Golf

Why do golf balls have dimples?

They're not there just to make the ball look pretty. The dimples on a golf ball actually enable the ball to travel faster and further than a smooth ball of the same size. They allow air to travel around the ball in a way that makes it fly as it would if it were smaller and smooth.

So why don't airplanes have dimples on them? Because the dimple phenomenon is unique to small round objects traveling at certain speeds. In fact, when the dimpled golf ball travels at high speeds, the dimples don't create any advantage, and when it travels at slow speeds the dimples are disadvantageous to flight.

(Source: Myth Information by J. Allen Varasdi)

Galing yan dito.

Currently Listening To: Creed - One Last Breath

X

Why is the letter "X" used for the unknown in algebra?

It was Renee Descartes, the 17th century philosopher and mathematician, who began the use of letters at the end of the alphabet to represent unknown quantities, with X as the choice for the first unknown. Why X and not Y or Z? He never gave an official reason, but most scholars agree that the widespread adoption of the X is, in spirit, ease and simple. One could write the letter X quickly and it was more likely to be legible than other letters.

(Source: "How do astronausts scratch an itch?" by David Feldman)

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Currently Listening To: Maroon 5 - Makes Me Wonder