Scientific Literacy? You Probably Won't Beat Me

[Brant Gaede]

A coda to my dropping-out-of-school story....

When I came home early, after that fateful encounter with the dean/wrestling coach, and told my mother -- still garbed in her filthy robe at 1 p.m., and with a jug of Gallo wine by her side -- that I had quit school, she (a former RN) became convinced that I had serious psychological problems. My mother subsequently insisted that I seek psychological counseling. She set up an appointment with some female psychologist. I resisted at first, but finally agreed. After a twenty-minute session with the lady, we left her office so she could talk to my mother.

I have never forgotten, nor will I ever forget, what that woman said to my mother -- and I quote exactly: "Mrs. Smith, there is nothing wrong with George. He just hates school."

If that woman is still alive, I hereby offer my eternal thanks.

Ghs

I do too. I don't think there are many who have autodidacticed themselves into a gross academic competency as you have done.

--Brant

[Ellen Stuttle]

At least you guessed in the right direction...or do you maybe not know the definition of a "Newton" and just guessed 2 because of 200 grams in the problem?

No, I know what a Newton is, and I had narrowed my guess down to the first two options before settling on the second.

J

OK, so m-a-y-b-e this will help you "see" the math.

Repeating the question and options:

22) If you were to apply a net force of one Newton on a 200 gram object, what would be the acceleration of the object?

5 meters per second squared

2 meters per second squared

0.2 meter per second squared

50 meters per second squared

The operative formula for answering the question is Newton's 2nd Law of Motion:

F=ma

You know the definition of one Newton, viz., the net force required to accelerate a mass of one kilogram at a rate of one meter per second squared.

So...

One Newton = 1000 (grams) x 1 (meter per second squared) = 200 (grams) x ? (meter per second squared)

Shortening it:

1000 x 1 = 200 x ?

(I'm puzzled by your describing yourself as terrible at math, since don't you use rough-and-ready math on a standard basis sizing photographs and such like chores? Is it just that algebra never clicked with you?)

Ellen

[Jonathan]

(I'm puzzled by your describing yourself as terrible at math, since don't you use rough-and-ready math on a standard basis sizing photographs and such like chores? Is it just that algebra never clicked with you?)

Prior to imaging going digital, I used a standard photographer's/designer's proportional scale for sizing photos. After using it for years, I eventually got good enough at eyeballing that I no longer needed the scale. These days, the graphics applications do all of that annoying math stuff automatically.

J