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] |
Kind folks:
In a recent discussion on mathematically representing the
relationship between mass and acceleration for a given
force, the following issue arose. We have been taught from
early grades that we can't add apples and oranges.
And we have been taught that multiplication is a shorthand for
repetative addition.
How come we can multiply apples and oranges and get something
reasonable? That is, why is it that mass times acceleration yields
something useful when addition of mass and acceleration does not?
I am at a bit of a loss on this one and would appreciate
some suggestions on how to deal with this (interesting)
issue constructively.
Ed Eckel
Georgetown Day School