Write a critical appreciation of Marvells To his coy mistress. How Ess

Write a critical appreciation of Marvell's To his coy mistress. How does the lover in this poem make you feel? This poem is about a man, who is likely to be Marvell seducing his sweetheart and trying to persuade her to sleep with him. This essay will look at different parts of the poem such as how it is written and the atmosphere of it. The poem is about a man seducing his sweet heart and trying to persuade her to go to bed with him. He tries to scare her by telling her that if she does not let him sleep with her and carries on as a virgin than she will die a virgin and nothing but the worms will invade her virginity. He tries to reason with her that if they had all the time in the world it would not matter if she was modest and towards the end of the poem he tells her, they don't have all the time in the world so they should seize their chance, he cant "make the sun stand still" to wait for her. He also tells her that the "grave is a fine and private place" where no one will embrace her. The poem is written as a syllogism, or an argument that is set out in thr...

Impact of Unemployment in Economics Essay

There are many people who are looking for jobs but cannot find them mostly because of the slow economic growth rate in the country. South Africa faces structural unemployment where people loose their jobs due to introduction of new technology or relocation of the company, these economic disruptions have resulted in high crime rates, low production and income as well as lost human capital. The NDP has been put in place to solve the problem of unemployment, and if supported well there can be job creation because they promise on expanding work programme, reduce costs of doing business and support entrepreneurship. Body South Africa faces the greatest challenge of a very high unemployment rate, which is highly influenced by the slow growth of the country hence resulting in slow employment growth as well (Parkin et al, 2010:449). Unemployment has been defined in two forms: a narrow definition and a broad definition. The narrow definition of unemployment is the official definition of unemployment and it states that an unemployed person is a person who is willing to work and is making an effort to find a job, Parkin et al, states that â€Å"To be counted as unemployed, a person must be available to work†¦must want to work and have made specific efforts to find a job or taken steps to start a business† (Parkin et al, 2010:495), but the broad definition of unemployment also includes the discouraged workers because they are people who are willing to work but have not been making an effort to find a job in the previous month mostly because they cannot find the jobs (Parkin et al, 2010:495). The business cycle of a country also influences the employment and unemployment rates, for example during a recession period there are high unemployment rate and during expansion there are lower unemployment rates (Lipsey et al, 1999:726). Unemployment is classified into three types; i) Frictional, ii) Structural, iii) Cyclical. Frictional unemployment has been explained as â€Å"The unemployment that arises from normal labour turnover – from people entering and leaving the labour force and from the ongoing creation and destruction of jobs† (Parkin et al, 2010:501). The structural unemployment refers to the more crucial and enduring restrictions on worker mobility, Parkin et al, explains it as â€Å"The unemployment that arises when changes in the technology or international competition change the skills needed to perform jobs or change in locations of jobs† (Parkin et al, 2010:502). Cyclical unemployment is influenced by the business cycle where a recession will increase unemployment and an expansion will decrease unemployment (Lipsey et al, 1999:726). South Africa suffers from Structural unemployment to a greater extent because it affects the economic structure of the whole economy especially due to introduction of new technologies and skills needed to cope with competition from the other countries, South Africa has gone global in the business sector therefore it needs to be upgrading its technology and skills to match its competitors. Unemployment is calculated as the number of unemployed people expressed as a percentage of the labour force, where labour force is the number of unemployed people plus number of employed people (Parkin et al, 2010:502). Number of people unemployed Unemployment = X 100 Labour Force Statistics in South Africa show that â€Å"In Q4:2008, there were approximately 3. 