alex

thanks for the replies and links guys

-alex

i knew they were generated by algorithms...i just wanted to know the specifics behind the algorithms...and what it would take to constitue a "random" number...i guess i should have been more clear.

i'll search for those threads you mentioned.

-alex

whoa...i just changed from a lepton to a quark...

for all you math and computor geniuses...

this might be worded a bit weird(i'm not the greatest with words...)

how do computors or programming languages come up with/define random sequences?

example:

if i tell a computer or write a program to pick a random positive integer between 1 and 100, what's going on behind the scenes?

i hope my question makes sense.

thanks to anyone with helpful replies...

i've always been curious about this and until now have never really bothered to investigate(feel free to call me a lazy jackass...or whatever)

-alex

eh...you're all a bunch of wusses...

i'll give it a shot

just give me a few months...heh

fair enough.

anyone know of a mathematics forum where people actually post on a regular basis?

this place is dead.

-alex

Would anyone know what kind of problems are on the first actuarial exam?

i've been told it's pretty broad. what types of financial mathematics are involved?

i still think continuous mathematics will be around for quite sometime

books and internet are great. i don't see how dvds could hurt. i think discussion helps a lot too. especially with people who are at a more advanced level(as long as their not insecure and condescending as many mathematicians tend to be).

also, try studying the works of great mathematicians in addition to the regular straight forward text book.

dunham has some great books that explain the ideas of the greats(Euler: The Master of Us All, Journey Through Genius, etc...)

a book i really enjoyed reading was The Historical Development of The Calculus. it explains the beautiful ideas from archimedes to fermat and descartes to newton and liebniz to riemann and cauchy. Check out the chapter on Euler...especially the section on his logarithmic and exponential functions(the definition of the number e). Great book...highly recomended.

i always thought it was the biggest part of calculus. definitley the most fundamental.

aptly named in my opinion.

continuous math isn't going anywhere

cool

w = fd works if force is a constant

if force is variable, definite integrals would probably do the job

not too hard...2 taken from an AMATYC test...

1) in isosceles triangle ABE with base AB, AB=10 and BE=13. Square ABCD intersects triangle ABE at points F and G. Find the area common to the interiors of the square and the triangle.

2) In pentagon AMTYC, AC=MT=10, YT=CY=20, angle A = angle M = 135 degrees, and angle Y = 150 degrees. Find the area of the pentagon to the nearest square unit.