Mild Rants

I struggled immensely in Mathematics in Middle School and remember the awful feelings I had about it. The following passage from an online therapy site made feel sooooo sorry for the poor soul who wrote it. Having said that, I doubt that Jennifer Bet-David's husband would  feel too sorry for the whining, "poor pitiful me" tone of the following account of a young man who feels mathematics exists solely to torment him. My sophomore year math teacher in Brownfield Texas helped me turn the corner and I was able to pass  the math sequence which helped me to become a CPA   I hate math. Never has a topic in school made me feel this worthless, hopeless, and sometimes suicidal. Never has a school subject left me so confused. Never had a school subject made me feel so much rage towards myself and unfortunately my current teacher. Currently I am struggling really badly with math, and I hate the fact that I am. It all just confuses me so damn much and I wish it didn’t. I’m able ...

So junior was struggling big time with this physics concept called grade resistance. He found this math tutoring site created by "Professor" Laurie Morvan. She did not do the video herself, but had a guy doing it who did not explain where the grade force resistance trig equation came from! Her site did not explain how the weight of a vehicle on the inclined plane modeled by a hill was broken up in to two forces; one perpendicular and one parallel to slope or incline of the hill!!! From the force diagram that results, one can conclude that the Force(F) acting against the car going up OR down the hill is equal the sine of the angle of inclination multiplied by the weight of car, truck, UPS delivery, 18 wheeler semi truck or whatever the particular mode of transportation/conveyance that is doing the moving. One can use this equation to get the weight of vehicle given the angle and force also! The professor is no more than a preacher telling you to believe rather than rationa...