Mitch

Since I went to high school, my teachers had told me that the fundamental particles of the universe are proton, neutron, and electron.

Today, in my physics class, my teacher started to talk about things like hadrons, leptons, barysons, mesons, quarks, antiquarks, neutrino, electron spin, etc.

What the fk? I followed what my teacher said in the first half of the class, but then I got lost.

He told me that neutrino is the particle that is smaller than the electron with some electric charge, but for some reason they're neutral. WHAT? So, is it electrically charged or neutral? He also said that neutrino can permeate through everything and they are "permeable" than electromagnetic wave. This makes sense because they're extremely small and nothing can block them.

However, I don't understand the classification stuff at all. Where are proton and neutron? What the heck are hadrons and leptons? We have been doing some modern physics since after the AP Exam and I have been following the materials we learned in class. But this classification stuff just throws me off. My teacher even talked about Big Crunch (opposite of Big Bang) Theory, and I just sat there and looked like a fool.

Can someone please explain to me what the heck are these classification stuff? Analogy will be hopeful. I really want to know what they are!

Thank you for anyone who can help me!

I just took a SAT today. I don't feel very confident on my test score already. I really want to have 2000+, but I guess I'll be satisfy with a 1800.

Anyway, I have NOT taken any SAT Subject Test yet. I'll be taking ACT (with the wring) next week. I'm a junior this year.

What should I do now? Should I retake the SAT in the fall of my senior year? Or should I take the subject test instead? I'm regretted now because I should have taken the subject test today instead of the SAT since I'm really good at math and science. I'm taking 5 AP this years and I have procrastinated throughout the year. So I didn't prepare very well for the SAT. I know that a typical college application deadline is right around Jan. 1. There are two tests available before the college application deadline (October and November). However, I have heard that it's HARDER to get accepted if you turn in your application late. Also, it takes forever to get the score back from college board after you have take the test (usually a month). This means that if I take the exam in October, I'll get my result back in November -- two months before the application deadline.

So, I guess my only choice is to take an exam in October. And here comes the question, should I retake SAT (if I got a score I don't like) or SAT Subject? I'm also taking ACT with the writing, so do I necessarily need SAT Subject? I want to go to one of the best State school in my State (SUNY Binghamton), the college board said that they need my SAT Subject. However, is it preferable to have one? Also, can I take the Subject test in November and send my score to the college after I submitted my application (that is, after the deadline)?

I'm really frustrated now. Please give me some advises!

I founded myself having two problems when I'm doing the SAT Critical Reading questions.

First of all, I can usually eliminate my choice down to two, then I always pick the wrong one. This is not only discourages, but it also destroys my confidence. What should I do? When I narrow down to two choices, I know there is going to be a right answer between the twos, but I just couldn't get the right one. The reason why I'm upset is not because I have no clue how to answer the question. Rather, I'm upset because I know I can narrow down to two answers, but always pick the "trap."

Secondly, I also have problem with the "right answers." In the other word, when I try to answer a passage-based reading question, I can usually get the right using my intuition the first time. Then, if I have time left, what I would typically do is go back to the question and start checking them. This is where the problem comes. I ALWAYS change my erase my right answers and change to the wrong ones. I don't know what is my problem, but I always do that. Usually, when I go back and check the answer, I start to "justify" the wrong choices and thus change the right answers to the wrong ones. This is frustrating as well.

Basically, I know what the passages are talking about (although they're boring as hell), but I'm an extremely bad test taker. I could have get a near perfect score on the reading section if I'm not a bad test taker. Now, I can only get 2/3 (67%) of the questions right, which is very disturbing. If I got something wrong, I basically lose 1.25 points for every incorrect answers (1 point for losing the question, 0.25 for penalty. This is the way how I look at it).

Any advise for me? I really want to if not need to become a good test taker.

Thank you!

My dream is to invest money like Warren Buffet, the second richest man in the United States. Buffett is my idol and he taught me a lesson that you don't necessarily need to work hard, but you need to work smart.

Anyway, I'm thinking about going to a state school for 4 years, and doubling major in both biomedical engineering and business. Now, the question is, what kind of business major should I do if I want to become a money/bank investor?

I want to major in biomedical engineering because there is almost a guaranteed job when I graduate. However, I never really want to be an engineer for the rest of my life. I want to learn how to invest money as a profession. So, what kind of business major should I do? I see a lot of people doing accounting, but I don't see how it's relevant to what I do. Any suggestion for me?

Thank you for anyone who can offer me some advises on investment!

I always get asked with this question by my friends: Why do you want to major in business or engineering? And I always tell them: "Because I want to be rich!" Then, they start to laugh at me.

I don't understand why people, especially Americans, view money lovers as the "losers." I came from China and was raised by a traditional Chinese family. I remember a quote my parents told me that I'm still be able to recall from the back of my mind. They told me that even if money cannot buy EVERYTHING, but you cannot buy ANYTHING without money.

