Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

[Phys-L] Vectors (was Re: Elecric Field Lines)



I to was and am a bit puzzled. To me "any C-vector" means "any and all"
or equivalently for "arbitrary C-vector"

Is the objection merely to the word "cancel"?

I wouldn't say "merely," but it certainly was to the word "cancel."

Admittedly its not cancelation in the sense of dividing both sides by
the C-vector. But this reasoning gets used all the time for equating
coefficients to arbitrary quantities.

I'm not sure what you mean by "equating coefficients to arbitrary
quantities," but I agree that the type of reasoning involved here
gets used quite often. Moreover, it involves an argument that is at
least a little bit subtle. All the more reason to understand it
clearly.

It was quite clear from the discussion that my students hadn't given
a moment's thought to whether or not the equation

Cvector dot Avector = Cvector dot Bvector

was true for ANY Cvector (in which case Avector = Bvector) or just
for SOME Cvector (in which case you can't draw that conclusion.)
They simply "canceled the Cvectors."

--
John "Slo" Mallinckrodt

Professor of Physics, Cal Poly Pomona
<http://www.csupomona.edu/~ajm>

and

Lead Guitarist, Out-Laws of Physics
<http://www.csupomona.edu/~hsleff/OoPs.html>
_______________________________________________
Phys-L mailing list
Phys-L@electron.physics.buffalo.edu
https://www.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l