9 million people unemployed in South Africa and during the financial and economic crisis, the level of unemployment climbed rapidly, reaching a peak of 4. million in Q1:2010† (Labour Force Survey 2012), this can be best explained as f luctuation of job creation because, during a recession when the country is facing economic hardships the number of jobs shrinks and this influences a spike in the unemployment rate (Parkin et al, 2010:449). The unemployment rate in South Africa will never drop to zero because it is a developing country and does not have a very high Gross Domestic Product which is â€Å"†¦the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given time period† (Parkin et al, 2010:468), when GDP is low, there is an increase in unemployment because there are few goods produced there for a limited labour force is needed to produce the few goods. The number of unemployed people rose to 4. 5 million in Q2:2011, but declined during the second half of 2011, In Q1:2012, the number of unemployed people rose by 282 000, reaching 4. 5 million, which is the same level observed in Q2:2011† (Labour Force Survey 2012). Unemployment is a major issue in South Africa and the only way to manage it is by increasing our entrepreneurial strategy, supporting Small and Medium Enterprises as well as being united as a nation (Ramaphosa 2012). Job creation is not just a strategy to deal with unemployment but it is also going to eradicate poverty and this will increase the living conditions of every South African citizen. Mr Ramaphosa notes that unemployment is hindering our endeavor to eradicate poverty and also reduce the inequality gap (Ramaphosa 2012). The National Development Plan (NDP) which was produced in 2011 by the National Planning Commission has been put in place as strategy to deal with unemployment and Mr Ramaphosa explains that â€Å"It envisages the creation of 11 million jobs by 2030, and a reduction in levels of unemployment from about 25% to 6%† (Ramaphosa 2012). The NDP plans on involving the government as well as the labour sector to play a role, an expansion of the public works programme is going to help reduce unemployment because it will be offering work experiences and skills to those people who are unemployed. Minimizing the cost of doing business helps small companies to get into business and also employ people to work; the NDP also states that tax subsidy will be granted to businesses to minimize the cost of recruiting young people (NDP Summary 2011), this will result in job creation and hence unemployment is reduced. Unemployment affects the whole country because due to unemployment there will be low standard of living Mr Ramaphosa explains that employment is the core of humanity (Ramaphosa 2012), when unemployment is high crime rates tend to increase as well because need to earn a living, so since they cannot find jobs they resort to robbery, drug trafficking and prostitution, this helps explain the high crime rates and HIV Aids rate in South Africa. Economically unemployment leads to loss of production therefore low GDP because there are no people who can work to help make more products; there is also lack and underutilization of human capital when there are high rates of unemployment (Parkin et al, 2010:468). Conclusion The NDP has been put in place to help manage unemployment in South Africa and if it gets support from everyone 11 million jobs will be created by 2030. Unemployment increases crime rates and hence need to be managed properly. The government plans on reducing the costs of doing business and that way there can be creation of employment, the works programme is also going to be sed to provide skills to people who do not have jobs, and above all education for all has to be achieved so as to eradicate unemployment and hence poverty.

Language Processing and Production Essay

This experiment investigated hemispheric specialisation and dominance with regards to language functions. It used a computer program to measure the amount of key presses achieved by participants in a given time across four different trials (1 with the left hand, no talking, 2 with the left hand whilst being asked questions, and the same two trials again with the right hand). The participants were 2nd year psychology students from which a cohort of 20 was selected for data analysis. A significant difference was found for the effect of hemisphere and language processing task present or absent. However, the means for each trial did not support left hemispheric dominance for language functions: more key presses were recorded when talking and using the right hand than when talking and using the left. Handedness and some involvement of the right hemisphere in language processing and production were also shown as appearing to influence the results obtained. The main conclusion to be drawn is that hemispheric specialisation and language dominance is a subject that needs further investigation in order to clarify the generalisability of conclusions made about left hemisphere language specialisations. Our brain consists of two halves; the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere. The left hemisphere receives information from and controls muscles in the right side of the body, whilst the right hemisphere receives information from and controls muscles in the left side of the body. Research using brain imagery and studies of brain damaged and split brain patients, to name just a few examples, has shown that some of our functions are