... continued from earlier tonight
__________
But as soon as she went back to sleep, she slipped right back into the same dream. Stacy was still there on the second floor. However, now there weren't any chickens or celery, there were words. A new group of words suddenly appeared on the top and bottom floor.
On the top were the words "meter" and "second." On the bottom was only the word "second."
"So what cancels out," Stacy asked.
"Well," Stef started. "It looks like 'second' is on both the top and the bottom, so they would cancel out."
"Let's see," Stacy said, and touched the word second on both the top and the bottom with her cane. They both lit up and then disappeared, leaving only the word "meter" on top.
"So what does it mean when there's nothing left on the bottom?" Stefanie asked.
"It means that all you have left is meters, not 'meters per second' or something like that. It's like fractions," Stacy continued. "If you have a 3 on the top and on the bottom, they cancel each other out. You're left with whatever's left."
Stef remembered that from algebra. If you multiplied 4/3 times 3, the three on the bottom and the three by itself would cancel out, and you were left with just 4.
"And that works with words too," Stefanie asked.
"Yes, it's called the factor-label method. You can figure a lot of things out with it."
"Let's say," Stacy continued, "you knew that you had 8 milliliters of water. Let's say you also knew that the density of water was one gram per milliliter."
"What's density again?" Stefanie asked Stacy.
"It's how much of something fits into a certain space," Stacy answered. It would later blow Stef's mind when she tried to figure out who had really answered this question in the dream, since Stacy was really about a mile, that is 1.6 kilometers away dreaming about Taylor Lautner at the time.
"So 8 milliliters," Stacy said, with the letters "mL" appearing on the top floor, "times one gram per milliliter..." Again, the letter "g" appeared on the top floor, while the letters "mL" appeared on the bottom. "... equals..."
"Wait, stop," Stefanie interrupted. I can do this. "The 'mL,' milliliters, on the top and bottom cancel out, leaving only the 'g' or grams on top."
"Yes, and..."
"And since 8 times 1 equals 8, that means that 8 milliliters of water weighs 8 grams."
"Exactly..." Stacy said with a smile. "... well, it has a mass of 8 grams. What it weighs, that's something different." And with that, Stacy faded away.
"Wait, what do you mean? What does that mean?" But Stefanie pleaded for an explanation in vain. Her attention was soon diverted, however, by a giant plate of arroz con pollos, which somehow seemed to surround her. She found herself unable to resist, and started eating the humongous, elephant size pieces ferociously.
Showing posts with label factor-label method. Show all posts
Showing posts with label factor-label method. Show all posts
Friday, February 17, 2012
The Factor Label Game 6
... continued from Monday
________
After writing it all down, Stefanie's exhaustion from the day finally got the best of her. She climbed in her bed and quickly drifted off. But after four nights without chemistry intruding into her dreams, the monster returned.
The dream started off fine. She was at a mall. It was two stories with a big open space in the middle. Look, there's a Cold Stone. Look, there's a Mexican restaurant. Look, a Fazolis. It was her kind of mall!
Then it kind of changed. She was facing two stories, but there were bowling pins--and humungous strips of chicken from "arroz con pollo," a Mexican dish, on both floors. They were different colors.
Suddenly, her sister Stacy was standing on the second floor in a tuxedo and tights, wearing a top hat and holding a very long black cane.
"OK, Stefanie," she yelled down. "Your job is to match the things on the top floor with the things on the bottom. Let me do one for you."
Normally, Stefanie wouldn't pay any attention to Stacy's instructions. But you know how dreams are. Things that are normally bizarre seem completely normal and real. Stefanie began to get nervous, even broke out in a sweat.
"See this twisted 1.3 meter long piece of chicken," Stacy continued, touching the chicken on the second floor. It strangely began to glow. "This piece is exactly like the 1.3 meter long piece of chicken on the bottom." And then her cane extended down to touch the other piece of chicken on the bottom. It glowed for a second and then both disappeared. "Now it's your turn."
Instantly everything disappeared and then a series of things appeared on both the top and the bottom. Two red bowling pins and a twisted piece of chicken on the top. A red bowling pin and a meter long piece of celery appeared on the bottom.
"Um," Stefanie hesitantly said. "It looks like all the bowling pins should disappear."
"WRONG!" Stacy said in a triumphant voice. "There's only one red bowling pin on the bottom so only one of the red bowling pins on the top can disappear. So what does that leave?"
Now in the dream Stefanie was quite unusually flustered. "I guess it leaves one red bowling pin and chicken strip on the top and just the celery on the bottom."
"Exactly," and with that balloons of all colors started to fall incessantly from somewhere overhead.
Stefanie woke up in a start. "What was that all about?" she actually said out loud. "Humph," she said, "like Stacy would ever make me nervous"...
________
After writing it all down, Stefanie's exhaustion from the day finally got the best of her. She climbed in her bed and quickly drifted off. But after four nights without chemistry intruding into her dreams, the monster returned.
The dream started off fine. She was at a mall. It was two stories with a big open space in the middle. Look, there's a Cold Stone. Look, there's a Mexican restaurant. Look, a Fazolis. It was her kind of mall!
Then it kind of changed. She was facing two stories, but there were bowling pins--and humungous strips of chicken from "arroz con pollo," a Mexican dish, on both floors. They were different colors.
Suddenly, her sister Stacy was standing on the second floor in a tuxedo and tights, wearing a top hat and holding a very long black cane.
"OK, Stefanie," she yelled down. "Your job is to match the things on the top floor with the things on the bottom. Let me do one for you."
Normally, Stefanie wouldn't pay any attention to Stacy's instructions. But you know how dreams are. Things that are normally bizarre seem completely normal and real. Stefanie began to get nervous, even broke out in a sweat.
"See this twisted 1.3 meter long piece of chicken," Stacy continued, touching the chicken on the second floor. It strangely began to glow. "This piece is exactly like the 1.3 meter long piece of chicken on the bottom." And then her cane extended down to touch the other piece of chicken on the bottom. It glowed for a second and then both disappeared. "Now it's your turn."
Instantly everything disappeared and then a series of things appeared on both the top and the bottom. Two red bowling pins and a twisted piece of chicken on the top. A red bowling pin and a meter long piece of celery appeared on the bottom.
"Um," Stefanie hesitantly said. "It looks like all the bowling pins should disappear."
"WRONG!" Stacy said in a triumphant voice. "There's only one red bowling pin on the bottom so only one of the red bowling pins on the top can disappear. So what does that leave?"
Now in the dream Stefanie was quite unusually flustered. "I guess it leaves one red bowling pin and chicken strip on the top and just the celery on the bottom."
"Exactly," and with that balloons of all colors started to fall incessantly from somewhere overhead.
Stefanie woke up in a start. "What was that all about?" she actually said out loud. "Humph," she said, "like Stacy would ever make me nervous"...
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