The thing I don't understand is the American culture. The United States is one of the most well known capitalistic country in the world, and the economic leader of the world. The American immigrants came here for a better economic improvement. The British settlers came here for tobacco trade. The Dutch settled in Manhattan for fur trade. The Eastern Europeans came here for a better earning job during the Glided Age. The Asian immigrants came here to seek for a chance of striking rich. The white slave owners brought the slaves from Africa for economic profit. Despite all that, there is something that only this country has, which is the American Dream; the belief that one can climb up the social ladder through his/her determination and hard work. Some point in the history, our ancestors came here for a better economic life.

So, I just found this to be strange. All the people I know are telling me that they just want to do something they love and they don't really care about the money. I mean, if you're interesting about something, it doesn't mean that you want to do it for the rest of your life. One of my friends told me that she wants to be a nurse because she likes helping others. You want to help people doesn't mean you want to be a nurse. Nurse requires a lot of patience. They need to learn how to not get upset with their patients. They need to know how to handle a patient who doesn't like her. etc. I'm pretty sure no one likes to be yelled at. So why nurse?

I'm not trying to argue or anything. I would like to know how you guys think about your materialistic possession. My belief is that, it doesn't matter what I do, what matters is my ability to make money. In the other word, live in the American Dream matters more than doing what I want to do. And American Dream refers to the money and any kind of materialistic property you own, at least in my opinion.

I want to major in either biomedical engineering or some sort of premed.

Then I'm thinking about doing double major or minor in business.

So, what's the difference?

I know you take less classes for a minor, but what is the ACTUAL difference between the twos?

Do you know "less" for minoring in something? For example, what's something that I'm going to miss if I'm going to minor in business instead of double major in it? Will my job opportunity be limited if I minor in business instead of major in it (if I'm looking for a business job)? Will I have the enough knowledge to invest on my own if I minor in business? Or is investment based on how smart you are?

For those of you who major in any science-related fields or business, what will be your recommendation? In the other word, should I do double major or a major with a minor? Also, when I apply to an university I wanted, do I have to submit two college application, both for science and business? Or is it just one?

Thank you for those who can give me some advises on that.

I will be a college freshman next year (after my senior year). I'm thinking about either major in engineering or premed with a minor in business. These major/minor are not EASY.

So, my question is, how does an university rank their students? For example, an engineering IN GENERAL (again, I said in general) is harder than a liberal art major, such as English, history, and humanity. I also know that a typical university has a different branch of colleges, some for engineering, some for health professional, some for business, some for liberal arts, etc. So, do they just rank all the undergrad from that particular year base on their GPA? Or do they stratify the ranking? What I mean by stratify is when the school rank their students base on their major. It's real not fair for those who pick the harder major. For example, if you get 3.5 GPA as a chemistry major, this doesn't mean that you're not as smart as someone who have 4.0 GPA as a history major. In fact, getting a 3.5 GPA in a science-related major is pretty tough, yet 4.0 GPA is manageable for a history major.

Back to my question, how do the universities with different branch of undergrad. colleges rank their students?

I came from a poor immigrant family. My parents didn't even finish elementary school in the country we were from. They don't speak English at all. They work hard, but they don't get paid a lot like the white collar jobs.

For me, I know more about the importance of education and the value of dollar. I was thinking about going to a med school because I heard that doctors make the most money on average. Science is also my favorite subjective, especially biology and organic chemistry. I like helping the others because I always want to give back to the society (I understand that this country gave me an opportunity to climb up the social ladder through education and opportunity). However, I want to go to med school largely because I want to get rich.

I have an excellent GPA, SAT/ACT scores, a descent resume. My teachers are willing to write me some really good recommendations. I'm a fluent bilingual and proficient at Spanish.

What would you guys suggest? I'm also planning on minor in business or economics (major in biomedical engineering or premed). My initial goal is to go to a med school and become a doctor. Then, I'll be a doctor for 10 years just to make some money. After that, I want to invest all of my money into the stock (this is why I'm going to minor in business/economy). If I success, life will be good. If I fail, I can always go back and start over with a descent salary. However, I kinda change my mind. Now, I'm thinking about going to a descent undergrad program and major in business. Then, I want to start investing money from there.

For me, my idol is Warren Buffett, who is the second richest man in the United States. The thing I admire about him is the way how he makes his money. I couldn't believe that someone just became a billionaire by knowing how to invest. Which one is a better choice for me: minor in business and then go to a med school, OR major in business?

Getting rich is always my DREAM since I was young. There is something my parents told me that I still remember today. They told me that, even if money cannot buy EVERYTHING in the world (such as love, family, memory, etc.), but you cannot buy ANYTHING without money. So, before you started to judge me, please stand on my shoes and try to understand my circumstance. Also, please answer the question SUBJECTIVELY!