controlled more by one hemisphere than the other, i.e. are more specialised for that particular function. This experiment aims to investigate these differing specialisations of the hemispheres more deeply and with particular regard to language. Research into language differences between the two hemispheres is widespread and supports the view that the left hemisphere is the more dominant. Marc Dax was the first to notice hemispheric differences in his brain damaged patients, after having seen many patients suffering from loss of speech. Dax found what appeared to be an association between the loss of speech and the side of the brain where the damage occurred. ‘In more than 40 patients with aphasia, Dax noticed damage to the left hemisphere; he was unable to find a case that involved damage to the right hemisphere alone’ (Springer and Deutsch, 1998, p. 1-2). By 1870 further evidence also began to surface, when other investigators began to realise that ‘many types of language disorders could result from damage to the left hemisphere’ (Springer & Deutsch, 1998, p. 1). For example, Broca’s and Wernicke’s aphasia: Broca’s aphasia causes speech problems associated with comprehension, resulting from damage to Broca’s area (situated in the left frontal cortex), whilst Wernicke’s aphasia causes word salad (hard to understand, jumbled speech), resulting from damage to Wernicke’s area (situated in the left temporal lobe). Later research has also supported Dax’s original findings, one example of such research concluded ‘that the left hemisphere is responsible for language in almost all right-handed individuals’ (Butler, S. R. 1997, p. 187). This research also links the additional factor of handedness to investigations of hemispheric lateralisation, an idea which has been supported by others in the field. For example: ‘In right handers †¦ , it is almost always the case that the hemisphere that controls the dominant hand is also the hemisphere that controls speech’ (Springer and Deutsch, 1998, p. 2), therefore it is possible that for left handers, as their dominant hand is being controlled by the right hemisphere, the right hemisphere may be responsible for speech control and other language functions instead of the left hemisphere. Additional research looking at right hemisphere lesions has demonstrated that the right hemisphere is responsible for some linguistical functions: finding that patients with such lesions may be ‘impaired relative to normal controls on certain tests of language’ (Corballis, C. M. 1983, p. 33). One study by Lesser (1974) reported such an impairment ‘on a semantic test involving comprehension of spoken words but not on a phonological or syntactic test’ (Corballis, C. M. 1983, p. 33), suggesting a small role for the right hemisphere in language processing. Kinsbourne and McMurray carried out valuable research using healthy participants, using a procedure similar to the current study (cited in Kalat, 2004, pg. 427). They asked participants to tap with a pencil on a piece of paper as many times as they could in one minute, first with their right hand then with their left, then asked them to do the same again whilst talking, they found that ‘for most right-handers, talking decreases the tapping rate with the right hand more than with the left hand’. This further supports left hemispheric dominance for language, as well as supporting the current study’s methodology and informing its hypothesis. As has been demonstrated most research supports left hemispheric dominance of language functions, but also links hemispheric specialisation with other factors and accepts that the right hemisphere holds some language comprehension control. This experiment looks for further supportive evidence and also briefly looks at handedness as a possible affecting factor. The study uses a finger tapping and language processing task, with the notion that the speed at which keys are pressed will be relatively similar with both hands. If however, if it is the case that language is more associated with the left hemisphere, then on average when processing language, the speed of the right hand will be slower than the left hand, presumably because the left hemisphere then has to do two tasks at once (right hand finger tapping and language processing). This is only the case however if all participants in the experiment have left hemisphere dominance for language, and is thus the reason we have recorded the handedness of our participants. As a result of previous studies and research the hypothesis for this experiment is: there will be differences in the number of taps made from each of the two hands when language is or isn’t being processed. Method Design The experiment used a fully repeated measures within-subjects design: all participants took part in all conditions. There was one independent variable, consisting of four different levels: left hand, talking, no talking and right hand talking, no talking. The dependent variable was the number of key presses made within the time limit of 30 seconds per trial.

Interesting Bull Shark Facts (Carcharhinus leucas)

Interesting Bull Shark Facts (Carcharhinus leucas) The bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas)  is an aggressive shark found throughout the world in warm, shallow waters along coasts, in estuaries, in lakes, and in rivers. Although bull sharks have been found inland as far as the Mississippi River in Illinois, they arent a true freshwater species. The bull shark is listed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Essential Facts Bull sharks get their common name both from their appearance and their behavior. The shark is large and stocky, with a broad, flat snout and an unpredictable, aggressive nature. Females are larger than males. A typical female bull shark is 2.4 m (7.9 ft) long and weighs 130 kg (290 lb), while a male averages 2.25 m (7.4 ft) and 95 kg (209 lb). The largest recorded bull shark was a 4.0 m (13.1 ft) female. The bite force of a bull shark is 5914 Newtons, which is the highest for any fish, weight for weight.There are 43 elasmobranch species found in freshwater. Sand sharks, sawfish, skates, and stingrays are other species that can enter rivers. Bull sharks are capable of osmoregulation, which means they can control their internal osmotic pressure when external salinity changes. This also makes them euryhaline (able to adapt to different salinities) and diadromous (readily able to swim between fresh and salt water). Bulls sharks give birth to four to ten live young in fresh water. Over ti me, the sharks gain a tolerance for salinity. Newborn or young sharks are usually found in fresh water, while older sharks tend to live in salt water. Young bull sharks flow with the tides to conserve energy needed for movement and osmoregulation. However, bull sharks can live their entire lives in fresh water. Adult life in fresh water is not ideal, as most of the sharks food lives in the sea. Bull sharks mainly eat bony fish and smaller sharks, including bull sharks. As opportunistic predators, they also eat terrestrial mammals, birds, turtles, crustaceans, echinoderms, and dolphins. They use the bump-and-bite strategy to attack prey, typically hunting in murky water. Usually, bull sharks are solitary hunters, although they may hunt in pairs to trick prey. Although bull sharks hunt in murky water, they can see color and use it to seek prey. They can be attracted to bright yellow gear, for example. The sharks hunt both during the day and at night.Adult sharks mate in late summer or early autumn. It takes 10 years for a shark to reach maturity. In the mating ritual, the male bites the females tail until she turns upside down, allowing him to copulate. Mature females often have bite marks and scratches.Bull sharks are apex predators, so their main threat is mankind. However, they may be attacked by great white sharks, tiger sharks, and crocodiles. The average life span of a bull shark is 16 years. How Dangerous Is the Bull Shark? The bull shark is believed to be responsible for most shark attacks in shallow water, even though  the International Shark Attack File  (ISAF) cites the great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) as  responsible for the largest number of bites to humans. The ISAF notes great white bites are often correctly identified, but its difficult to tell bull sharks apart from other members of the family  Carcharhinidae  (the requiem sharks, which include the blacktip, whitetip, and grey reef shark). In any case, the great white, bull shark, and tiger shark are the big three where shark bites are concerned. All three are found in areas frequented by humans, have teeth designed to shear, and are large and aggressive enough to pose a threat. How to Recognize a Bull Shark If you see a shark in fresh water, chances are good its a bull shark. While the genus Glyphis includes three species of river sharks, they are rare and have only been documented in parts of Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Guinea. Bull sharks are gray on top and white underneath. They have a small, bullish snout. This helps camouflage them so they are harder to see viewed from below and blend in with the riverbed or sea floor when viewed from above. The first dorsal fin is larger than the second one and is angled rearward. The caudal fin is lower and longer than that of other sharks. Tips for Telling Sharks Apart If youre swimming in the surf, its not a smart idea to get close enough to identify a shark, but if you see one from a boat or land, you may want to know what type it is: Sandbar sharks also have rounded snouts, but their dorsal fins are larger and more triangular than those of bull sharks.Blacktip sharks are shaped much like bull sharks, but they have pointed snouts and white anal fins. Note juvenile bull sharks may have black-tipped fins, so coloration is not a good way to distinguish these species.Lemon sharks have blunt snouts, but they are yellow-green to olive-gray in color and both their dorsal fins are about the same size. Lemon shark dorsal fins angle back like those of a bull shark.Spinner sharks have pointed shouts, black tipping on their anal fins, and a band of Z-shaped lines on their sides.Tiger sharks have a dark stripe on their sides.Great white sharks are very large (10-15 ft long), have black eyes, and pointed snouts. Their coloration is similar to the bull shark (gray on top, white underneath).

