Water – Chemistry 101 Dihydrogen oxide kills hundreds, if not thousands across the globe annually. It is also the most potent Green House Gas (GHG) we have. It is water of course and it sometimes gets a bad rap. In … Read More
Author Archives: Andy McGee
Series – Maths 006
Fibonacci Series Series turn up everywhere in the natural world, with one of the most famous being the Fibonacci series 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34….. You probably already know that each number is the sum of the previous 2 numbers. This can be written … Read More
Tags: cosine, Fibonacci, Golden ratio, Mersenne, Phi, series, Series expansion, sine, tangent, Taylor series, Zeno's paradox
Is there a limit? 005
Archimedes’ Pi Can we sit and meditate and think up all the maths there is? Potentially yes and some mathematicians have done a very good job. Mandalas are geometric patterns that are often used for meditation. These are geometric patterns … Read More
Tags: archimedes, calculate pi, calculus, infinitessimals, Limits, pythagoras
Elegance and Visual Stimulation = Equations and Graphs – Maths 004
Knit one, pearl one is the start of a knitters algorithm. My mother loved to knit. She could invent complex patterns in her head and knit them out to any size or shape you required. They were truly works of … Read More
Computer Games and Algorithms Maths – 003
(nothing to do with Al Gore’s Rhythm) Following instructions Maths is all about following instructions to the tee and that set of rules (or instructions or actions or recipe) is called an algorithm. Action computer games or apps are all … Read More
Tags: algorithm, BODMAS, computer code, Euclid, Hidden Figures, PEMDAS, quadratic
How the Universe Got its Mojo part 2 – Maths -002
Beauty of Maths Happy Pi day and Einstein’s birthday to boot. As I tried to make the point last time, maths, like music should be enjoyed for its beauty. It provides a description of the universe and an insight into … Read More
How the Universe Got its Mojo – Maths – 001
Numbers – one dimension Numbers and the things we can do to them (operations) make up maths. Their simplicity and amazing complexity can be used to think up a universe. Or put another way, the beauty and intricacy of the … Read More
Energy Storage – 023
Energy Storage Energy storage and power generation are two separate issues that appear to be getting muddled by politicians and journalists. For example hydro power is essentially energy from the sun and therefore renewable. The solar energy lifts water into … Read More
Biofuel Crops – 022
Byogy Renewables announced recently that they are looking at setting up a $10 million test site to convert ethanol to gasoline. In Australia this could be from sugar cane or biomass from the grain industry and the site is likely … Read More
Biofuels – 021
I have just returned from a great month travelling in Far North Queensland, an area that is both very environmentally conscious and conservative. Bob Katter, a local MP is strongly pursuing an increase in ethanol production to improve the lot … Read More
Tags: biofuels, biogas, ethanol, sugar cane diesel, wood