A Visual, Intuitive Guide to Imaginary Numbers. Imaginary numbers always confused me. Like understanding e, most explanations fell into one of two categories: It’s a mathematical abstraction, and the equations work out. Deal with it.It’s used in advanced physics, trust us. Just wait until college. Gee, what a great way to encourage math in kids! Focusing on relationships, not mechanical formulas.Seeing complex numbers as an upgrade to our number system, just like zero, decimals and negatives were.Using visual diagrams, not just text, to understand the idea.
And our secret weapon: learning by analogy. It doesn’t make sense yet, but hang in there. Video Walkthrough: Really Understanding Negative Numbers Negative numbers aren’t easy. But what about 3-4? Negatives were considered absurd, something that “darkened the very whole doctrines of the equations” (Francis Maseres, 1759). What happened? Rather than saying “I owe you 30” and reading words to see if I’m up or down, I can write “-30” and know it means I’m in the hole. Uh oh. Wrong. Or. Personal and Historical Perspectives of Hans Bethe. Imagining the Tenth Dimension - A Book by Rob Bryanton. Crazy Physics Facts. 11 cheap gifts guaranteed to impress science geeks. Science comes up with a lot of awesome stuff, and you don't need a Ph.D, a secret lab, or government funding to get your hands on some of the coolest discoveries.
We've got a list of 11 mostly affordable gifts that are guaranteed to blow your mind, whether or not you're a science geek. Click on any image to see it enlarged. 1. Aerogel Also known as frozen smoke, Aerogel is the world's lowest density solid, clocking in at 96% air. Aerogel isn't just neat, it's useful. Price: $35 2. Inside these sealed glass balls live shrimp, algae, and bacteria, all swimming around in filtered seawater. EcoSpheres came out of research looking at ways to develop self-contained ecosystems for long duration space travel. Price: $80 3. NASA has been trying to figure out how to get a sample of rock back from Mars for a while now.
Every once in a while, a meteorite smashes into Mars hard enough to eject some rocks out into orbit around the sun. Price: $70+ 4. Price: $150 5. Price: $110 6. Price: $80 7. Price: $15 8. Space Shuttle Discovery - 360VR Images. The Scale of the Universe 2.