The Origin of Algebra

Elementary algebra establishes the intermediate or college algebra. Apart from addressing mathematical expressions, it also contains of all kinds of equations like linear, quadratic and cubic. In algebra, all shapes such as a circle, hyperbola or parabola are represented by equations.
The equations can be resolved to generate a graph. Lines are the product of graphing simple linear equations. It is quite easy to solve systems of equations when represented graphically. A system of equations is two or more equations with the same number of variables. It can be both linear and non-linear. Systems of equations with inequalities (example; x>y) when graphed creates an area on the graph which matches the inequality condition.

Matrices help find solution to a set of complex problems like the ones existing in electrical networks. A matrix is a rectangular range of numbers organized in rows and columns. The numbers in a matrix are known as entries. Different operations like addition, multiplication and decomposition can be performed on matrices thereby providing theoretically and practically useful mathematical answers.

Finding Assistance for Algebra

Algebra constitutes the backbone of many different applications of maths, science and engineering. Once computer engineering science came in to the world of algebra, it has taken algebra to a new dimension by help solving century old problems within a matter of few hours. Algebra is not as complex as it may sound. There is a plenty of help and tutorials available to aid you excel the world of algebra.
World Wide Web resources like algebra solver software are interactive, give algebra lesson and aid you solve your homework problems. If you have not followed something in the algebra class or feel that you have overlooked an significant mathematical construct, World Wide Web tutors can provide you that extra aid. Algebra calculators guide you over your homework with a step-by-step calculations and explanations. You can improve your knowledge with the aid of the interactive tools. By taking an online quiz, you can self evaluate your competency in algebra.

It is an domain of mathematics that use letter of the alphabets in replacement of numbers to derive results for a given situation. This abstraction is the very reason why most people find algebra scary and too difficult to handle and it is the same reasons why some students find it fun to play around with. Algebra topics range from working with equations to factoring binomials all the way to finding the y-intercept. In almost all cases, just as in any other mathematics related class, students start by adding, subtracting and simplifying algebraic expressions. They then move on to understanding equivalent fractions, finding Least Common Multiples (LCM) and converting fractions to decimals .

Help!!! Exponents, Radicals and Graphing on the Way…

There are many advanced themes. Firstly there are exponents. An exponent is the little number placed to the right and slightly above a number or algebraic expression. In this example (x + y)³ where the 3 is the power and refers the power to which that number is raised. The above algebraic expression is read, x plus y to the third power. In working with powers you can add, subtract, multiple or divide them. You can work with fractional and negative exponents. If that isn’t enough to make your head spin, then you can move on to radicals. A radical, in simple terms, is the reversing of an exponent. The V beside 4 denote a radical expression which means, the square root of 4, which equals 2. The inverse of “V” symbol is “^” which denotes that the number it refers to is a multiple of the principle number. Therefore, 2^2 which is read as 2 to the 2nd power, equals 4. Equally with exponents, radical expressions can be added, subtracted, multiplied and divided. Radicals can be switched into powers and exponents back into radicals. If powers and radicals aren’t enough, there is always graphing. Start with graphing straight lines and verifying if the line is horizontal or vertical or something else. Another question to ask is whether the line has an x-intercept or a y-intercept Can you find the slope of the line? you master the mathematical art of graphing, you will chance on a whole new world filled with parabolas and hyperbolas.

Need Help?

While you are learning algebra if the terms and concepts seem too much to handle, relax and take a break. Did you know that there are many resources out there that can help you master complex systems of equations, quadratic formulas and polynomials. Look for math tutors or software systems that will walk you through gradual process on how to solve any problem. You can also use algebra calculators or algebra solvers. any of these instruments can assist you become an algebra expert in very little time.

But there is a simple thing you can do to offset the
negative environmental effects of driving your car, and It
costs less than $100 a year.

HOW DRIVING YOUR CAR AFFECTS THE ENVIRONMENT

If you drive a standard American automobile, your car emits
about 12,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year.
That’s three times the weight of the car! If you drive an
SUV, your car emits around 20,000 pounds of CO2 each year.

CO2 is a major “greenhouse gas.” Back around 1800, before
there were cars and industry, the CO2-concentration in the
air was about 280 ppm (1 ppm CO2= one molecule of CO2 per
one million molecules of air). Today, as the result of human
activities, the CO2-concentration in the air is about 370
ppm, and increasing by 1.7 ppm every year. And we’re adding
CO2 faster than it decomposes. Every molecule of CO2 we add
to the atmosphere stays there for about 100 years.

Many scientists are warning that this increase in CO2 is
raising the average temperature of the planet, known as the
“greenhouse effect.” The widely respected WorldWatch
Institute has warned that severe climate change could
include major shifts in weather patterns and agricultural
zones, resulting in droughts and floods. A wide range of
human and natural systems could be disrupted, displacing
long-standing economic and social systems as well as
established ecosystems.

Twenty percent of the carbon dioxide released into the
atmosphere every year comes from driving cars. That is a
significant percentage. This won’t be changed by
international protocols or government regulations. But each
one of us can make a difference by reducing our own CO2
emissions.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO REDUCE CO2 EMISSIONS PRODUCED BY DRIVING
YOUR CAR

CO2 emissions come primarily from the burning of fossil
fuels for energy. When you drive your car, use public
transportation, use electricity in your home or at work, or
fly on an airplane, you are contributing CO2 emissions into
the air. Most consumer products you buy are made with energy
from burning fossil fuels that produce CO2.

But there are also other ways to make energy. Renewable
energy sources such as solar, wind, and biomass are called
“clean” energy sources because they don’t produce CO2.

Today, various products are available that allow you to
offset the CO2 you produce by purchasing an equivalent
amount of energy from renewable sources that do not produce
CO2. This CO2-free energy flows into a local or national
grid, eliminating the need to burn fossil fuels that would
create the same amount of CO2. So while your car is still
adding CO2 to the atmosphere, your purchase of renewable
energy is subtracting the same amount of CO2 that would have
gone into the atmosphere someplace else.

TerraPass is one organization that has a program to purchase
renewable energy to offset the CO2 produced by your car. You
simply choose the TerraPass that corresponds to the type of
car and number of miles you drive. Terra Pass guarantees the
money from your membership will result in a reduction of
carbon dioxide that counterbalances the pollution from your
car through the purchase of renewable energy certificates.
You get a TerraPass decal for your car and the good feeling
that you are doing something to keep our climate as nature
intended.

My husband and I each purchased a TerraPass for our cars. A
TerraPass for my husband’s efficient Geo Metro was only
$39.95/year and my TerraPass for my Honda Del Sol was
$49.95/year. A small price to pay to do something real and
practical to protect our beautiful planet.

About the Author

Hailed as “The Queen of Green” by the New York Times, Debra
Lynn Dadd has been a leading consumer advocate for products
and lifestyle choices that are better for health and the
environment since 1982. Visit her website at
http://www.dld123.com to learn more about her new book Home
Safe Home, to sign up for her free email newsletters, and to
browse 100s of links to 1000s of nontoxic, natural and
earthwise products.

True story: I brought the fossil with me as a sort of visual aid for a presentation I was giving on sustainability at Intel. As I opened the car door in the Intel parking lot, the fossil slipped out of my bag. It crashed to the pavement, the asphalt shattering the tip of my favorite piece of history. I’m trying hard to avoid seeing any deep meaning in that disturbing little incident.

Anyway, I’ve been stroking that poor broken fossil a lot this week. I’m not freaking out about anything. I’ve just been spending some time thinking about time.

Is life a function of time, or is time a function of life?

This is worth spending a considerable amount of time (or life?) contemplating. For those of you in a hurry, I’ve got this short sound byte answer: It depends on what kind of scope you’re using.

My brother has worked for a nearby scope manufacturer for over twenty years, so my answer is colored by my familiarity with lenses and the way they magnify reality. You might come up with a response based on, say, your connection to compost. Or combustion engines. Or maybe blood cells. Me? I’m going with scopes.

I would say that time is a function of life whenever we are simply going through the motions of the day or looking at our accomplishments or failures over the course of our lives. We can divide periods of living into convenient packagesthat wondrous year in Miss Green’s first grade class, the bust-your-butt blur of college, the home-as-preschool phase, the years in the old house on Birch Street, and on and on. We use time. It allows us to keep things organized, both in our day planners and in our minds. It’s a helpful ordering mechanism.

It’s hard to get a grip on the enormity of time when we view it in appointments, lunch hours, and television time-slots. If we pull waaayyy back and look at it, then life becomes a function of time instead of the other way around.

We don’t tend to pay attention to any of that while getting ready for work in the morning. We don’t look at Time with a capital T. That’s because we’re looking through the lens of the microscope. Well, haul out the telescope. Take a look at gigantic periods of time. Consider unfathomable chunks of eternity.

We’ve been in the Cenozoic era for about 65 million years now. It started way back with the extinction of the last non-avian dinosaurs. The most recent Cenozoic period, the Quarternary, started a mere 1.8 million years ago, and has seen the development of humans from the very earliest use of tools and rudimentary language to the present flip-phone/camera/email devices that are all the rage today. That’s quite a progression.

I’m thinking we’ve sort of maxed out the Cenozoic era. It has served us well in many ways, but frankly, it’s getting a bit tired. Seeing as how humans were the ones to name the eras in the first place (that part is definitely time as a function of life), it’s perfectly reasonable that humans should declare when the next one is starting. It’s fairly arbitrary anyway. There’s certainly some wiggle roomat least a couple hundred thousand years.

Can we start the new one now? Please?

Here’s an idea-why not put a little thought into the next era? Instead of documenting the progress-or decline-of species, why not plug in a little intention and see where that takes us?

I wish I’d thought of that first, but I didn’t. Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme coined the term “Ecozoic era” in The Universe Story, and then Berry went on to talk about what that might look like in his book, The Great Work. He calls for a profoundly transformational approach to the Earth. Berry describes the Ecozoic era as one holding the promise of humans living in a mutually enhancing relationship with all life systems.

This sounds pretty groovy, but it’s not viewed as a Utopian concept. It’s a viable proposition.

The first steps have been taken to build the foundation for a realistic movement toward this new era. The Center for Ecozoic Studies is at the forefront, but a number of scholars of all stripes are coming together to do some planning. There’s not a gloom-and-doomer in the bunch. In fact, they are catapulted by hope and possibility. They take this work very seriously but embrace it joyfully.

We should, too. We humans have come a long way from pounding rocks in a cave. We’re perfectly capable of looking forward and envisioning an unprecedented era capitalizing on cooperation and awareness as guiding principles. We do it in the movies all the time. Why can’t we do it for real?

I’d like to propose that we consider utilizing the concept that life is a function of time. Let’s think about what it means to plan an era. The cave folks couldn’t imagine the world today. We have the advantage of the knowledge of history and a growing understanding of the forces that propel a planet through its evolutionary journey.

Like it or not, we have a certain responsibility to use these formidable frontal lobes. You don’t have to be a scientist to think about the future of the Earth. You’re human. Think about it because you CAN.

Look for fossil moments in your day to consider the universe, and grasp the opportunity to render yourself temporarily insignificant.

Just watch out for asphalt.

About the Author

Maya Talisman Frost is a mind masseuse. Her course, Massage Your Mind!: Defining Your Life Philosophy, has inspired thinkers in over 70 countries around the world. Her free weekly ezine, the Friday Mind Massage, serves up a satisfying blend of clarity, comfort and comic relief. Both are available at http://www.massageyourmind.com.

Solar energy has been around for quite a while and most people don’t think about it much except for the ones who are already into renewable sources of energy. Environmentalists have always loved the idea of solar energy but what has kept it from going more mainstream, being more widely used and looked upon as something someone wants to spend money to install on their property? There have been improvements in the technology of solar energy, but has there been enough? Isn’t the war on terror and the desire to be independent of foreign energy sources enough to persuade people to use solar energy? At what point will solar energy become the great and never ending source of energy many of envisioned many years ago?

Well, I, for one, think that the time has just about come for solar energy to really take off because of one reason: it will be economically the right and smart thing to do.

Last year I was driving to Las Vegas from San Jose and when I was just about three quarters of the way to my destination I passed a sign that said something about a “solar farm.” I glanced over and saw row upon row of solar panels sitting in the middle of the dessert. This is about the only farm that could survive in the dessert I thought to myself. Then I thought ” Wow. Why can’t I do that?” In a smaller fashion of course because of my limited resources. But I thought why not rent some land and buy some of these panels and start my own little farm? It made sense and actually it still makes sense to me.

I went home later and looked into the solar energy industry. I wanted to see if this was possible now and I thought if these people put all those panels out in the dessert and sold the energy to others why can’t a small businessman?

Well, what I found out is that it isn’t quite possible to do just yet. Why? Because the cost of the panels, property, labor etc.. wasn’t low enough to make a profit for what you can sell the energy for. The solar farm was more than likely subsidized by the government. So I looked into the possibility of using them on homes. This thought has been around for decades and you do see the panels on more homes than you used to so I was wondering if this was possible now. I found out that it just takes too long for the average consumer to get their investment back to consider putting solar panels on their homes.

The average time for a homeowner to get the money back on their investment is anywhere from 12 years to 20 years. For this industry to take off that figure I believe will have to go down to around 5 to 7. Not that far really. It could actually go below that.

Three things have to happen for the solar energy promise to become a reality and for homeowners and entrepreneurs to decide in large numbers to use solar panels to create electricity:

1. The price of the panels will have to decrease.
2. The panels will have to improve and produce more energy.
3. The cost of energy will have to increase.

Actually just one of these factors can happen to a great degree and the other two stay constant and the point will be reached where the solar energy industry will explode. But more than likely, all three will come closer together and at some point people will decide to start buying the panels in record numbers and we will see this way of creating energy from a clean and renewable source be common place.

Here is why I think the time is very near for this explosion to happen.

1. There is a bill in the state legislature in California now that will spend $billions on rebates for solar energy. The governor wants to show that he is in the front of this movement and wants to be aggressive. Some don’t like the way the bill is written, but there is a good chance it will pass.
Click here for the article

2. The panels are becoming more and more efficient at producing more energy.

3. The price may go down dramatically if contracts with China to produce the panels are put into place. Normally I don’t like our jobs going oversees to people who only get fractions of what the US worker makes but in this instance it will also create many jobs here to install the panels, sell them, warehouse them etc… Plus this is something the country needs I feel. Clean, renewable energy that makes us less reliable on foreign oil and gases.

Also, some companies are producing these new generation flexible solar energy panels that come in sheets and can be rolled up and then out onto surfaces. These may bring the cost way down and make the instalation much more easy and cost efficiant. Here is an article about this new product:
Click Here

At what point will these three variables merge?

I predict in the next two to three years this industry will take off like so many of us were hoping it would many years ago.

If you want to know how to install a solar electric panel system to your house here is a inexpensive e-book that shows you how.
Click Here
People can act now, and many already are by buying and installing these solar panels. With the war on terror looking like it could last decades many look upon this investment as not only a clean green solution and a smart investment on increasing the value of their home, but as almost a patriotic gesture in a way to free us from the dependence on middle eastern oil and natural gas. Here is a link to a terrific site where you can get these panels at wholesale prices. This site has all sorts of renewable energy sources at great prices.

Altenenergystore.com

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________-

About the Author

Tim Phelan is a full time internet marketer who has been self emloyed for the last 12 years.
Real estate, the environment, art, world culture, politics are some of his other interests.
Please visit this site:
click here

Email address Click Here
timphelansblog.com

As opposed to the regular means of receiving electric which can twelve cents per kilowatt or even higher during certain months of the year. The bills you would have to pay for the regular method of receiving electricity can be significantly larger than paying for wind power. Not only is it cheap but also it is clean for the environment not destroying the air we breathe or the water we drink. Because of this, more and more people each year are switching over their power sources to a better natural means of electricity. A perfect example of clean and cheap energy is using home wind power.

I went to the Post Office yesterday, the small local one round the corner, to draw a relatively large amount of money out of my account. Whilst in the queue, I saw a packet of refill cartridges going cheap. Half-price. Which in consequence meant it was around 50p to keep an ink pen running for a good year or so.

Thinking they might come in handy, I procured some and when I was at the head of the queue, placed them on the counter, saying casually to the postmistress that I sincerely hoped that the money I was drawing out would indeed cover the cost of the cartridges.

As I was drawing out in excess of £300, there was a strong chance really and my comment was merely meant to make her smile.

“Yes, it will,” she said. Indeed, it appeared that she had done some quick mental arithmetic to make sure. The whole transaction was rather icy, in retrospect.

It could almost have been a precursor to the BBC2 programme I watched later, where on Horizon, it has been predicted that Britain could well, before long, be plunged into another ice age. (Postmistresses roaming the streets, doing unnecessary mental arithmetic, unsmilingly.)

That aside, Horizon proved compulsive viewing. At present, Britain enjoys its temperate climate due to the warm air brought to us from the Gulf Stream. But, due to global warming, were the ice sheets to continue to melt, we would have some major problems. It wouldn’t get hotter, as you’d think. It would, conversely, get a hell of a lot colder here in Britain.

You see, the North Atlantic is an incredibly important area. From a meteorological point of view, you could say it is “strategic.” It is the point where the Gulf Stream sinks to join what is known as the Atlantic Conveyor, a massive rotating belt which takes cold water back along the ocean floor to the tropics, where again, it rises, to begin the journey again.

This whole process relies on the salinity of the water. As salt water cools, it’s density increases, causing this drop to the floor I just mentioned. What could bugger this up?

Well, naturally, fresh water from the melting ice-sheets, along with the huge Siberian rivers, which are flooding more than ever, contributing to this fresh water being thrown into the Atlantic.

Put simply, diluted salt water will not sink, the Gulf Stream would call it a day and it would get bloody cold. No, really cold.

Dr Terry Joyce, of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute believes there is a 50% chance of this happening within the next 100 years. “The likelihood of having an abrupt change is increasing – global warming is moving us closer and closer to the brink” he warned.

(It was sobering stuff. Again, vitriolic thoughts about the world’s leaders who continue to allow global warming to happen bombarded my brain, as the Atlantic continues to be bombarded by this fresh water.)

It’s been cold recently, more so since the central heating has decided to pack up and the damned landlord has taken aeons to sort it. So, it was a case of watching this programme whilst huddled round my Zippo.

I’m relatively new to this town, so whilst I was on the playground today, picking up the kids, I got talking to this chap that I have begun to know. In the past, it has merely been a case of exchanging pleasantries. I was telling him about the central heating having shut down. Turns out, he’d seen Horizon last night as well.

“Knowing my luck” I said, ” this forecasted ice age will hit us tonight before the landlord gets the boiler sorted.”

“Oh no, I think it would take around 10 years to fully hit us. It wouldn’t happen overnight.”

Is he related to the postmistress? I’m beginning to get nagging doubts about this town.

About the Author

Freelance Journalist. 2004 has seen pieces published in The Guardian and pieces also accepted by Jack magazine. More articles available at my site: http://www.articles.me.uk

Already, consumer energy bills have been increasing on average 6.5% per year for the last thirty years in the United States. Given the dramatic rise in the cost of producing energy using traditional non-renewable resources, this rate is bound to be overtaken by unheard of price increases in the very near future. And for consumers who are becoming more and more environmentally conscious, the thought of the millions and millions of tons of CO2 and other bi products being released into the atmosphere annually through the use of fossil fuels in creating energy is very alarming.

It is a no brainer that our reliance on oil to create energy leaves us very vulnerable. There are renewable technologies that produce energy, but the problem has been one of cost effectiveness. It has always been cheaper to supply energy using fossil fuels, and consequently, renewable sources such as solar or wind power have not taken off. But the situation now appears to be changing. More and more, our consumption of energy is outstripping supply. The grid can barely keep up with demand and rolling blackouts are no longer just a concept. No wonder governments are looking for alternatives. And no wonder everyone is talking solar once again.

In 1985 annual worldwide solar power system installation accounted for 21 megawatts of power. By 2004, this had multiplied to an incredible 927 megawatts in new installation power production alone. The demand for solar produced energy over the last several years has increased annually about 25%, although in 2004 sales were up a whopping 67% from the previous year.

There are several reasons for this increase in popularity for all things solar powered. Beyond the obvious environmental considerations and the privilege of not having to rely on power from a grid that is aging and stretched to capacity, solar is getting cost effective. While traditional energy production gets more expensive, technological advances are making solar power cheaper.

In 1980 the cost of harvesting energy from the sun stood at about $100 per watt. Literally a hundred times more expensive than the going rate of electricity, these systems were not economically viable. By 1999 however, technology had reduced this to about $4 per watt and costs have continued to decline by about 5% per year since. The Return on Investment is becoming very attractive for many commercial organizations and consumers.

Efficiencies have been realized in several technologies. The inverters that transform the collected DC energy into usable AC energy used to deliver only about 65% efficiency. 35% of the collected energy was lost in the transformation process. Today’s transformers are so efficient they deliver up to 96% of collected energy into usable AC current.

Photovoltaic technology has also made solar collection far more efficient. Twenty years ago, only 5% of the sun’s energy hitting a solar charging panel was harvested. This figure is now in excess of 15% and will continue to climb as more efficient compounds are designed and introduced in the manufacture of these photovoltaic panels.

All levels of government are increasingly looking at solar to provide stable, cost effective and environmentally friendly power. 35 states now have some kind of rebate program for homeowners that install solar power systems. And this is not just the southern “sunny states”. While California is the clear leader in promoting solar powered energy solutions (a program introduced in 2003 is promoting the introduction of solar powered energy systems into a million homes over the next several years) New Jersey and New York are next in line for solar investment.

At the municipal level, many jurisdictions have introduced solar solutions for traffic and streetlights. 50% of the energy used to run the City of Sacremento’s water purification plant is solar. NASA uses solar powered energy systems in many of its buildings. And governments are not using solar just because it is good for the environment and sets an example for commercial entities and consumers (although these benefits cannot be lost on them!). They’ve concluded that opting for solar systems will save them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

With so many rebate programs today homeowners are coming to the same conclusions. Once the initial return on investment is recouped (as early as 4 to 6 years with the rebate programs in California for example), solar users don’t have any additional energy bills, almost no maintenance to worry about and are not slave to an electrical grid that is becoming more and more fragile as demand outstrips supply. No wonder solar power is getting attention!

Solar power is still more expensive than traditional energy production methods, but the gap is narrowing every year. Solar power applications are also multiplying at an amazing rate. House heating, solar pool lighting and heating, hot water tank heating, calculators, flashlights, solar garden lighting and on and on. Solar is clean, it’s efficient and it’s here to stay.

About the Author

Kavar Peter is a successful freelance writer with a strong interest in renewable energy issues. He has a passion for solar powered products a href> and writes regularly for http://www.solarlightcenter.com