A fair warning:
Time is valuable so.. wasting it is considered unprudent.

P.S. If you click with the wheel of the mouse, it tends to open a conveniently placed tabbed window. *wink* *wink*

-Enjoy

We'll begin with this video below. Clicky the play button please and then continue with the reading afterward. If you would like, this "Powers of ten" video is a good pre-requisite for the rest of this blog entry. For a quick review of converting units here. There won't be much math involved here, but instead, I plan to build a very simple foundation for understanding measurements and the units involved. The purpose is to construct a series of non-consecutive, but relevant, blog entries that introduce the fundamentals of physics and applied mathematics for the layman reader. After reading through this series, you'll be ready to solve Maxwell's & Schrodinger's equations with only four of your eight fingers,program in assembly using only a needle and magnet, simulate a universe with Fortran using MS-notepad, and defy the Heisenberg uncertainty principle! I promise... -Leo

::Right after the previous clip the conversation goes::

Man: "Makes you feel kinda insignificant doesn't it?"
'Ms'.Brown: "Ya.."
Man: "Can we have your liver then?"
'Ms'.Brown: "Sure, I don't see why not."

This conversation is a continuation from a sketch titled "Organ Doner", you'll find it in the Mython Phyton channel @
YouTube or click here. (Warning: Contains /b/ humor)

<_____________________________________________________^---middle---^___________________________________________________>

According to this music video...
The Earth is revolving about its axis @ 9E2 mi/hr.
The Earth is orbiting our sun @ 19E0 mi/s.
The stars 'near' us in the Milky Way are moving at @ 1E6 mi/day?
The outer spiral arm where the Solar System is in moves @ 4E4 mi/hr?
The Milky Way has 1E11 stars.
The Milky Way's diameter is 1E5 ly.
The Milky way is 16E3 ly thick in the middle.
The Milky Way is 3E4 ly wide by where we are.
The Solar System is 3E4 ltyrs from the GCP.
The Solar System goes around the GCP once every 2E8 million years.
This galaxy is one out of 1E15 other galaxies in the universe.
The universe is expanding @ 12E6 mi/min.

Let's break down those numbers now shall we?
Q:WTF does 19E0 m/s mean?
A:Well... It's kinda like, this.
19E0 = 19x10^0 and since anything to the zero-th power equals to 1,
19E0 = 19x10^0 = 19x1 = 19
Q: Then WhyTF was it typed in a 'fancy' way?
A: Because when plugging into html it could be done like this 19x10⁰ (or 19*10**0), but that takes ≈ 0.5s more then simply hitting the "E" button.
Q: Then WhyTf did you use 19E0 when 10^0=1?
A: It was a learning experience okay? I wanted you (the reader) to understand the notation being used and how it is interchangeable with other formats. Now you know...
Q: Okay, thank you Leo. But now what?
A: I'll tell you "now what". Keep on reading.

The "Galaxy Song" was written by Eric Idle in 1981 (nearly 28 years ago!), but the accuracy of these figures are pretty damn on the spot.
The Earth is revolving about its axis @ 9E2mi/hr
9E2mi/hr = 9E2mi/hr * 5280ft/mi * 12in/ft * 2.54cm/in * m/100cm
= 9E2mi/hr * 5280ft/mi * 12in/ft * 2.54cm/in * m/100cm
= 9E2*1609.344 (m/hr)
= 9E2*1609.344 (m/hr)*(hr/60min)*(min/60s)
= 9E2*1609.344/3600 (m/s)
= 402.336 (m/s)
= 4.02336E2 (m/s)
≈ 4E2 (m/s)

So, what I'm allowed to say now is this:
9E2mi/hr ≈ 4E2 m/s
The fancy term for what was done up above is refereed to as "Hot-Dog Style". Remember that. It's almost like "doggy style", but it deals with numbers instead of that other thing..

Now, this only begs a series of new questions.