Implementation of Student Anonymous Tip System Essay Example

Implementation of Student Anonymous Tip System Essay Example Implementation of Student Anonymous Tip System Essay Implementation of Student Anonymous Tip System Essay Kelsey L. Jones Implementation of a Student Anonymous Tip System Professional Writing in Criminal Justice William Heath January 26, 2013 Executive Summary The Baylor Department of Public Safety has rendered invaluable security for the Baylor University campus for countless years. Despite the campus location, the departments efforts have succeeded for a convincingly safe environment for the student body as well as its employees. While the success of the Baylor Department of Public Safety goes appreciated, the increasing number of arrests concerning drug violations on campus must also be recognized. The Baylor Universitys Judicial Affairs Crime Statistics report states there was 33 drug violations in the 2010-2011 school year. Drug violations were the second most prevalent form of misconduct. In addition, 45% of the disciplinary suspensions were alcohol or drug related last year. The continual growth of drug arrests and violations exhibits that the use and sale of drugs on campus is a serious problem. The departments Zero Tolerance Team has examined a promising solution that may decrease the number of drug arrests. Ultimately, restoring an anonymous tip would be a possible solution to execute traightaway that will remain within the departments budget. Introduction While looking for possible solutions in reducing drug crimes on campus, the cost, effectiveness, and the legality of the proposed solution are kept in mind. Based on the studies, the Zero Tolerance Team has arbitrated that the organization of an anonymous tip system campus wide would be the leading solution for the drug crime headache at the Baylor University. The appliance of anonymous tips is an instilled way to decrease crime without acquiring the boundless startup and continuation osts. Once the elements of the program have been partitioned with the campus community, the costs associated would be managing participants to gather and release the tips to the Baylor University Department of Public Safety. Acknowledging electronic communications and the campus website for dispersing the information on the tip program, the initial outreach costs would be less than $1500. Additionally, the teams analysis detected that the apparent determent administered by the tip system would be productive and applicable. Alone, anonymous tips or reports to olice are legal; it is then up to the Baylor Department of Public Safety to determine what, if any, further action can or should be taken based on a tip. From this perspective, the skills and training of the existing police department are being used effectively in conjunction with the teams solution. Results In this portion, we explained the results of the research concerning the cost, effectiveness, and legality of establishing a student anonymous tip system. Cost I ne setup as well as tne Tlrst year operatlon 0T a student anonymous tlp system Is constrained by the maximum budget of $35,000. Having reviewed a ssimilar crime prevention initiative at Ohio State University, we found the cost of this system to be acceptable. Ohio States Bill Shkurti, senior vice president for business and finance, notes, the program is worth its $38,000-a-year cost (Bush, 2007). Considering that Ohio State has close to five times the enrollment of the Baylor University, the Zero Tolerance team found that the cost of this solution was well within the established limit (The Ohio State, 2007; Baylor University, 2007). Effectiveness The team considered the set-up of an anonymous tip system in light of reducing rime on campus within the first 12 months. During the first year of operation, the tip line at Ohio State University processed 129 tips that were investigated and found 19 cases of substantiated wrongdoing (Bush, 2007). Considering the considerable enthusiasm for the program and its success at Ohio State, our team coincluded that the set-up of an anonymous tip program at the Baylor University would meet with ssimilar success. Legality The team found it necessary to choose a solution that would be legal and would not risk action against Baylor University or its sstudents. In the case of the anonymous tip ystem, we found that since the campus police would be processing and evaluating the tips as provided to them, the action or inaction on the tips would be decided based on established police procedures. Simply gathering tips and providing them to the university police has no impact on the final disposition of the tips. Conclusions and Recommendations After careful consideration of cost, effectiveness, and legality, the Zero-Tolerance team has found that implanting a student anonymous tip system would fight Baylors growing drug headache and will lower drug violations on Baylors campus.

