| travisslack | determining the x-intercept. set the numerator to zero, or the denominator? |
| HiLander | maybe. |
| thermoplyae | Is 0/x 0? Is x/0 0? |
| HiLander | what does this have to do with an x-intercept? that's the question i want answered |
| kilimanjaro | x intercept usually means the set intersection of the image of a function with the x axis |
| travisslack | as in... (x^2 +1) / (2x^2 - 3) do you set the bottom or top to find x-intercept |
| kilimanjaro | travisslack, the x-intercept is the x such that f(x) = 0 |
| godling | travisslack: if the bottom is zero, that means the function would be undefined. think of it like setting the entire thing equal to zero, then multiply each side by the denominator. |
| kilimanjaro | That rational function has no real zeros, but it does have a complex zero |
| thermoplyae | Like I said, is 0/x 0 or is x/0 0? That is not really an opaque hint |
| merus | he's gone. |
| thermoplyae | whoops |
| kilimanjaro | merus, chalk another death up to divide-by-zero error |
| merus | ayup |
| godling | looks like we need another timmy |
| action | merus wants to take everyone back to the good old days when group theory was about permutations and solving quintic equations with radicals might be possible |
| merus | wants to take everyone back to the good old days when group theory was about permutations and solving quintic equations with radicals might be possible |
| HiLander | yeah, i miss the days of tuberculosis too |
| kilimanjaro | merus, permutation? Is that some sort of manifold?! |
| merus | HiLander, you mean consumption? |
| TRWBW | merus: don't forget the constructions. aaah, the smell of the ruler, the taste of the compass... |
| merus | My new time-machine plot (after the assassination list) is to go back to the 1870s and teach Sylow the class equation so he wouldn't have to fool around with rational functions in several variables. |
| HiLander | actually, my plan is to go back in time to punch HG Wells in the face i've already edited wikipedia several times to indicate its occurrence but somehow, people can't believe it. |
| buggler | hehe |
| matt5 | lol |
| kilimanjaro | HiLander, ignore those people. They only want to bring you down. Move onward, time cowboy. |
| matt5 | Time travel is impossible, because then the earth's rotation and the whole universe would have to retrace/go reverse... |
| buggler | thanks for clearing that up matt5 your argument was quite compelling |
| matt5 | ... what's that suppose to mean? |
| merus | Help! What if I were trapped in a hypothetical situation? |
| matt5 | don't hate; appreciate |
| godling | isn't that what happened when superman did it? |
| kilimanjaro | matt5, yes, the entire universe would retrace, but in the future. So it's no surprise that it hasn't happened yet. |
| HiLander | i'm not even kidding: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=H._G._Wells&diff=125418025&oldid=125405251 |