Woop! Today was the summer results day for AS and A2 exams. I'm pleased with my results

Mathematics

• Core 2: A(a) 100/100
• Mechanics 1: A(a) 98/100
• Statistics 1: A(a) 86/100
• Statistics 2: A(a) 84/100
• Overall: AS Mathematics(MEI): A(a) 292/300

Physics

• Module 2 - Mechanics and Molecular Kinetic Theory: A(a) 90/90
• Module 3 - Current Electricity and Elasticity of Solids: A(a) 110/120
• Overall: Physics A - GCE Physics A AS: A(a) 290/300

Chemistry

• Module 2 - Foundation Physical and Inorganic Chemistry: A(a) 81/90
• Module 3 - Introduction to Organic Chemistry: A(a) 104/120
• Overall: Chemistry - GCE Chemistry AS: A(a) 274/300

Biology

• Module 2 - Genes and Genetic Engineering: A(a) 79/90
• Module 3 - Physiology and Transport: A(a) 100/120
• Overall: Biology B - GCE Biology B AS: 251/300

Annoyingly our college decided not to submit the further maths group for the Further Maths AS so that we'd have a larger selection of modules for our A level Maths to optimise our grade their. Overall, I'm extremely happy

Related Post: http://www.lux01.co.uk/blog4.php/college/happy-note

Today an excellent thing happened. The first set of parts for my new PC arrived. In this first package was the Motherboard, RAM and PSU. Here’s a some photos of said items straight out of the delivery box.

And the closeups .

The Motherboard

The Motherboard is a Gigabyte MA790X-DS4, Socket AM2+. Here’s a birds eye view of the motherboard in all its glory:
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Trust me, that sticker was there when I opened the box It will be removed when I fully assemble this thing. Here, just for the sake of it, is the IO ports

The RAM

The RAM is a 2x2048MB DDR2 800MHz Corsair RAM Kit with an aluminium heat sink to help cooling, I thought they weren’t going to fit properly in the motherboard, so I had to try it out:


They fit perfectly . Looks like I’m going to have a 64-bit OS though since I’ve got 4GB RAM, for those not in the know: 32-bit systems can only support 4GB of Memory in total, including Graphics RAM and System RAM. These modules would provide all 4GB from the start, then when you thrown in the 512MB Graphics RAM I’m throwing in. 64-bit Ubuntu ftw!

The PSU

The PSU is an Akasa 400W ATX PSU and Fan, it’s apparently very quiet but since I haven’t tested it yet I wouldn’t know. It has so many connections it’s unbelieveable. Also you can tell it’s gonna be special, it has it’s own special velcro cable ties:

What’s next?

I’m still waiting for the Case to arrive but it is due either today or tomorrow, most probably tomorrow. After that has arrived and when I next get paid the next purchase will be the CPU (an AMD Phenom X4 9850 2.5GHz Quad-Core processor with 4x512KB L2 cache) swiftly followed by the DVD drive, HDD (320GB SATA) and Graphics Card finally followed (unfortunately) by Windows Vista Home Premium. This machine is intended to be a gaming rig so I can’t not run Windows unfortunately. In the future I will hopefully get a new widescreen TFT monitor for it and a Blu-Ray/HD-DVD drive so I can watch all those fancy new movies

Unfortunately for )Reaper), things aren't looking up for him just after he took me down with a wrench to the back of the skull. If you're playing Team Fortress 2 on the PC look out for me, unimaginatively, I'm called Lux01 , if you say you've seen my blog it will be a big ego boost for me

To end the constant stream of disbelief coming from almost everyone I know here is a complete collection of proofs and logically and mathematically correct arguments that the number 0.999... (naught point nine recurring) is equal to 1 (one). This is not a joke nor are there any logical contradictions or any fallacious proofs. It is all true. (Big thanks to this very nice page from Things of Interest)

Proof 1: The Quickest

If two numbers are different then one can find a third number which is between the two.

Therefore if 0.999... and 1 are two separate numbers a third number exists which is between the two. But there is NO number between them. It is impossible to find one. Therefore they aren't different but are the same.

Proof 2: Quick Mathematical Proof

If two numbers are equal then their difference is zero

The difference between 1 and 0.999... is:

1.000000000... - 0.999999999... = 0.000000000...

Therefore they are equal.

Common counter-argument "But the 0.000000... should have a 1 at the end."
No it shouldn't. There is no end to and infinite number of zeros so there is no end and therefore no place for the "final" 1.

Proof 3:

Consider:

Multiply both sides by 10:


Subtract c from both sides:




Dividing by nine gives:


Common counter-argument: "When you multiplied by 10 you should have added a 0 to the end making it 9.999999...0!"
The recurring decimal goes on forever with no end. Saying that a 0 should be put on the end of an endless decimal is meaningless. See previous common counter-argument.

Proof 4: Geometric Series

Consider this:


That is, 0.999... is the sum of an infinite number of fractions of 9 over powers of ten:


This is a geometric series with first term a = 9/10 and common ratio r = 1/10 . Therefore using the formula for the sum to infinity of a geometric series we can conclude that:

Maybe these different (and all logically and mathematically correct) proofs will convince those who didn't already know or accept this truth.

0.999... = 1 Q.E.D

Lets begin this fresh blogging start with some good news . On Thursday of this week the results from the January A level modules came out. I can only say that I was pleased with these:

MEI Maths - Core 1 A 100/100
MEI Maths - Further Pure 1 A 98/100
Biology B - Unit 1 A 72/90
Chemistry - Unit 1 A 89/90
Physics A - Unit 1 A 90/90


Now everyone thinks I’m weird for getting those scores I was over the moon as you can probably tell from the scores. Now just need to get the May modules out of the way then it’s on to A2!