Square Root
13 December 2008, 10:54 PM
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Square Root
I've lived my entire adult life so far without ever needing to know the square root of anything....
So, I have to ask, what is the point of it? what is the practical use of this calculation, or is it just there to make exams more difficult.
So, I have to ask, what is the point of it? what is the practical use of this calculation, or is it just there to make exams more difficult.
13 December 2008, 11:39 PM
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They make nice snacks: Walkers Square Potato Snacks Ready Salted
Did you know that the square root of a number is its logarithm divided by 2?
Did you know that the square root of a number is its logarithm divided by 2?
13 December 2008, 11:48 PM
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14 December 2008, 12:40 AM
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Pythagoras had a theory. Used it in work when fabricating large steel frames. Its not practical to use a 6" square on someting thats 40 foot long. So you measure triangles. The easiest way I found to remember the theory is by remembering the following joke.....
There was an Indian Chief, and he had three squaws, and kept them in three teepees. When he would come home late from hunting, he would not know which teepee contained which squaw, since it was dark. He went hunting one day, and killed a hippopotamus, a bear, and a buffalo. He put the a hide from each animal into a different teepee, so that when he came home late, he could feel inside the teepee and he would know which squaw was inside.
Well after about a year, all three squaws had children. The squaw on the bear had a baby boy, the squaw on the buffalo hide had a baby girl. But the squaw on the hippopotamus had a girl and a boy. So what is the moral of the story?
The squaw on the hippopotamus is equal to the sum of the squaws on the other two hides.
There was an Indian Chief, and he had three squaws, and kept them in three teepees. When he would come home late from hunting, he would not know which teepee contained which squaw, since it was dark. He went hunting one day, and killed a hippopotamus, a bear, and a buffalo. He put the a hide from each animal into a different teepee, so that when he came home late, he could feel inside the teepee and he would know which squaw was inside.
Well after about a year, all three squaws had children. The squaw on the bear had a baby boy, the squaw on the buffalo hide had a baby girl. But the squaw on the hippopotamus had a girl and a boy. So what is the moral of the story?
The squaw on the hippopotamus is equal to the sum of the squaws on the other two hides.
14 December 2008, 07:54 AM
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Pythagoras had a theory. Used it in work when fabricating large steel frames. Its not practical to use a 6" square on someting thats 40 foot long. So you measure triangles. The easiest way I found to remember the theory is by remembering the following joke.....
There was an Indian Chief, and he had three squaws, and kept them in three teepees. When he would come home late from hunting, he would not know which teepee contained which squaw, since it was dark. He went hunting one day, and killed a hippopotamus, a bear, and a buffalo. He put the a hide from each animal into a different teepee, so that when he came home late, he could feel inside the teepee and he would know which squaw was inside.
Well after about a year, all three squaws had children. The squaw on the bear had a baby boy, the squaw on the buffalo hide had a baby girl. But the squaw on the hippopotamus had a girl and a boy. So what is the moral of the story?
The squaw on the hippopotamus is equal to the sum of the squaws on the other two hides.
There was an Indian Chief, and he had three squaws, and kept them in three teepees. When he would come home late from hunting, he would not know which teepee contained which squaw, since it was dark. He went hunting one day, and killed a hippopotamus, a bear, and a buffalo. He put the a hide from each animal into a different teepee, so that when he came home late, he could feel inside the teepee and he would know which squaw was inside.
Well after about a year, all three squaws had children. The squaw on the bear had a baby boy, the squaw on the buffalo hide had a baby girl. But the squaw on the hippopotamus had a girl and a boy. So what is the moral of the story?
The squaw on the hippopotamus is equal to the sum of the squaws on the other two hides.
Quality.The square root of -1 is quite useful though.
Last edited by gpssti4; 14 December 2008 at 07:55 AM.
14 December 2008, 08:04 AM
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Ah the old maths conundrums,
Now following on from the above.
How many people use Pi on a daily basis?
how many people use algebra? trig?
How can you say N x C = the world population of zargotron?
N x C is garbage its not even a calculation ffs, yet becuase professor smith
of "" The university of somwhere"" says its the best thing since sliced
bread, we all go "oooohhhhh2 and think is sooooo usefull, when in reality it
meaningless, yet because its a "professor", no one has the ***** to say its garbage!!