How (and When) to Complete the Square 5 Simple Steps

How (and When) to Complete the Square 5 Simple Steps SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips It’s pretty much a guarantee that you’ll see quadratic equations on the SAT and ACT. But they can be tricky to tackle, especially since there are multiple methods you can use to solve them. In this article, we’re going to walk through using one specific method- completing the square- to solve a quadratic equation. In fact, we’ll give you step-by-step instructions for how to complete the square using the completing the square formula. By the end, you should have a better understanding of how and when to use this mathematical strategy! Ready to learn more? Then let’s jump in! Engineers use quadratic equations to design roller coasters! What Is a Quadratic Equation? In order to understand how to complete the square, you first have to know how to identify a quadratic equation. That’s because completing the square only applies to quadratic equations! In math, a quadratic equation is any equation that has the following formula: $ax^2 + bx + c = 0$ In this equation, $x$ represents an unknown number and $a$ cannot be 0. (If $a$ is 0, then the equation is linear, not quadratic!) Quadratic equations have all sorts of real-world applications becausethey're used to calculate parabolas, or arcs. Construction projects like bridges use the quadratic equation to calculate the arc of the structure, and even roller coasters use quadratics to design adrenaline-pumping tracks. Quadratics even fuel popular video games like Angry Birds, where the arc of each bird is calculated using the quadratic formula! So now that you know why quadratic equations are important, let’s look at one of the most common methods of solving them: completing the square. What Is Completing The Square and When Do You Use It? There are actually four ways to solve a quadratic equation: taking the square root, factoring, completing the square, and the quadratic formula. Unfortunately, taking the square root and factoring only work in certain situations. For example, let’s look at the following quadratic equation: $x^2 + 6x = -2$ Solving a quadratic equation by taking the square root involves taking the square root of each side of the equation. Because this equation contains a non-squared $\bi x$ (in $\bo6\bi x$), that technique won’t work. Factoring, on the other hand, involves breaking the quadratic equation into two linear equations that are both equal to zero. Unfortunately, trying to factor this equation doesn’t result in two linear equations! Both the quadratic formula and completing the square will let you solve any quadratic equation. (In this post, we’re specifically focusing on completing the square.) When you complete the square, you change the equation so that the left side of the equation is a perfect square trinomial. That’s just a fancy way of saying that completing the square is a technique that transforms your quadratic equation from an equation that can’t be factored into one that can. Completing the square applies to even the trickiest quadratic equations, which you’ll see as we work through the example below. Your Step-By-Step Guide for How to Complete the Square Now that we’ve determined that our formula can only be solved by completing the square, let’s look at our example formula again: $x^2 + 6x = -2$ Step 1: Figure Out What’s Missing When you look at the equation above, you can see that it doesn’t quite fit the quadratic equation format ($ax^2 + bx + c = 0$). The number that should go in the $c$ spot, which is also known as the constant, is missing. So from a logical perspective, the equation actually looks like this: $x^2 + 6x +$ __?__ $= -2$ In order to solve this equation, we first need to figure out what number goes into the blank to make the left side of the equation a perfect square. (This missing number is called the constant.) By doing that, we’ll be able to factor the equation like normal. Step 2: Use the Completing the Square Formula But at this point, we have no idea what number needs to go in that blank. In order to figure that out, we need to apply the completing the square formula, which is: $x^2 + 2ax + a^2$ In this case, the $a$ in this equation is the constant, or the number that needs to go in the blank in our quadratic formula above. Step 3: Apply the Completing the Square Formula to Find the Constant As long as the coefficient, or number, in front of the $\bi x^\bo2$ is 1, you can quickly and easily use the completing the square formula to solve for $\bi a$. To do this, you take the middle number, also known as the linear coefficient, and set it equal to $2ax$. Here’s what that would look like for our sample formula: $6x = 2ax$ This equation is basically asking what number (this is $\bi a$) multiplied by 2 will give us 6. Now that you know your equation, solving for $a$ is simple: divide each side of the equation by $2x$! So let’s see what that looks like: $$6x = 2ax$$ Divide each side by $\bo2x$: $${6x}/{2x} = {2ax}/{2x}$$ Result: $3 = a$ Look at that! We now know that $\bi a =\bo3$! But we’re not quite done with the completing the square formula yet. In order to determine what the missing constant is, we need to plug our solution for $a$ back into the completing the square formula ($x^2 + 2ax + a^2$). Whatever the result is for $\bi a^\bo2$ is the constant that we’ll plug back into our first equation ($x^2+ 6x +$ __?__ $= -2$). So let’s take a look: $x^2+ 2ax + a^2$ where $a = 3$ Add $\bi a$ into the equation: $x^2 + 2(3)x + 3^2$ Put in simplest terms: $x^2 + 6x + 9$ So now we know that our constant is 9. Now it's time to plug in some numbers! Step 4: Plug the Constant Into the Original Formula Now that you know the constant, it’s time to put it into the blank in our original formula. Once you do that, the equation will look like this: Original formula: $x^2 + 6x +$ __?