Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Late Scribe... But I did say it would be.

Well, well, well. Where to start? i guess the beginning of class would be a good place, if I can remember it... (please bear with me, I'm a little worn out)

So however it started, it did. Mr. K. introduced the day's topic as Exponential Modeling. We began this familiar unit by adding the new stuff that we had learned yesterday to it.SLIDE2 We were told to use our new TI-83 skills to plot the data, and then graph an exponential curve that relates to the data. We were kind of confused with this considering the scatter plot curve didn't resemble the exponential one very well. It was then that Mr. K. explained that when using "REAL DATA" (as we were), the graph may seem less accurate and straight forward as simulated data. this is because REAL DATA must deal with unexpected factors that interrupts the pattern (war, disease, etc.). Shortly after that, he began to see if we had retained any idea of the concept in our brains over the summer. For some very tired students (me), it took a little while, but we (I) got it nonetheless. When given the next example and told to write the equation for the function, we used the formula:


A=A(naught)(model)^t/p

Where...
A= final amount (amount present after t has passed)
A(naught)=the original or present amount
model=the percent growth expressed as a decimal +1
t = time (time needed to reach A)
p = period (amount of time between each application of the model)

Using this formula we constructed a model for the price of a BigMac in Canada in the future (Slide3). This was a really cool question, the study was really original. If you want to have a look at it, click here.

Next, Mr. K. took a little detour and talked a little bit about how the value of currency can change. He used the fact that the German mark, from the time it was offered as a reward for Fermat's last proof to the present day, has decreased in value so massively that 100 000 then is probably worth about 5 cents now.

Finally, we continued our "memory re-jogging" with one final question about the half-lives of chemicals (Slide5).

T'was around time that Mr. K. was putting the finishing touches on the solutions that the bell rang. Before we left, he added that Exercise 1.4: Odd Questions + 6, 12, and 14. were for HOMEWORK!!!

So before you leave this post, I will add that Vincent, no... John D, no... Jojo? no...

...hmmm who is left in this class???

Oh I know! Robert P is the scribe for tomorrow!!! =P

Good night! =D


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Now playing: Framing Hanley - 23 Days
via FoxyTunes

2 comments:

aichelle s. said...

haha I love it.

Lani Ritter Hall said...

Hi Craig,

Great scribe! I really appreciated the link to the APESMA Big Mac Index! That's truly one of what I call "nuggets of knowledge."

Best,
Lani