Do you understand? Just taking an informal poll.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Eh? It's Saturday night man! I've got a pint of ale in hand here...

Alright. I understand change, rate of change, and differences in rate of change...but as applied to what? Derivation? Maybe I don't understand after all.

I did at one point, when I earned my BSc. Years of rock and roll have eroded that knowledge, sadly.

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

I'd say you do. Well done.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

i am pretty good at making change. does that count?

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

LOL..

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Matt (SD,CA)

1984 300SD.. White/Chrome Bunts..Green

1997 2500 Dodge Ram 5.9 Cummins 12 Valve 36 PSI of Boost = 400+hp & 800+tQ .. ..Greenspeed

2004 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 Quad Cab Cummins 5.9 H.O "596hp/1225tq" 6 spd. Man. Leather Heated seats/Loaded..Flame Red....GREENSPEED

Global warming...Doing my part, Smokin da hippies..

Fight the good fight!......

Yep, but are you faster than the next guy?

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

usually. seven years as a paper boy made me a permanently impressive change figurer.

my specialty is figuring out how to make it work when neither party has the correct amounts to make change and you have to pay extra so as to return an amount that will make it all wash.

i am usually ahead of the cash register.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I've been on two Math search committees. The candidates had to explain, What is a limit?. That's two full days, 15 candidates lecturing on that topic.
It's amazing how many mathematicians can't explain rate of change.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

smooch... smooch

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Matt (SD,CA)

1984 300SD.. White/Chrome Bunts..Green

1997 2500 Dodge Ram 5.9 Cummins 12 Valve 36 PSI of Boost = 400+hp & 800+tQ .. ..Greenspeed

2004 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 Quad Cab Cummins 5.9 H.O "596hp/1225tq" 6 spd. Man. Leather Heated seats/Loaded..Flame Red....GREENSPEED

Global warming...Doing my part, Smokin da hippies..

Fight the good fight!......

Algebra II is as far as I will find math to be useful I had a terrible time with Pre-Calculus. That's as far as I got in high school. I never found rate of change to be very hard of a concept though..

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

One of the greatest failings of our education system in general is failing to help students understand why math is useful.

I use algebra on a regular basis. Trigonometry has been very handy in construction, stairs and roofs primarily, and gives me a leg up on some of my more experienced brehtren, not in a competitive way, but just as a means of making myself valuable to the job.

Trig was useful when I used to make musical instruments as you often have a limited supply of some rare wood to make the neck out of and you need to cut it in just the right place when you're making the angled cut to get the headpiece from the neckstock.

Calculus is less useful for the average person but it can sorta be like weight lifting for the mind. Knowing how it works can help to understand how scientists might use it.

I did a fun project in one of my computer classes in college where I wrote a program to find the zero roots for complex polynomials of up to x to the tenth power using Newton's method, as in Isaac Newton, the co-inventor/discoverer of calculus along with Leibnitz (some controversy on that point). Absolutely of no use to me but it was fun when it worked. A complex polynomial might be 12 x cubed minus 4 x squared plus 121 x minus 571. A zero root is a number when plugged in to that which will yield a value of zero, or within a specified number of decimal places close to zero as in .000001.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I LOVE Open Discussion!!!

Where else in my hum drum world can I observe such discussions as this?

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

Kerry Edwards asked a very leading question about whether requiring math in university is a waste of human resources.

Algebra is to calculus what grammar is to language.

IMO, if you cannot pass calculus you shouldn't be in a university. The same goes for other fundamental analytic skills in other liberal arts disciplines. That's what the "university" word is all about -- once through with it, you can apply your knowledge universally -- to all problems.

Go to a JuCo or trade school if you want a curriculum that doesn't require analysis in the major fields of human endeavor.

So no, it's not a waste, if we set low educational goals for our most advanced education, we'll get students of exactly that quality. Kind of like what we have.

B

Word! You can be successful not know where to put a comma but you can never make sound decisions without a solid understanding of mathematical problem solving. Since schoolin the main thing I constantly brush up on is math rithmitic scillz.

When Universities became "job training" instead of centers of education, this argument was lost.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags