Hi everyone!  I just wanted to bring your attention to a new page I added to MathyNick.com.  In the Printables tab is a collection of PDF Mathematics handouts/packets that I’ve collected over the years of being a tutor.  Look them over and see if you find any that look like they can help you.

Enjoy!

## Did You Know: i^i Is Real?

In my last post, A REALLY Brief Intro to Complex Numbers, I talked about a few necessary definitions to know what Complex numbers $\mathbb{C}$ are.  Complex numbers are really intriguing and necessary for our electronic devices to work.  You might be reading this on a computer, smartphone, tablet, etc., but none of the advances in technology would be possible without use of complex numbers.  Creating wonders from wonders.

## A REALLY Brief Intro to Complex Numbers

Venn Diagram of Number Sets from Keith’s Think Zone

Imaginary numbers and complex numbers interest me a lot.  Aside from the properties of infinity ($\infty$), complex numbers $\mathbb{C}$ are, well… complex! They’re very strange and yet they open a whole new world of numbers beyond the Real numbers $\mathbb{R}$.

## Random Thought

I’m such a math geek I bring a graphing calculator with me to sleepovers.

## Portal 2: Amber’s Playroom

Amber’s Playroom by MathyNick For Science. You monster.

Subscribe to Amber’s Playroom to play in Portal 2!

If you don’t have Portal 2, here’s where you can buy it!

In my last post, Problem Solving in Portal and Portal 2, I made a quick introduction to the games Portal and Portal 2.  In Portal 2, you have the option of making Testing Chambers in the Community Workshop for others to play and solve.

## Problem Solving in Portal and Portal 2

“The cake is a lie,” but the fun is real!

I <3 Portal and Portal 2!
Portal and Portal 2 are first-person, puzzle games with difficulty levels ranging from easy to clever to challenging.  In Single Player Story Mode, you play the role of Chell who is a test subject kept preserved by Aperture Science Laboratories.  The object of the game is to use your portal gun to navigate your way through each chamber.  Each chamber is designed and overseen for “testing” by the AI central core, GLaDOS.

## Which would you rather be?

This is just for my curiosity and I’d really like to know so please comment!
**Choose only one option and please explain why:**

Which would you rather be?

1. You are right but for the wrong reasons?
2. You are wrong but for the right reasons?

## What kind of math does music use?

This is from a conversation over Facebook with my friend, Adam who has a BA in Music Education. I found it really interesting even if it was just a peek into the music world with math-colored glasses on.  It makes me want to explore math-music.

## Everyday Variables

Have you ever asked the question “when am I ever going to use math in my life”? Seriously, when do you use mathematics outside the classroom?

## I Used to Work in a Math Lab

© Disney’s Alice In Wonderland

Years ago when I still lived in Georgia, I used to work at a math lab.  All kinds of people came to see me looking for a fix. It didn’t matter if they smoked or not, so long as they got their fix.  Some of them were high strung, some were casual, some were cheerful, and some were really fidgety and under pressure.  Some of them would stay awake for hours and hours on math and skip meals.  The new ones were wary of me at first but in time my clientele grew and they became regulars because I knew the formulas they wanted.