General Questions

[Sureboss]

Was talking with my Dad about price of replacing a tyre (broken sidewall, £90 btw.), he thought that the price would go up as oil has gone up. I thought this was odd. He then said that modern tyres don't have any rubber in them, they are all synthetic...Is this true?

 

[TB]

It looks like Styrene-butadiene is mixed with natural rubber to make tires, but I would say (and this is merely a guess) that the majority of the tire itself is rubber, in one form or another.

Source.

 

[Sureboss]

Yes, a synthetic rubber.

 

[DQuaN]

I've had a pain on the right hand side of my jaw for a week. Now it's hurting the inside of my ear. I'm thinking it's been an ear infection all along.

Any thoughts?

 

[Sureboss]

Sounds like one. I always used to get headaches when I got them. You had any?

 

[DQuaN]

No, just jaw ache. Hurts to eat.

Although the ear pain could be described as a headache.

 

[TheCracker]

Wisdom tooth maybe?

 

[DQuaN]

Nah, i'm nearly 28. They came yonks ago.

 

[ExigeEvan]

Might be worth seeing the dentist before you see a doctor if it started out as Jaw ache. Though ear and jaw issues are always difficult.

 

[TheCracker]

Might be worth seeing the dentist before you see a doctor if it started out as Jaw ache. Though ear and jaw issues are always difficult.

The jaw and the muscle in the jaw go all the way upto the ear. Any ear ache is probably a side effect of the ache in your jaw, which in turn is likely to be a tooth issue.

 

[DQuaN]

Seems too high up to be tooth related. It's right up at the joint.

 

[Omnis]

I need a quick answer for this one:

How do I find the oblique asymptote of f(x)=(x^2-1)/(x+5)? I know I'm supposed to do long division, but that's the problem! How do you go about long dividing them thar nomials?

 

[Touring Mars]

Try expanding the "x^2-1" to read "x^2 + 0x - 1" and then divide that by x+5...

You should get an answer of "x-5"

 

[Omnis]

Try expanding the "x^2-1" to read "x^2 + 0x - 1" and then divide that by x+5...

You should get an answer of "x-5"

Yeah, I figured out how to do it with synthetic division shortly after I posted. I just totally don't remember long division at all. Thanks, though!

 

[Mrs. Famine]

Seems too high up to be tooth related. It's right up at the joint.

Could be inflammation around the joint, or it could be a blocked/infected saliva duct. Can you feel anything lumpy in or outside your mouth/underneath or around your jaw/behind your ear?

 

[DQuaN]

Not really. Just went to the doctors and that's exactly what he said. Told me to take lots of ibuprofen and it should be gone in a week.

Apparently it's TMJ Dysfunction.

 

[Sureboss]

Tempero-Mandibular Joint.

I thought that wasn't a short-term thing as it is related to nerve damage?

 

[Roo]

How are motor racing tracks, particularly ovals, measured for length? For example, Bristol Motor Speedway is 0.533 miles long; is that the length of the white line on the inside, the wall around the outside or how far it is in the middle of the racetrack?

 

[SolidSnake15]

If I'm not mistaken, isn't it measured by the inside?

 

[Metar]

How are motor racing tracks, particularly ovals, measured for length? For example, Bristol Motor Speedway is 0.533 miles long; is that the length of the white line on the inside, the wall around the outside or how far it is in the middle of the racetrack?

That's your answer as far as NASCAR is concerned.

 

[Roo]

Perfect, thank you 👍 Thinking about it, I guess the difference between the lengths of the lines at the edges of a road course would be negligible; ovals always puzzled me.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

European tracks use the average of the track edge lengths.

 

[Metar]

So the average between the length of both white lines?

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Yep. I guess it's the exact midline through the track.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

How do they measure it?

 

[Touring Mars]

You could do it any number of different ways... they could lie matchsticks of known length end to end and then count them up? Or use one of these:-

​

Or perhaps they could use some sort of motorised vehicle fitted with a distance measuring device, like a car or a bike?? 💡

 

[Metar]

There are always a few images of guys with your device, Mars. However, the F1 teams have fully-digital versions of each track - surely measuring it wouldn't be a problem?

 

[Loon]

Or perhaps they could use some sort of motorised vehicle fitted with a distance measuring device, like a car or a bike?? 💡

A paint truck has the ability to tell you how many feet of paint was sprayed during a run.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

You could do it any number of different ways... they could lie matchsticks of known length end to end and then count them up? Or use one of these:-

​

Or perhaps they could use some sort of motorised vehicle fitted with a distance measuring device, like a car or a bike?? 💡

I think they say "Hey, architecture CAD program, how long is this line?"

 

[TheCracker]

I think they say "Hey, architecture CAD program, how long is this line?"

Wouldn't they have to have detailed real life measurements of the track in the first place to make a CAD model of it?