[Jedo the Jedi]

I'm not African American. Does that present a problem?

Actually, I would prefer to go somewhere besides Texas, even though I will probably have out-of-state tuition. I've just lived here all my life and I'm ready for a change. Thanks for the link though, I think.

[Courk]

Are you looking for something like this?

No, no he's not.

[Courk]

http://161.58.124.223/newmembers.htm

It has some schools lsited.

[Jedo the Jedi]

Florida State University looks promising, but I wouldn't be able to have a job if I joined their film school. The workload is literally 13 hours per day and total film-oriented work on the weekends. There is no time for a job, even part-time. Sounds like my kind of school, if I can get enough scholarships.

[Bicho the Inhaler]

Centre College in Danville, Kentucky reputedly has a great arts program, including theatre. I've been there; it's a nice campus, though not dazzling. I think they give scholarships, but I don't know much about it.

[EEEM]

[Dread Pirate Westley]

Don't let her throw things at you, though.

[GH]

I have a friend who is an aspiring stage manager. She just graduated from the University of Northern Colorado, and she tells me that it's an outstanding school for theatre-y type stuff. I wouldn't have a clue how you tell, or how it translates to film work, but she could have gone just about anywhere and chose Greeley.

[doormouse11]

[EEEM]

Sorry, Liz, didn't mean to offend. I have not real grounds other than the creepy feelings he gives me and very innapropriate comments to us. And also how he happened to wander into dressing rooms at inopportune times, but that coule be coincidence I guess. I'm not saying he doesn't do good things and he certainly was more involved and helpful in many ways than other teachers. He just gives me the heeby jeebies.

[doormouse11]

Don't worry - not at all offended - just concerned. gosh, what an awkward topic. heh

[Jedo the Jedi]

Alright, I have a tutoring class where I learn how to tutor (go figure), then I try to use it in my tutoring job. Well, we took a 5th grade math assessment the other day, and I disagree with one question.

It gave a chart that looked like the following:

[groza528]

No.
The question didn't say anything about the four setions of the spinner being equal size. It says nothing about the size at all, so the only knowledge we have is "based on the results," which was specifically stated in the problem. Based on the results, they came up 4 times out of 18, whih is 2/9.

[extro...]

But then by the same reasoning, if the chart were:

[groza528]

I didn't say the probability was absolutely 2/9; I said that based on existing data the probability is 2/9. Likewise, in your example, the probability based on the statistics of hitting an apple is indeed 1. To the best of our knowledge, it's the only thing on the spinner. The other rows in the chart seem to imply otherwise, but don't offer conclusive proof.
At the very least, there's certainly not enough information to suggest 1/4.

[MatthewV]

4/18 is a better answer if you ask me.

[Dread Pirate Westley]

18 spins isn't enough to get any really useful statistical information about the expected results for the spinner. Spin it another 180 times or so, then we'll be getting somewhere.

[Jedo the Jedi]

groza, that makes sense, I suppose. At least I understand now why it said 'based on the results.'

The next thing to raise would be the fact that probability doesn't always mean that it will happen a certain way. On a spinner with four equal-sized sections, it could always land on one specific square just by chance thereby throwing the probability out the window. [/random thought]

[old grey mare]

Actually, the probability does not go out the window. Don't forget there is a distinction between the actual probability of an event occuring and the estimation of that probability based on observed results. A fair coin will come up heads with an actual probability of exactly 1/2. Always. If you toss the fair coin 10 times and it comes up heads 7 times then the estimated probability is 7/10. There is no contradiction there. The difference in the numbers is just due to the limitation of statistical inference.

As I read the original problem statement (post 151) I think it is phrased badly. It should say "based on the results, estimate the probability that the spinner will land on apple"

[MatthewV]

I would say there is a pretty high chance that the spinner has four equal sized sections based on human nature and the given results. Luckily the question really isn't about predicting the size of each chunk.

[Jedo the Jedi]

Alright, this poetry section of my english class is killing me. I haven't really had that much exposure to different types of poetry, and that makes the assignments that much harder. There's all kinds of poems that I have to read and interpret and analyze and blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, what is equally difficult is writing poems. I am a very analytical and I like symmetry, so it is hard for me to not write rhyming, metered poems. I need to try some free verse and stuff, but it goes against everything in me. Does anyone have some advice to help me get over this block?