Joe Bartok
01-04-2005, 07:21 AM
Another common question that’s been asked a couple of times recently, and sure to come up again in the future. For the benefit of anyone new to the subject of “How do you square up a … ?”
This is all textbook standard material; the basic geometry of right angles, the Pythagorean Theorem, and, as usual, a little bit extra. Oh-oh! Here we go again. We start out with how to square up a foundation, and then add that “little bit extra” which turns into enough math to put a satellite in orbit or build a particle accelerator …:twisted:
Actually, it’s not that convoluted: the “extra” is how to create custom right triangles with sides composed of whole numbers. No square roots, no slide rules, no calculators or computers required, just pencil and paper. The ratios generated by the formulas, such as 5:12:13 or 7:24:25 (or their multiples) can often be more advantageous to use than the well-known 3:4:5. If a form measures 30 by 100, 30:72:78 or 28:96:100 give a better baseline for accurate measurement than 24:45:51 (8:15:17 times 3) or 30:40:50. (On the other hand, I can safely say there are proportions, such as 29:420:421, that I’ve never used and probably never will use. But you never know … )
The next few sentences are an experiment on my part and will probably need editing. I’m going to “test drive” the html code in conjunction with some character codes and escape sequences. If this works it will be a better means of expressing the most commonly used math symbols and operators. If I can’t get it right, maybe someone can explain where I goofed. Here goes:
Α Β Γ Φ Θ Π
α β γ φ θ π
< > & å ø ñ ç
ò Ö Ð ° @ å ¸
± × ÷ x³
TEST FONT
sin²x + cos²x = 1
Well, looks like I need some practice at this code. It doesn't work like html.
This is all textbook standard material; the basic geometry of right angles, the Pythagorean Theorem, and, as usual, a little bit extra. Oh-oh! Here we go again. We start out with how to square up a foundation, and then add that “little bit extra” which turns into enough math to put a satellite in orbit or build a particle accelerator …:twisted:
Actually, it’s not that convoluted: the “extra” is how to create custom right triangles with sides composed of whole numbers. No square roots, no slide rules, no calculators or computers required, just pencil and paper. The ratios generated by the formulas, such as 5:12:13 or 7:24:25 (or their multiples) can often be more advantageous to use than the well-known 3:4:5. If a form measures 30 by 100, 30:72:78 or 28:96:100 give a better baseline for accurate measurement than 24:45:51 (8:15:17 times 3) or 30:40:50. (On the other hand, I can safely say there are proportions, such as 29:420:421, that I’ve never used and probably never will use. But you never know … )
The next few sentences are an experiment on my part and will probably need editing. I’m going to “test drive” the html code in conjunction with some character codes and escape sequences. If this works it will be a better means of expressing the most commonly used math symbols and operators. If I can’t get it right, maybe someone can explain where I goofed. Here goes:
&ALPHA; &BETA; &GAMMA; &PHI; &THETA; &PI;
α β γ φ θ π
< > & å ø ñ ç
ò Ö Ð ° @ å ¸
± × ÷ x³
TEST FONT
sin²x + cos²x = 1
Well, looks like I need some practice at this code. It doesn't work like html.