Update

This could be a long post.

Considering that I have not updated a web journal, or really a journal of any kind, for quite some time, I perhaps will have a lot to say. Or perhaps not. Furthermore, I suppose one could say that a lot has happened since my last Xanga update. Regardless, I will write until I don't feel like writing anymore, or that this post has become so long that people perusing it will become disinterested.

Life can be broken down into different areas. This blog is about life, science, math, money, and sarcasm. One could argue that the latter four areas are all subsets of the prior. And so be it. Life is also about relationships, and I may write about that from time to time, even if it is not explicitly listed in the subject matter I normally shall cover. I will also write about school, and since I'm an Industrial Engineering major, school for me consists of science, math, and money. How convenient.

School continues to go well. I am currently in my senior year. I have about three and one half weeks of this semester yet to complete. Then I will graduate after completing my spring semester in 2008. This semester seems to have flown by; perhaps a gravity well has collapsed here recently. As mentioned in my Xanga, I'm taking General Chemistry, Statics, Technical Writing, and Senior Project this semester.

General Chemistry is not too bad, but certainly not something I am enjoying. I was surprised at how much I did not remember from high school chemistry, or that college chemistry varied that much from my high school studies. Regardless of the reason for the incongruity, I have had to actually study quite a bit and still am not doing as well as I would like in this class.

Statics is very enjoyable to myself. For those that might not be familiar with the term, statics is the branch of physics and engineering concerned with analysis of loads (forces and torques) on physical systems at static equilibrium (which is just a fancy way of saying they aren't moving relative to system in which they are being measured). The course bases its entire premise on Newton's second law:

Lex II: Mutationem motus proportionalem esse vi motrici impressae, et fieri secundum lineam rectam qua vis illa imprimitur.

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LAW II: The alteration of motion is ever proportional to the motive force impressed; and is made in the direction of the right line in which that force is impressed.

Simply stated, the words of the law can be used to derive the equation F = ma, where F is the force acting on the object, m is the mass of the object, and a is the acceleration of the object. As the particle being analyzed is not moving, acceleration is equal to zero. This results in a force equal to zero. This does not mean that each force acting on the system is equal to zero, but rather the sum of the forces is equal to zero.



So while the forces acting at each blue link are different in magnitude and direction, the sum of all the forces on the entire system is zero if none of the system is moving. And that's the physics lesson of the day.

I am also taking Technical Writing and Senior Project but more on these and other subjects later.