A little math help? please

[Bill V]

C--Can you give a bit more detail of what the assignment is in your class? Is it to derive the equation used on that particular site? Is it to derive an equation that would estimate the per capita national debt, similar to what is done on that site? Is tat site not even part of the assignment, but just a site you found during your search for a possible answer? None of this is clear at this point.



If you have specific problem wording that you can share, please do so--the members here will probably not only give you a correct answer, but will also critique your professor's problem-writing skills.

 

[Casey B]

Look at http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/. Now try computing the national debt per person. What happens? Why can you not get the number that seems to be a simple division? What is the difficulty? How do you get around it?



That is exactly how it is laid out for me. A correct answer and a discussion on it will get me 1 extra point added to my final grade. That could be significant considering my attention to math.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Q: What happens?

A: You get an approximation of the national debt, per person at a point in time if using a simple a / b formula where a=current approximate debt, and b=current approximate population.



Q: Why can you not get the number that seems to be a simple division?

A: (Not really sure what the prof is trying to ask here, but here goes) Actually, you can get a number for the answer using simple division, but since that resulting number is derived from two approximations it is no doubt erroneous. Furthermore, even as an approximation, the "timeliness" of the answer is very short as the longer one waits the more "off" the value gets.



Q: What is the difficulty?

A: As stated, the difficulty is that the numbers are "point-in-time" approximations. A "better" solution might be to try to approximate the rate of change of each each key part; the population and the national debt, and use those values in a formula that takes into account any future point in time, and to do that (...insert my answer and work from previous post above).



Q: How do you get around it?

A: The equation attempts to get around the "point-in-time" limitation by taking into account any time in the future, Tn, and a reference point in time, T0 and that point in times population and national debt. Since any population and national debt numbers are invariably point-in-time estimates, regardless the source of the data, calculating the rate of change for these two factors can be viewed as a "best available" technique.



(Hey, I have no clue if this is what he is looking for...if you can't dazzle them with brilliance then baffle them with bull$hit.)



TJR

 

[Casey B]

Hey I appreciate your input TJR. I think I might be able to pursuade with a little dazzle.

 

[Ryan Schaecher]

Chet'02-



What university do you go to? I believe that there are only like 4 US unversity's with nuclear reactos on campus... we may have a 1-in-4 chance of having gone to the same school... do tell.

 

[Pat Freeman]

Right now, each citizen's share of this debt is $28,350.94. Guess I shouldn't have bought my 07 ST.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Who should I write the check out to?

 

[Bill V]

TJR--



There are two groups that the checks from members of this site should be written to. I believe that everyone here falls into one of these two categories:



Those of us who are off-the-deep-end-conservatives should make the checks out to the Democratic National Committee--after all, we believe this deficit is all their fault.



On the other hand, those of us who are off-the-deep-end liberals should make the checks out to the Replublican National Committee--after all, we believe this deficit is all their fault.

 

[Casey B]

I'm just relieved that the only debt my wife and I have is this recurring student loan. I waited until my Jr. year before I started getting the loans so it's not going to be all that bad. Everyone told me that an educational loan is worth it. We'll see

 

[Chet 02]

R Shek, I didn't get that from a university. I work in operations at a power plant. just one of the many things involved in the initial training that I had 22 years ago.