I had no problem with calculus and always excelled in math, but only up to a point.
On Tue, Oct 13, 2015 at 7:40 PM, Craig via Mercedes <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > On Tue, 13 Oct 2015 11:47:34 -0400 Scott Ritchey via Mercedes > <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote: > > > The first two parts are easy but require a little reasoning to > > understand the equation. If the gator doesn't travel on land, x=0. The > > shortest swim is directly across, or x=20. > > Except from the diagram, swimming directly across means x=0, > swimming all the way means x=20. > > > > (a)(i) T = 5*sqrt(36 + 400) = 104.4 tenths of a second = 10.44 s > > (a)(ii) T = 5*sqrt(36) + 4*20 = 110.0 tenths of a second = 11.00 s > > (b) x(min T) = 8, T(8) = 98 tenths of a second = 9.80 s > > > > > These are both simple high-school algebra which should part of an > > 18-year-old's kit unless Scotts kids are as stupid and lazy as most of > > our US kids. The minimum time requires graphing the T vs x equation > > (not exact and time consuming) or differential calculus (find value of > > x where dT/dx is zero). In the US, calculus is not routinely taught in > > high school (or wasn't in my day). So the third part of the question > > is not fair for someone with only a high school education, IMO. > > Yes, but it's for a Scottish _Higher Maths_ exam, so one would expect to > have calculus. At my high school, calculus was routinely taught; some > students had two semesters of it. > > > Craig > > _______________________________________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > > To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com > > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
