[Uniltìrantokx te Skxawng] is this weeks Mathematician of the Week! Seykxel sì nitram!
[Uniltìrantokx te Skxawng] has been paired with
[Issac Newton] 1.
Who are you? - What is your name?
- Where are you from?
- How old are you?
These are just a few intro questions just so we know who you are.
My real name is Eric Dong, I am from Beijing, China, and I am 13 years, 11 months, and 28 days old. (My birthday is near!). I can be sure that I am the only person in China who:
1. Is within 1 week of his or her 14th birthday
2. Can speak Na'vi well
3. Knows calculus
#2 and the combination of #1 and #3 is the limiting factor in this case!
2.
What brought you to the Mathematics and Statistics board? Were you recommended/invited here by someone? Or did you simply stumble upon it by yourself?
I just stumbled here by myself. I'm no big fan of only reading the new threads, so I kind of went into every subforum and read anything that I like. Which of course includes math!
3.
For how long have you liked Math? When did you realise that you either enjoyed it or were good at it?
I've realized that I love math since, ahh, probably when I was 5 or 6. I kind of hate elementary math stuff like old-school long division and long addition, so I jumped into Algebra when I was about 7 or 8 and absolutely loved it. I'm homeschooled, and my parents believed that since my math was so good I don't need to put too much time into it, so in fact math is the course I spend the least time at (of course I didn't like that situation). I blamed my mom when I got a 3 on the AP Calculus BC (but I did get a 5 on Physics B)
4.
What subjects/jobs do you do which involve Math? What do you do? To tell us how you use the knowledge you have!
Well, I just learn math, since obviously I'm not at work since I'm just 13.99 years old.
5.
What Math-related subjects did you take in High School? Or if you are a student, what are you currently studying? State what the course is about and whether or not you enjoy it.
Calculus AP BC level, since I'm going to retake the test. This time my mom allows me to spend 4 hours a day on it, and oeru yawne Calculus lu nìtxan!
6.
What is your favourite number? Why? Is it your lucky number? Date of birth? How did it come to be your favourite number?
My favorite number is the indeterminate form 0/0. It can be everything you like, from zero to infinity! 0/0=1, 0/0=2, and 0/0=3 are all correct.
7.
Who is your favourite Mathematician/Scientist. Why? Have they motivated you to continue your studies? How have they influenced you? What do they do?
My favorite mathematician is Issac Newton, simply because he invented most of calculus, and I love calculus.
8.
What is your favorite function in math and why?Do you think it's very aesthetic or funny?
My favorite function is
f(x) = ex since it comes up so much in nature and, well, in making money related stuff like compound interest. It seems to be THE function of the universe.
9.
Three statements about yourself - True or false? - The community has to answerWhatever you want - but at least one of them must be true. Keep the answers secret until the end of your reign.
1. I'm applying for the University of Waterloo's Computer Science undergraduate program for Fall 2012
2. I have a mediocre IQ score of 128 only because one of the subscores was so low (seventy something) I'm an
idiot in that aspect, and all the others are 150+
3. I am a super Apple fan and have an iPod, iMac, and Apple TV.
10.
Pi or Tau? Which do you prefer? Why?
Pi, since I don't know what is taw. Is that sky?
[/sarcasm]
11.
Do you prefer to work in degrees or Rads? Rads. Degrees are a very stupid artifical and arbitrary division into 360 parts by the Ancient Greeks, while the size of a rad has a real mathematical derivation that makes sense. In addition, degrees usually involve really large numbers, and a graph of f(x)=sinx and such with degrees on the x axis would be REALLY flat.
12.
Calculatorly or manually? Do you prefer to solve your problem (especially in Calculus) using a calculator or your patience and skill?
I LOVE OEYÄ CALCULATOR! I have a Casio fx-9860g, and I usually use it to compute complex derivatives and definite integrals, in addition to solving equations. And yeah, I like Wolfram Alpha too, since it can solve any problem in a single step, though it is super cheating to do so!
13.
Joke time! Come up with your best Math joke. No sourcing!
"Does the rollercoaster pass the vertical line test? If not, I'm not going on it." - I actually said this at an amusement park before!
14.
Do you feel the temptation in tests to write your justifications in Na'vi? Have you? If so, when and why?
Definitely! I've written calculus problems in Na'vi before (but not in octal!) and Na'vi is a great language to use in justifications, mainly because it is conciser than English (ta vs from) and much faster to write than Chinese.
15.
Do you like Physics too? Yeah. What else would you expect if I get a 5 on the AP Physics exam?
In addition, I love to watch MIT OCW Physics videos. The professor is simply awesome
16.
Real-Life Picture (Optional) See the attachment
17.
Do you have any other hobbies? No matter how strange they may be...
Not so weird: Math, computer programming, tinkering with TVs
Weirder: Na'vi, conlanging, replacing motors in RC toy cars just for fun
Super weird: lucid dreaming, attaching motors to paper airplanes, writing gibberish
18.
This is the story Type no more than one sentence. The proceeding Mathematician of the week will then type another sentence continuing the story. A stickied thread can be found showing the story's progress hitherto.
To make sure I wasn't dreaming, I tried to "force-push" the bookshelf into the wall - it worked - I'm dreaming!