And before someone says you need trig or triangulation to navigate, you
also need a map or chart, so without one of them, trig/ triangulation is
absolutely bloody usless
why do you think they invented sat nav?
Mart
Now following on from the above.
How many people use Pi on a daily basis?
how many people use algebra? trig?
How can you say N x C = the world population of zargotron?
N x C is garbage its not even a calculation ffs, yet becuase professor smith
of "" The university of somwhere"" says its the best thing since sliced
bread, we all go "oooohhhhh2 and think is sooooo usefull, when in reality it
meaningless, yet because its a "professor", no one has the ***** to say its garbage!!
And before someone says you need trig or triangulation to navigate, you
also need a map or chart, so without one of them, trig/ triangulation is
absolutely bloody usless
why do you think they invented sat nav?
Mart
14 December 2008, 09:05 AM
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Why is it useful? I guess that unless you work in engineering, it probably isn't. If you do, then it's indispensible. My own field is electronics, and I use it all the time - for example, the current drawn by a load is given by I=sqrt(P/R) where P is the rated power of the load and R is its resistance.
That said, the last time I used it I was trying to work out if a TV would fit my living room... I know it has a 50" diagonal and that the proportions are 16:9 - square roots are needed to calculate how wide it is.
14 December 2008, 10:52 AM
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Two examples-a car is likely to aquaplane in heavy rain at a speed which is equivalent to 9 times the square root of the tyre pressure. This is more accurate for aircraft since car tyres have a tread pattern which is better able to clear excessive water.
The earlier Canberra jets used to be likely to surge their engines at high level and under very cold conditions at an engine speed of 9 times the square root of the air temperature. You are unlikely to find that a problem these days though although it did happen to me once!
Les
The earlier Canberra jets used to be likely to surge their engines at high level and under very cold conditions at an engine speed of 9 times the square root of the air temperature. You are unlikely to find that a problem these days though although it did happen to me once!
Les
14 December 2008, 11:04 AM
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You're buying a house with a 16m2 room. You can't visualise this so if you assume the room is square then each side is square root of 16 long.
Square root of 16 is 4. A room that's 4m square is easy to visualise (actually 12 foot is even easier for someone my age.....).
Another example, a bit less day to day. In work we have a limit in water flow of 2.5 m/s. Above that and it erodes the pipe walls away. A bit of kit needs 12 m3/s of water. So what size pipe do I need? Area of pipe is easy 12/2.5 but I can't go into B&Q and ask for a pipe with this much area. So how do I get from area to diameter? Easy, square root of 4 * (12/2.5) / pi. So there that's square root and pi used in one simple application.
Square root of 16 is 4. A room that's 4m square is easy to visualise (actually 12 foot is even easier for someone my age.....).
Another example, a bit less day to day. In work we have a limit in water flow of 2.5 m/s. Above that and it erodes the pipe walls away. A bit of kit needs 12 m3/s of water. So what size pipe do I need? Area of pipe is easy 12/2.5 but I can't go into B&Q and ask for a pipe with this much area. So how do I get from area to diameter? Easy, square root of 4 * (12/2.5) / pi. So there that's square root and pi used in one simple application.
14 December 2008, 11:05 AM
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They use it to pay GPs!
They work out how many people we have with e.g. heart disease, divide it by the average, then square root the result. This is then used to work out payments for all the targets for heart disease.
The result is that the inequalities in funding related to variable disease rates have still not been corrected as promised.
For example, if you have twice the average patients with heart disease you only get the square root of 2 (~1.4) times the average funding. Maybe they think there is an economy of scale in there? However, my nurse wants double the hours and consequently double the pay to look after twice as many people... Consequently, if you have half the average you get the square root of 0.5 (~0.7) times the average funding.
They are spending more money getting rid of this nonsense soon I gather.
They work out how many people we have with e.g. heart disease, divide it by the average, then square root the result. This is then used to work out payments for all the targets for heart disease.
The result is that the inequalities in funding related to variable disease rates have still not been corrected as promised.
For example, if you have twice the average patients with heart disease you only get the square root of 2 (~1.4) times the average funding. Maybe they think there is an economy of scale in there? However, my nurse wants double the hours and consequently double the pay to look after twice as many people... Consequently, if you have half the average you get the square root of 0.5 (~0.7) times the average funding.
They are spending more money getting rid of this nonsense soon I gather.
Last edited by john banks; 14 December 2008 at 11:06 AM.
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