Recent content by Acid92

"Human-like" intelligence, and I think this is most usefully defined in the evolutionary-biological sense as the ability to solve novel problems (as opposed to merely recurring ones) in the organisms environment via "learning" (see article below) -or to put it another way, take most species out...

Spivak and Apostol are generally regarded to be around the same level in difficulty and rigour but most people seem to prefer Spivak for its style (Ive only ever used Spivak so I can't comment on Apostol but Spivak was definitely among the best texts I've ever done). Trust me, you won't be able...

Yes those are more or less the essential core of undergrad Physics. I am currently a Mathematics and Physics undergrad at UCL and we basically only do the core Physics modules and modules from the Math department instead of laboratory / Physics options and as far as I am aware, most people in my...

My fault, the only Chemist I personally know did her undergrad at KCL and definitely does not have the background needed for Physics but I guess there's the difference between KCL and Oxford. However, you seem to definitely have the Mathematical background needed for pretty much all of undergrad...

Youre still in high school and have had no exposure to undergrad Maths by the looks of it, I would not recommend jumping straight into real analysis or abstract algebra. Get "Numbers and Proofs" by Allenby, this is a gem of a book written to help people transition from school/informal to...

Two questions first: how are you at Maths and how much Maths do you know? This is absolutely fundamental because it is the most important difference between Physics and Chemistry or Biology. Quantum Chemistry, for example, is not the same as Quantum Mechanics even disregarding the content...

Refer to the second diagram on this website http://electron6.phys.utk.edu/optics421/modules/m5/Interferometers.htm Using monochromatic light at first, you produce an interference pattern using the Michelson interferometer. If you set the relative tilt of the mirrors so that they are...

I am planning on asking my tutor/professors if it is possible to take optional courses, the problem is that all my Math/Physics courses are compulsory so I won't be able to do much optional things anyways. I realize that I won't be creating real world software any time soon but I still want to...

Hey guys I need some advice: I am a Math/Physics freshman whos pretty much a noob to programming in general; I have some experience with Fortran (taught as part of laboratory) and Python (self taught) but only in the context of elementary numerical methods / scientific computing. I have...

I was going to start a separate thread but thought Id post here instead as my issue is similar to yours. After some search, I've noticed that in general there is a lack of material when it comes to Olympiads preparatory material in Physics as compared to Mathematics. I mean yes there are...

HallsofIvy, I am not quite sure what youre saying. Ok let me put this as simply as possible: Is the activity the average total number of decays per second, in other words the change in N per second, yes or no? If yes, why is this (ΔN/Δt) the same as the instantaneous activity dN/dt...

If λ is the probability of decay per unit time then the total decay per second will be λN, I understand that but then surely the activity can only be stated as ΔN/Δt = λN NOT dN/dt which is a differential If we want dN/dt, surely you would need the probability of decay in an instant (the...

Yes I've looked at that but I am interested in its definition as the probability of decay (I looked around the internet and noticed this term being used but without the explanation I am looking for) as this is what my textbook introduces it as. My original post is how my textbook introduces it...

According to my textbook, the decay constant is the probability that a radionuclide will decay in any second (hence the unit s^-1) and so the total number of radionuclides decaying at any second, i.e. the activity, is λN but this is also the rate of change of N thus dN/dt = -λN Surely...

What I am asking is why doesn't the objects velocity change so that it ends up not perpendicular to the centripetal force since the centripetal acceleration is giving it a velocity component inward but I can now, after A.Ts comment, intuitively imagine why this doesn't happen if the tangential...