Q: What are the letter thingys next to the numbers?
A: Those letter thingys you see up there (eg. m/s min/60s ft/mi) are called units. In pure mathematical terms, they can be treated exactly like common variables, but when you're interrupting your work you have to understand that they aren't arbitrary. They have real world physical meanings.
Q: What?
A: Okay... They can be treated like variables because you're converting from one set of units to another. Overall the magnitude of what the expression equates to doesn't change. Q: The fuck?
A: You see how they cancel each other out? This can be done because you're really just multiplying by 1 across from beginning to end, and by the identity property of addition this is a legal move.
Q: Okay, I get that. I read that algebra link you posted up there, but what exactly do these variables mean? What's a "m" and what's an "mi"?
A: I'll get to that.

The Earth is orbiting our sun @ 19E0mi/s.
19E0 (mi/s) * 1609.344 (m/mi)
= 30577.536 (mi/s)*(m/mi)
= 30577.536 (m/s)
≈ 3.1E3 (m/s)
As you can see the units canceled out and the final answer was approximated by rounding up. Here, I am able to say that 3.1E3 is correct to 2 significant digits. To learn more about significant digits/approximations and why they matter, click here.

Q: But..but.. That's not the real answer! The real answer is 30577.536
A:It's an approximation come on... Don't you see the little squiggle lines?
Q: Lol, you said 'squiggle line'.
A: I did.. Childishness aside there's something you should probably be aware of.
Q: Which is?
A: Significant figures and the round off method I didn't really fully use.
Q: Keep going...
A: While, where can I begin?
Q: At the start!
A: Okay. Concerning m/s ---
Q: Wait! What the hell is a m, and what the hell is a s? And you mentioned kg before Leo. What in Hades is a kg?
A: Well, you're probably more familiar with a feet (ft), miles (mi). Meters is "m", seconds is "s", kilograms is "kg". These are all short hand notations for units which 'typically' represent real life quantities in the real world.
Q: Go on.
A: Well, 1' = 12'' and 12'' = 2.56 cm. It's just like saying that 1 = 1 because they equate to the same amount. 1/1 =1. Essentially, you're converting a factor to cancel out a unit, convert it to another unit, and still manage to keep a number for your initial value that represents the exact magnitude that it represented before the conversion took place.
Q: What's a "fac-terd"?
A:(-_-)...
Q: Seriously!
A: A factor is something you use to multiply another thing with.
Q: Wait, I'm still confused. How is this going to help me solve Schrodinger's equations with four out of eight fingers again?
A: I believe that we have a long way to go..

To wrap everything up, this blog entry will end an embedded video of that IBM fim, but with a better audio track.

OKay, One of my future blog entries might include some Fortran Code. So please, study the syntax here and prepare yourself for the next installment of Joules and Newton.

Program Free_Cake
IMPLICIT NONE
INTEGER :: ans, & !answer
			rep, &	!repetition
			x	!do loop variable.
	Write (*,*) "Hello World"
	Write (*,*) "Hello Sir or Madam. How many times would you like me to annoy you today?"
	WRITE (*,*) "Please select a 'natural' number < 1E6 - 1"
	read (*,*) rep
	Write (*,*) "You have chosen", rep,"times"
	Write(*,*) "Is this correct?"
	Write(*,*) "1 = no"
	Write(*,*) "2 = yes"
	Write(*,*) "3= Matrix! <---best value, comes with FREE CAKE!"
	Read(*,*) ans
		IF (ans == 1) then 
			Write(*,*) "Too bad, I'm still going to annoy you",rep,"th times."
			DO x = 1,rep
			 	Write(*,*) "line",x,"This is the",x"th time I wrote this and wasted precious RAM power.."
			End Do
		ELSE IF (ans == 2) then
			Write(*,*) "You have answered 'yes'. Now I shall repeat the magic word", rep,"th times."
			DO x = 1,rep
			 	Write(*,*) "line",x,"Opps! I already forgot magic word."
			End Do
		Else IF (ans == 3) Then
		rep = 99999999 !hMahahhaha The cake is a lie...
		Do x = 1,rep
			Write(*,*)x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x,x
		END DO
	WRITE(*,*) "Thank you for executing this program."
	WRITE(*,*) "Consider subscribing to Joules and Newtons @"
	WRITE(*,*) "http://blogs.myspace.com/cypk" 
		END IF
END Program Free_Cake