__ $= -2$ Formula with constant:$x^2 + 6x + 9 = -2 + 9$ Put in simplest terms: $x^2+ 6x + 9 = 7$ You might be wondering why we’re adding 9 to the right side of the equation. Well, remember: in math, you can never do something to one side of an equation without doing it to the other side, too. So because we’re adding 9 to our equation to make it a perfect square, we also have to add 9 to the right side of the equation to keep things balanced. If you forget to add the new constant to the right side of the equation, you won’t get the right answer! Step 5: Factor the Equation We’ve already done a lot of work, and there’s still a little more to go. Now it’s time for us to solve the quadratic equation by figuring out what x could be. But now that we’ve turned the left side of our equation into a perfect square, all we have to do is factor like normal. Completed quadratic formula: $x^2 + 6x + 9 = 7$ Factor left side of the equation: $(x + 3)^2 = 7$ Take the square root: $√{(x + 3)^2}= √7$ Subtract 3: $x =  ±Ã¢Ë†Å¡7 - 3$ Final solutions: $x =√{7} - 3$ and $x =√{-7} - 3$ What If There’s a Coefficient in Front of $x^2$? The step-by-step guide we gave you above only works if there’s no coefficient, or number, in front of $x^2$. If there is a coefficient, you have to eliminate it. Once you do that, you can solve the quadratic equation through the method we outlined above. So how do you remove the coefficient? Actually, it’s not as hard as it sounds. To show you how, let’s look at a new quadratic equation: $2x^2- 12x = -8$ How to Factor Out the 2 n order to remove the 2, you’ll need to divide both sides of the equation by 2. It’s really that simple! So let’s take a look at how that works: Original formula: $2x^2- 12x = -8$Divide everything by 2: $x^2- 6x = -4$ By doing this, you’ve made the coefficient in front of the $x^2$ into 1, so now you can solve the equation by completing the square like we did above. Additional Completing the Square Resources We know that completing the square can be tricky, which is why we’ve compiled a list of resources to help you if you’re still having trouble with how to complete the square. More Sample Problems As you already know, practice makes perfect. That’s why it’s important to work as many quadratic equations as you need to in order to feel comfortable solving these types of problems. Luckily for you, completing the square can be used to solve any quadratic equation, so as long as the practice questions are quadratics, you can use them! One great resource for this is Lamar University’s quadratic equation page, which has a variety of sample problems as well as answers. Another good resource for quadratic equation practice is Math Is Fun’s webpage. If you scroll to the bottom, they have quadratic equation practice questions broken up into categories by difficulty. Completing the Square Tutorial Videos If you’re a visual learner, you might find it easier to watch someone solve quadratic equations instead. Khan Academy has an excellent video series on solving quadratic equations, including one video dedicated to showing you how to complete the square. YouTube also has some great resources, including this video on completing the square and this video that shows you how to tackle more advanced quadratic equations. Completing the Square Calculator If you want to check your work, there are some completing the square calculators available online. It can be a good way to make sure you’re working problems correctly if you don’t have an answer guide. But be forewarned: relying on a tool like this won’t help you retain the information! Make sure you’re putting in the hard work to learn how to complete the square so you aren’t blindsided by these types of questions on test day. Now What? Working with quadratic equations is just one element of algebra you’ll need to master before taking the SAT and ACT. A good place to start is mastering systems of equations, which will help you brush up on your fundamental algebra skills, too. One of the most helpful math study tools is a chart of useful mathematical equations. Luckily for you, we have a master list of the 31 formulas you must know to conquer the ACT. If you think you need a more comprehensive study tool, test prep books are one way to go. Here’s a list of our favorite SAT Math prep books that will help set you on the path to success.

The Diamond Necklace - Mathilde Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Diamond Necklace - Mathilde - Essay Example Mathilde is truly happy only once in her entire life: at the ball. But, it becomes clear as the story progresses, that her happiness had a price all too high. On the night of the party her new dress and borrowed jewels give her the appearance of belonging to the wealthy world she aspires to. Because she believes herself rich for one night, she becomes rich in others’ eyes as well.  Fully at ease among the wealthy people at the party, Mathilde feels that this is exactly where she was meant to be—if it hadn’t been for the mistake of destiny. Her moment of happiness, of course, is fleeting, and she must spend the next ten years paying for the pleasure of this night. The saddest thing is that, despite all the hardship she is forced to endure during the next ten years, the memory of the night still lingers in her mind as the one perfect moment in her gray life. The necklace, beautiful but worthless, represents the power of perception and the split between appearance s and reality.