Recent content by DocZaius

I agree that a question where all answers are technically correct is a bad one. If the test maker has to say "Oh but you knew what I meant!", then the question was written in a lazy way. The question should have had caveats that would make a single answer not just the one intended to be the...

The second answer here proves a and b must be squares: http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/278935/can-a-finite-sum-of-square-roots-be-an-integer (The first answer is for a more general case but is also more complicated).

So to clarify since I see people keep giving fractions as proposed answers: Is there an r = √a + √b where a, b, and r are natural numbers and a and b are not squares? I like the question!

I wonder: how far across the water can disabling shocks go given whatever common power sources are found on boat docks? I would have thought just a few (less than 10) meters but the article seems to imply much more.

Or wait, maybe pi is actually 100 and the -96.858 is just an effect of the expansion of the universe? Or maybe pi is 10,000 and etc... Let me guess, my suggestions for pi seem silly but 3 seems reasonable to you?

But depending on how we value "cost incurred by passenger in not finding a seat" vs. "cost incurred by company in making a seat available that is unused" the answers would differ. If you do not make those values clear upfront, how can an answer be found?

So you're pulling the rubber band back, the pebble along with it. You let go of the rubber band and it propels itself and the pebble forward. The rubber band eventually stretches forward to a point where it cannot go further forward. This is what happens on Earth and in space. But now you say...

So what is your response to my scenarios with the ball and the slingshot above?

So if you're in the vacuum of space and you, say slap a ball (instead of throwing it), you're saying that the ball would stick to your palm, instead of accelerating forward from the slap? What about if you had a slingshot and you shot off a rock with it in space. You're saying the rock would...

Forget the rocket for a second. It complicates things with gases and mass flows. Do you agree that if you are in a vacuum and you throw your shoe away, both you and the shoe will move away from each other?

The force moves "into" the shoe? Forces are applied to objects, they don't move into them. Opposite direction of what effort? As your hand pushes on the shoe, your hand is also pushed upon by the shoe. Newton's third law. The force of your hand on the shoe pushes the shoe and accelerates it and...

In space, if you fire a gun, (gas + bullet ) goes one way and (gun) goes the other. Analogously, for a rocket, (gas) goes one way and (rocket) goes the other. In both cases the explosion inside the gun or rocket led to the separation of all the masses in question.

You seem to have very ill-formed ideas about light and its possible uses. I suggest that you study a textbook on optics, do the exercises, and gain a more rigorous understanding. At that point it is likely that some or all of your current questions will have been dispelled. However, you will...

I agree with russ_watters on this one. Just speak to the teacher about it. It is the teacher's responsibility to make sure the teaching environment is not disrupted. Why should we assume a teacher who is supposed to approach this issue in a professional manner would handle it less well than an...

It would decrease. I am curious what you are leading to, though.