Ask Me Questions Options

[Saffy]

I have a lot of ideas in mind, though so far it's mostly programming for video games. I wanted to make my own company too at some point but who knows if that'll happen.

[Arilla]

How many years are usually spent in a university in Canada?
What age to what age is a typical student?

[Saffy]

Uh, I assume the same as in the States? Usually it's a 3 or 4 year program for an Undergraduate. You would go in once you finished high school, so about 18 - 22?

[Arilla]

Okay, so it is the same as here. I wasn't sure if it was more like the US or the UK's system.

[Toaster Boy]

I think its 3-4 years for a bachelors degree 1-4 years after bacholers or something for masters and I dunno for doctors.

What job would Saffy see me in? :D

[Saffy]

It's way too early to tell.

[Toaster Boy]

Well, what subject should I study more often for a job in computers?

[Saffy]

I'd have to go with math.

[Toaster Boy]

Math is pretty simple for now its all inequalities. Like 9x+21>66

What math is used in computers?

[Saffy]

Oh god, tons. I recommend trigonometry when you get that far. I use the Pythagorean Theorem and trig all the time. My notebook is filled with circles. It depends what kind of job in computers you want though. I'm just talking about programming. But even still, there's Discrete Math, Boolean Algebra, Calculus, lots of stuff.

[Toaster Boy]

Trigonometry? Whats that? Examples?

[Saffy]

You can use trigonometry to get the angles of a triangle (typically right-angle) as well as the side lengths. It's not overly difficult, though I suppose the cosine law and sine law have a bit of difficulty with them if you're not used to the formulas. They are, however, amazingly useful. Anything you do in 3D is probably going to come down to trigonometry at some point. The mnemonic for trig is: SOH-CAH-TOA.

sin(T) = opposite / hypotenuse
cos(T) = adjacent / hypotenuse
tan(T) = opposite / adjacent

T would be the angle. The hypotenuse would be opposite the right angle (if there is one). Adjacent would be the side touching the angle you want to find or vice versa, and the opposite is the remaining side.

So let's say you have a triangle situated on the points: P1(0,0), P2(1,1) and P3(1,0). If we want to find the angle T at the origin (0,0) we can use the tangent.

Adjacent = 1 - 0 = 1
Opposite = 1 - 0 = 1

We get: tan(T) = 1/1. Since we want to solve for T we have to do the inverse of the tangent...

T = tan^-1(1/1)

And that will give you 45 degrees.

It gets much more complex, but I'll let that sit in for a while.

[Kozunai]

Hey saf, how many years do you have to go to college to become an author?

[Saffy]

Um, you don't really have to go through any? You just need to write a reasonable amount of your story (say a few chapters) then bring it to publishers in hope that one of them will actually pick it up and go with it. You don't need a degree to become an author, though it could help I suppose. So for years, I really can't give you an answer. Just write.

[Kozunai]

Because a BA in writing would really boost my chances of getting one of my books published. I'm working on a novel right now. I just started it today, in fact. It's based off of a dream that I had. I call it "Behind These Eyes".

[Toaster Boy]

You can use trigonometry to get the angles of a triangle (typically right-angle) as well as the side lengths. It's not overly difficult, though I suppose the cosine law and sine law have a bit of difficulty with them if you're not used to the formulas. They are, however, amazingly useful. Anything you do in 3D is probably going to come down to trigonometry at some point. The mnemonic for trig is: SOH-CAH-TOA.

sin(T) = opposite / hypotenuse
cos(T) = adjacent / hypotenuse
tan(T) = opposite / adjacent

T would be the angle. The hypotenuse would be opposite the right angle (if there is one). Adjacent would be the side touching the angle you want to find or vice versa, and the opposite is the remaining side.

So let's say you have a triangle situated on the points: P1(0,0), P2(1,1) and P3(1,0). If we want to find the angle T at the origin (0,0) we can use the tangent.

Adjacent = 1 - 0 = 1
Opposite = 1 - 0 = 1

We get: tan(T) = 1/1. Since we want to solve for T we have to do the inverse of the tangent...

T = tan^-1(1/1)

And that will give you 45 degrees.

It gets much more complex, but I'll let that sit in for a while.

Geez, this is pretty conplex, but I'm getting it. Give me something to solve? If you have time.

[Saffy]

Yeah, don't expect to get it right away. It's something you'll pick up in grade 10 anyway, so you shouldn't be expected to understand it now. But um, let's try the opposite example then which should be easier so long as you can use the tan function on a calculator :P

If you have an angle of 60 degrees with the adjacent side of length 12, what is the length of side opposite? What is the hypotenuse?

tan(60) = opposite / adjacent
opposite = adjacent * tan(60)
opposite = 12 * 1.732
opposite = 20.784

You don't need to use trig to get the hypotenuse although you could. I'll do both Pythagorean Theorem and trig for the fun of it though :P (Using variables a, o, and h for simplification.)

h^2 = a^2 + o^2
h^2 = 12^2 + 20.784^2
h^2 = 144 + 431.974656
h = sqrt(144 + 431.974656)
h = sqrt(575.974656)
h = 24 (roughly)

And now with trig :O This will be magical! We can use to do either cos or sin since we know those variables, but I'll stick with cos because 12 is a nicer number.

cos(60) = a / h
h * cos(60) = a
h = a / cos(60)
h = 12 / cos(60)
h = 24

If you do the math the Pythagorean Theorem would give you 24 too. It doesn't because I had to round my values so it's slightly less. In any case, there you go. They work out to the exact same number. Yay.

[Kozunai]

Does Saffy think I could get published?

[Saffy]

I don't see why not. As long as you can sell books that's really all they care about.

[Kozunai]

Would you read my book if I sent you a copy?