I'm a guy and I'm thinking about going to medical field.

I came from a very traditional family. My parents want me to get marry as soon as possible and have kids early.

I know it may sounds a little bit ridiculous, but as I said, they're very traditional. I don't have problem with that myself. However, my concern is, how would I be able to do that.

I want to go to a med school, which requires 4 years of undergrad., 4 years of grad., and a couple years of residency. By the time I graduate from grad. school, I'll be 26 already. After the residency, I'm almost 30. 30 is a "preferable" age for a man to get married, at least for my parents.

So, my question to those who have been through all that: when and how did you get married? If you get married after the residency, then forget it. If you get married before the residency (which means before 26), how did you manage that? How do you have spare time to spend with your family? How did you support them financially? How did you manage to survive by handling both the pressure from the med school and your new family?

Thank you so much for those who can give me some advises!

And PLEASE, answer my question SUBJECTIVELY. Don't go off the tangent and judge my parents or anything like that.

I want to be a doctor (medical), so I'm thinking about going to a State school for 4 years for undergrad, then an IVY League or top-tiered medical schools for grad school.

I live in New York (state). I went to a high school that ranks as one of the top 500 across the nation, and top 50 in the State. I have a 93 overall unweighted GPA (my school doesn't do it on the 4.0 scale). Yet, my class rank is very high (bad). I have a pretty solid SAT and ACT score. My teachers can write me some pretty descent recommendations. I do some extracurricular activities, but I play neither sport or music stuff.

Anyway, should I go to Stony Brook for 4 years of undergrad? Or should I go to a private school like NYU? Is there a HUGE FINANCIAL difference?

I went to collegeboard.com and did some research on Stony Brook. The thing that surprised me is not the tuition cost, but room and board fee. The tuition is around $7000, which is affordable. However, the section under room and board said $10934, which excesses the tuition cost. If I get a descent scholarship or any kind of financial aid, will I be able to use it on room and board cost?

On the other hand, if I go to school like NYU, which is a very good school in New York (besides Cornell and Columbia). I'll be able to get MORE scholarship from the school, but the overall cost is still more expensive than a State school. However, the reputation is better.

Which school should I go to? I want to spend as less money as possible for undergrad., yet get the best education that will prepare me for the med school.

I want to be rich when I grow up. I heard that doctors and lawyers in average make the most money.

I'm a very smart kid and I have good GPA, SAT/ACT score, descent extracurricular activities, etc.

If you want to tell me that doctor is not for a money motivator, SAVE it. It doesn't matter what my motivation is, what matter is how well I can cure my patients. Pressure, stress, debt, course difficulty, no free time, etc. I DON'T CARE.

Anyway, I want to major in biomedical engineering when I go to college (next year), and go to a medical school after 4 years of undergrad. I'm thinking about a cheap State school for undergrad, then an IVY League grad. school.

My question is: are you allowed to apply to both medical school and law school? I heard that the medical schools are extremely competitive. What if I get rejected to all the med schools? I always want to have an alternative. For example, are you allowed to apply to both Harvard med school and Harvard law school? Will the school know it?

I really want to go to an IVY League for graduate school. I don't really care what I do, all I care about is a job that allows me to earn big paycheck. I don't care if you want to judge me or not, but please answer my SUBJECTIVELY.

I was NOT born in the U.S.

I'm a Chinese born into a typical Chinese family with a typical name. I came to the U.S legally when I was 13. I'll be 18 within the next half year.

I'm thinking about changing my first name to an American name for future employment purpose. So, I'll keep my Chinese name as my middle name after I replaced my first name with an American name.

My question is, what should I change it to? This has bothered me for a while. I prefer some Middle or Upper Class name (I'm a guy btw). Not too common or too rare. Preferably started with J (but doesn't have to be). I also want something that CANNOT be shortened, such as Nicholas (Nick), Michael (Mike), Andrew (Drew), Benjamin (Ben), etc. 5 letters or more is preferable. Two syllabus is perfect.

Thank you if someone could give me some recommendation or advice!

I just learned the basic fussion reaction in my physics class today.

My teacher told me that the hydrogen from the sun turns into helium under the extreme pressure. Then, he showed us the three fussion reaction sequence. In the first step, a positron was formed. He said that it's an anti-matter and it will anihilate with the matter immediately. Then, we calculate the energy released using E=MC^2, and calculated the wavelength using E=hc/lambda. We founded out that it is a gamma ray.

My questions is, how can you create an-anti matter from the matter (from the sun fussion)? When I used E=mc^2, is that the energy released from the anihilation, or is it something else? If so, are you telling me that very nuclear fussion reaction will ALWAYS release energy in form of gamma ray? If that is true, how does the Earth's magnetic field convert that energy into something else? Like visible light?

How would the world we live today be impacted with Einstein never existed?

I heard that as long as you're enrolling in some sort of educational program, the bank will NOT charge you any interest. Is it true?

So, I'm planning on becoming a surgeon, which requires 4 years of undergrad. and 4 more years of med. school. Obviously, I'll have a tremendously large amount of debt when I graduate from med. school.

So here is my question: How does the bank charge interest on the students? I mean, by the time I graduate, I still have to go through all kinds of internship and training. Moreover, I'll be making minimum wage during the internship. If the bank charges me during these years, I couldn't image how bad would it be.

Thank you for anyone who can answer my question!

I can read both Chinese and English. I know there are a lot of Chinese software that allow people to watch American-made movies for free. And those software are LEGAL.

Here is my question: is it legal to watch American-made movies through LEGAL foreign software? I mean, in China, people always watch TV through these software. This is also why Chinese don't watch anything on TV, they all use internet. It's perfectly legal to watch Chinese-made movies or TV series through these software. However, a few years ago, the Chinese official start to ban American movies from those software. This is because the government wants to encourage people to watch "homemade" products in order to promote patriotism. It sounds ridiculous to me. But hey, what can I do? They're communist.

Anyway, going back to my original question. Is it legal or ethical to watch American movies for FREE using a foreign software? I mean, we use Pandora to listen free music all the time (which is legal). People also pay to watch movies through Netflix. So, does it mean that it's okay to watch American movies through these software, but it just happens that they're free? The software itself is legal. But I'm not sure about giving people the free access to watch American movies, especially people care so much about copyright in this country.

So my teacher gave me a function: y=2x^3 - 8x + 9

Then, I founded the double derivative to be y"=4, which doesn't make sense when you set up 4=0.

However, you need the inflection point to determine the concavity.

So what are the concave up and concave down intervals in this case?

My dad brought a whole case of coke (24 cans) last month for some reason.

Since then, I started to drink them whenever I have lunch.

Now, all 24 cans are gone. However, I feel like I'm addictive to it already.

Today, when I go grab a coke as usual, I figured out that there is no more left. And I feel like I need them survive (it's like how people need coffee to survive).

I'm NOT an obese nor a fat guy. I was not a heavy soda drinker. But now, after 24 cans of coke, I feel like I need it for the rest of my life.

I know that drinking too much soda is not good for my body. So I want to stop it before I get out of control. What should I do?

I'm taking AP Chemistry right now and I have taken the AP Exam already.

For me, I love organic chemistry! And I also need organic chemistry in college because I want to major in biomedical engineering and then go to a med school.

However, there are something I don't like about the organic chemistry. I don't like those reactions, such as esterification, saponification, additional and substitution reaction. It's not that I suck at those, it's just because I hate chemical reactions in general, both inorganic and organic. I'm more of a calculation person, so I like chemical equilibrium, stoichiometry, acid base titration, and a little bit of electrochemistry.

I heard that organic chemistry is 90% or more memorization. Is that true? I'm okay with memorization, I just don't want it to have both memorization and reaction. Also, what I don't understand is when a chemical compound have an IUPAC organic name and a common name, such as acetylene vs. ethyne, or formaldehyde vs. methanol.

So what exactly is organic chemistry?

I have been taking Spanish for 4 years, and I just realized that we have learned more than 16 tenses in Spanish already.

Here they are:

Present Indicative

Command (both tu affirmative and the rest)

Preterit

Imperfect

Future Indicative

Conditional

Present Progressive

Past Progressive

Present Subjunctive

Past Subjunctive

Present Perfect

Past Perfect

Conditional Perfect

Future Perfect

Present Perfect Subjunctive (haya + ado/ido)

Past Perfect Subjunctive (hubiera + ado/ido)

Seriously? People always say that Spanish is the easiest language to learn for the native English speakers. I sincerely doubt that. The beginning level of Spanish is pretty easy and straightforward, but it gets nasty.

So my question is, do people actually use all the tenses correctly in the daily life? How can their brain process so fast. I mean, when I was learning present perfect subjunctive, I have to determine 1.) the tense, 2.) subjunctive or not, and 3.) the event occurs before or after the primary verb. 4.) the correct conjugation.

I was an English second language learner as well, but English doesn't have these kinds of bizarre grammatical rules. There are some irregulars in English, but there are MORE in Spanish. English does have different types of command; English does not have to be conjugated beside adding -ed and -ing; English doesn't have subjunctive tenses; English allows both past and present tenses to exist in one sentence; English perfect tenses are so much simpler (have + -ed). So my question is, how do the native Spanish speakers speak so fluently without pausing? Do they actually use the correct tenses every time they speak? I mean, how would their brain process so fast and know which tense to use at the instantaneous moment?