Homework/Exams Help Topic

[papercrane]

er, no--I meant as spanish vocab. They both mean 'but,' sort of. However, my textbook says there's a subtle difference, and I'm not quite sure what it is.
re the maths: Er...do you mean permutations? Probably not, but it sounds sort of like it...
On that train of thought, I learned about graphing sinusoids today! Fun!
...not.

The important thing about adventures, thought Mr Bunnsy, was that they shouldn't be so long as to make you miss mealtimes.
-- (Terry Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents)

[db_pr]

Ummn "sino" is not a word. "pero" is "but". Maybe it was "si no"? That means "if not".

IF WE HAVE TO GIVE THIS BASTARDS OUR LIVES, WE GIVE THEM HELL BEFORE WE DO!!!

[Wilf]

Papercrane.... you can work out long way round using permutations. However, there is a quicker way (especially when the numbers involved reach double figures), involving something in Group Theory.

"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hadrin, in Isaac Asimov's Foundation

[papercrane]

db: It did say 'sino'... Might be a regional thing, or something. Or it might be a typo. My textbook's full of them. Really frustrating. Oh well.
Wilf: Ah well. ppc is only in pre-calc.

The important thing about adventures, thought Mr Bunnsy, was that they shouldn't be so long as to make you miss mealtimes.
-- (Terry Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents)

[db_pr]

What was the whole sentence?

IF WE HAVE TO GIVE THIS BASTARDS OUR LIVES, WE GIVE THEM HELL BEFORE WE DO!!!

[papercrane]

*runs to get her textbook*
*is back*
'Often, either preposition is translated as but. Sino (but, rather, instead) precedes a contrasting clause in which an alternative or opposite is suggested. Pero is used in all other instances and can be used before a negative clause or an affirmative one.'
Which is all rather confusing and leads me to believe that 'sino' should be avoided at all costs.

The important thing about adventures, thought Mr Bunnsy, was that they shouldn't be so long as to make you miss mealtimes.
-- (Terry Pratchett, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents)

[Wilf]

Aha! I think I understand now. If is similar to the difference in French between 'Oui' and 'Si'. You would use 'Sino' for something like.... "He says it is red, but I say is green"... the 'but' there, when you are contradicting a previous phrase or sentence.
'Pero' woud be used by default.

"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hadrin, in Isaac Asimov's Foundation

[db_pr]

I think you should use 'pero' but I'm gonna look for 'sino'in the dictionary later.

IF WE HAVE TO GIVE THIS BASTARDS OUR LIVES, WE GIVE THEM HELL BEFORE WE DO!!!

[Wilf]

A more general question...
If you are doing line intergrals in a vector field, when does the value of the intergral depend on what path you choose (as oposed to the endpoints of the path)?

"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hadrin, in Isaac Asimov's Foundation

[Birdhead]

:O no idea. I recognise every term in that sentence, but not the way you put them together. Try more sixth form level and I might be a ble to help you.

"We are philosophical geniuses [sic] who will one day rule the world!"
--Agent M
Ahahahaha, Ahahahaha, Ahahahaha!
Still the Typo Queen

[Nathan]

Well, although I couldn't really be of any help to you with your previous question, Wilf, I can answer this one pretty authoritatively (which is not surprising, considering that my knowledge of advanced geometry/analysis is far better than my knowledge of advanced algebra):

The line integral will be path dependent when you can't express the vector field (call it F) as the gradient of a scalar field (i.e., a [necessarily differentiable] function from R ^ 3 to R). The other (probably easier) way to see that a given vector field is nonconservative (the name given to vector fields with the property you are inquiring about, as you may know) is to calculate its curl (denoted 'curl FF', where [nabla] denotes the 'nabla' or 'del' vector derivative symbol [which looks like an upside-down capital Greek delta {see here for an illustration}] --it's possible that you may even see the notation 'rot F' in some older books, as you are in the UK). If the curl of F is nonzero, then F is nonconservative (you can see this using Stokes' theorem). The converse is nearly true (and some physics books would have you believe that it is always true) --it is certainly true if F is smooth on a simply connected space.

There is different terminology if you are using differential forms and exterior calculus, but you framed your question in terms of vector calculus, so I answered it using that terminology.

Nathan

Pauca sed matura. --Karl Friedrich Gauss

Non doctrinam, sed perspicuitatem quaero.

[Agent M]

[Zgirl]

I have to make a Trinidad Festival costume.... and wear it in front of the whole school. I just sang in front of the whole school for music class. What more do they want from me?! Can someone tell me what a Trinidad costume looks like? PLEASE!!!!

Have an issue get a tissue!!--Steph C.
Kisses taste like chicken-- Absoulutely Normal Chaos...sharon creech

[Zgirl]

Oops did I mention that it is due by the end of the week. HELP!

[Agent M]

Uh.. Would this be something like it? http://www.search.co.tt/trinidad/nottinghill/7sm.jpg