[CW] Re: [Fists] Let's Face It!!

[David J. Ring, Jr.]

Tom,

I learned circuit theories when I was 13 years old at a class at MIT in
Cambridge.  I didn't understand what the sqrt of negative one was, and had
the devil understanding it, until a engineer from General Radio told me - we
don't understand what the heck it means either, but it serves to tag things
so we can work with them.  You don't have to understand imaginary numbers
you just have to learn to work with them.

Some of the stuff, I didn't understand, but some I soon did understand - or
at least I could see that it was true.  I could see that a capacitor passed
AC when I did some experiments in the lab that the professor had with the
class.  I could light a light bulb with a DC battery, but put the capacitor
in series and I could no longer light the bulb.  But I noticed once or twice
if I quickly connected and disconnected the battery I could get a tiny
illumination from the bulb.  Thus I figured out that capacitors pass current
when the state of the voltage is changing.

So I got a little understanding.  And 13 isn't too awfully far from 8 years
old.

At one time I was the youngest Extra in the USA, but things change - I got
older!

73

David Ring
N1EA

----- Original Message -----
From: "Thomas G Dolph" <kg9lz@juno.com>You know, those calculations would
have given me plenty
of trouble, if I hadn't learned the loop theorem and the junction
theorem, and complex numbers, and impedance
in my college physics classes.

So I don't see how a seven year old could have that same amount of
understanding.