Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

To: Uncle Ike

Yeah, no shit. First post I’ve never understood.


12 posted on 07/28/2010 5:48:36 PM PDT by goseminoles
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies ]


To: goseminoles

Anybody want to drink beer and go four-wheelin’?


14 posted on 07/28/2010 5:52:42 PM PDT by SnuffaBolshevik
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies ]

To: goseminoles
First post I’ve never understood.

It's much simpler than it looks :-)

The curve that they are talking about is all corners - it has no smooth sections. There are no breaks in the curve, so you can call it "continuous", but each and every point of it is a jagged corner.

Typically by "differentiating" a thing they mean putting a wooden ruler between two points very near each other and recording which direction the ruler points at.

But as you can see here, if the curve is all corners you can't put a ruler anywhere because it lands on a corner, whatever you do :-) And since your ruler rocks every which way on that corner, the curve is not "differentiable" - there is no single direction the ruler would point to. That's all to it.

31 posted on 07/28/2010 6:46:17 PM PDT by Greysard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson