A Ton of Crap (113 page)

Hyperbolic Trigonometry
The formula for a hyperbole is
x
2 – 
y
2 = 1. The
x
and
y
coordinates have hyperbolic functions known as hyperbolic cosine and hyperbolic sine, which are written as
x
(
v
) = cosh
v
and
x
(
v
) = sinh
v
, where
v
represents the area. An example of this in the real world would be the shape of a hanging necklace, known as a catenary (which can be expressed as
y
 = cosh 
x
). Another way of writing these equations are:

PLASMA

Magnetization
When a plasma is magnetized, it features a magnetic field that is so strong it can influence the movement of the charged particles. On average, a particle completes a single gyration around the magnetic field before a collision occurs, and the electrons are often magnetized, not the ions. Magnetized plasma is known as anisotropic, meaning the direction parallel to the magnetic field has properties that are different from those that are perpendicular to the magnetic field.

AFRIKAANS

Afrikaans in Post-Apartheid South Africa
Instead of being one of two official languages in South Africa, when the democratized republic was established in 1994, Afrikaans was downgraded. It is now one of eleven official languages, having lost its special and protected status. The language is still quite prevalent, however, in the media, and is beginning to see a revival in popularity. As time goes on, the language is no longer being directly associated with the oppression of apartheid and the National Party.

VIETNAM WAR

The End of the War
When Richard Nixon became president, he had plans to end the war. Nixon’s plan, known as Vietnamization, was to encourage the South Vietnamese to take control of the war and bring American troops back home, shifting the fighting to air attacks. During the Nixon years, the United States expanded the war into Laos and Cambodia, violating their international rights, in an attempt to crush Communist supply routes and sanctuaries. In December of 1972, the United States launched bombing raids in the largest cities of the DRV. The bombings were condemned by the international community, and Nixon had to reconsider his strategy. In 1973, the Nixon administration and the GVN signed a peace accord, and hostilities between the DRV and the United States ended. The war in Vietnam continued until April 30, 1975, when the Communists captured Saigon.

CHARLES DICKENS

The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Dickens was writing a murder mystery,
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
, when he died, leaving the book unfinished and the mystery unsolved. Since his death, there have been numerous attempts to finish the book. Perhaps one of the most famous was
Drood
, a Broadway musical based on Dickens’s story that makes up for the lack of an ending by asking the audience to vote on the answers to the various mysteries. The musical debuted in 1985 and won five Tony Awards, including the Best Musical category.

THE NUMBER e

Derangements
Derangements are related to permutations. They are solutions that are “all wrong.” For example, 10 guests are about to leave your home; if you wanted to figure out how many ways the coats could be randomly put on, it would be a permutation of 10. The derangements are the number of times that no person gets their own coat, or everything is wrong. There are 3,628,800 different permutations and 1,334,961 derangements. If you divide those two numbers, you get
e
. No matter how many people there are, the odds of getting the correct coat is 1 – 1/
e
.

PLASMA

Examples of Plasma
Even though plasma is found in the stars and Sun, there is evidence of plasma on the Earth’s surface. Lightning, for example, is plasma, with a temperature that can reach ~28,000 Kelvin and densities of electrons that can be up to 1024
m
−3. Fluorescent lights, sparks, flames, neon signs, plasma displays, and even aurora borealis are all examples of plasma. In neon signs, for example, a glass tube is filled with gas. As the light is turned on, the gas becomes charged by the electricity, creating plasma.

AFRIKAANS

Useful Afrikaans Phrases
Here are some helpful Afrikaans phrases to use when traveling to South Africa:

Hello.
Haai, Hallo.

Good morning.
Goeiemôre.

Good afternoon.
Goeie middag.

Good evening.
Goeienaand.

Good night.
Goeienag.

How are you?
Hoe gaan dit met jou
?

Pleased to meet you.
Bly te kenne.

Where are you from?
Waarvandaan kom jy
?

What’s your name?
Wat is jou naam
?

I don’t understand.
Ek verstaan nie.

Excuse me. V
erskoon my.

How much is this?
Hoeveel kos dit
?

Thank you.
Dankie.

Where’s the toilet?
Waar is die toilet
?

Goodbye.
Totsiens
.

1. The United States did not send troops to Vietnam until the presidency of:
   

   1. Eisenhower
      
   2. Kennedy
      
   3. Johnson
      
   4. Nixon
      

2. Which of the following describes Nixon’s plan of Vietnamization?
   

   1. It was to encourage the South Vietnamese to take control of the war, bring American troops back, and have fighting done from the air.
      
   2. It would place Vietnamese villagers into hamlets, isolating them from the NLF.
      
   3. It would expand the war into Laos and Cambodia.
      
   4. It would support the creation of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO).
      

3. A Tale of Two Cities
   was a departure from Charles Dickens’s earlier work because:
   

   1. It was the first to be published as a book and not serialized.
      
   2. It was a historical novel and not as character-driven.
      
   3. It was written in French.
      
   4. It steered away from political and social commentary.
      

4. Which Dickens book is considered the most autobiographical?
   

   1. David Copperfield
      
   2. Oliver Twist
      
   3. The Mystery of Edwin Drood
      
   4. A Christmas Carol
      

5. Which of the following is true?
   

   1. The exponential function
      y
      =
      ex
      has an equal rate of growth to its value.
      
   2. The exponential function
      y
      =
      ex
      has a higher rate of growth to its value.
      
   3. The exponential function
      y
      =
      ex
      has a lower rate of growth to its value.
      
   4. The exponential function
      y
      =
      ex
      is half the rate of growth to its value.
      

6. Which of the following correctly finds
   e
   ?
   

   1. e
      = 2 + 1! + 2! + 3! + 4! + …
      
   2. e
      = 1 + 1! + 2! + 3! + 4! + …
      
   3. e
      = 1 + 1/1! + 1/2! + 1/3! + 1/4! + …
      
   4. All of the above
      

7. Which of the following is a difference between gas and plasma?
   

   1. While plasma has very low electrical conductivity, gas has extremely high electrical conductivity that can be seen as infinite.
      
   2. While gas has very low electrical conductivity, plasma has extremely high electrical conductivity that can be seen as infinite.
      
   3. While gas has very high electrical conductivity, plasma has extremely low electrical conductivity that can be seen as infinite.
      
   4. Both gas and plasma have extremely high electrical conductivity, but only gas can be seen as infinite.
      

8. At a low temperature, electrons and ions will:
   

   1. Break apart from the atom
      
   2. Recombine and form an atom
      
   3. Turn into protons
      
   4. Turn into neutrons
      

9. How much of Afrikaans stems from Dutch?
   

   1. 25–30 percent
      
   2. 40–45 percent
      
   3. 90–95 percent
      
   4. 50–55 percent
      

10. Which of the following is true?
    

    1. There are no long consonants in Afrikaans.
       
    2. There is no distinction in gender for nouns.
       
    3. There are no declensions.
       
    4. All of the above.