[nabs-l] Applied Finite Math

[Maria Kristic]

Is Applied Finite Math the same thing as Applied Discrete Math? I believe
so, but just wanted to make absolutely sure. If so, you really shouldn't
need any special software to show your work independently, IMHO, if this is
what you're asking--just represent what you're doing in a textual notation
when you type it out on your PC/notetaker, and hand in the electronic
file/print it. For instance, use a caret (^) to indicate a superscript, an
underscore (_) to indicate a subscript, and put whatever's superscripted or
subscripted in braces ({}) to avoid ambiguity. Use parentheses to denote the
numerators and denominators of fractions (for instance, (3)/(4) for
three-fourths). Use symbols like "sqrt" for square root. Use the words for
the Greek letters (i.e., pi, sigma, capitalize the P and S to indicate
capitalized letters). Use braces ({}) to indicate sets, and words like
"union", "intersection", etc. for set operations; you can also use the
regular + (plus), - (minus), * (multiplication), / (divides), <, >, and =
found on the keyboard, and combine them to form, for instance, >= or /=
(meaning "not equal to". When constructing truth tables, use the vertical
bar symbol (|) to separate columns, make sure they're aligned by using your
screen reader's cursor position command, and literally use a carriage return
to separate lines (i.e., hit ENTER to separate lines). Literally use words
like "and", "or", "for all", and "there exists" in place of the graphical
symbols for those logical operators, and for others where you can easily
create the symbol from the keyboard, do so--for instance, ~ for "not", <-->
(a double-pointing arrow) for the biconditional (i.e., "if and only if" or
"iff"), etc. You can verbally describe logical circuit diagrams (for
instance, "Two inputs, p and q, go in to an and gate. This output is the
input for a not gate. The output of this not gate, combined with a third
input line r, are both inputs to an or gate. The output is s."), and your
prof can verbally describe them to you in a similar manner. Construct output
tables for circuits in a similar manner to the method described for truth
tables. Graphs can be described verbally (i.e., "Vertices v1, v2, v3, v4.
Edge E1 connects V1 and V2, edge E2 is a curved edge which connects V1 and
V3, edge E3 is a loop edge at V3."--actually, if you're discussing walkways,
you might want to be a bit more descriptive about the layout of the
vertices, or your prof might want to be when describing them to you, such as
saying, for instance, "Vertices v1, v2, v3, and v4 are in a horizontal row
from left to right." Or "There are three columns. The leftmost column
contains V2, the middle one contains V1 and V3 from top to bottom, and the
rightmost column contains V4." Or "There are two vertices. V1 is on the
left, and v2 is on the right." Or "The vertices V1, V2, V3, and V4 are
arranged clockwise roughly around the corners of a diamond shape.", and when
describing the walkways, just list out the vertices and edges, separated by
commas, in the order that they're involved; graphs can be alternately
represented as matrices--if your book doesn't cover the alternate
representation, and you wish to use it instead, you can ask the prof, and
I'm sure that he/she would be cool with your using it--and to construct the
matrix, use similar conventions to what was described for truth tables. For
trees, describe them in a similar manner to that given for graphs, and just
describe the layout of what is branching and where (i.e., "Vertex V1 is at
the top. V1 branches to V3 to the left, to V2 straight down, and to V4 to
the right. V4 branches up and to the right to V5. V3 branches down and to
the left to V6. V2 branches up and to the left to V7."). That's all I can
think of off the top of my head; I'm taking Discrete, not Applied Discrete,
so I'm not sure whether I've broadly covered all the bases for your class,
but hopefully I have, or I've hopefully at least gotten you in the right
direction. I know that probably not a lot of the above makes sense at the
moment, but it will as you go through the class. I also emphasized graphs
and trees a lot because they're the most visual part of the class. If you're
in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) major, you might
want to look in to learning LaTeX--I use it quite a lot, and I drew some of
my above symbolic suggestions from LaTeX conventions. Let me know if you
have any questions/if something doesn't make sense. Like I said, hope this
helps, and this is just my $0.02, so if you want to, you can also post to
Blindmath as Arielle suggested, and you might get some other suggestions
(I'm on that list, and they're a helpful bunch). Good luck, and I hope that
you enjoy the class!

Regards,
Maria
Skype: MariaKristic
AIM: MCKristic
Email/MSN: maria6289 at earthlink.net
Google Talk: Maria.Kristic at gmail.com
Yahoo Messenger: mariakristic at yahoo.com

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of golfereric at verizon.net
Sent: Friday, November 28, 2008 6:09 PM
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nabs-l] Applied Finite Math

Hi Everybody

For the spring semester I will be taking Applied Finite Math. I was 
wondering if anybody knew of any computer programs that could assist me 
with this class?

Any and all suggestions are welcome

Thanks,
Eric Gaudes