%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 |    Not for the faint of art. |
|
Complex Numbers A complex number is expressed in the standard form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is defined by i^2 = -1 (that is, i is the square root of -1). For example, 3 + 2i is a complex number. The bi term is often referred to as an imaginary number (though this may be misleading, as it is no more "imaginary" than the symbolic abstractions we know as the "real" numbers). Thus, every complex number has a real part, a, and an imaginary part, bi. Complex numbers are often represented on a graph known as the "complex plane," where the horizontal axis represents the infinity of real numbers, and the vertical axis represents the infinity of imaginary numbers. Thus, each complex number has a unique representation on the complex plane: some closer to real; others, more imaginary. If a = b, the number is equal parts real and imaginary. Very simple transformations applied to numbers in the complex plane can lead to fractal structures of enormous intricacy and astonishing beauty. ![Merit Badge in Quill Award
[Click For More Info]
Congratulations on winning Best Blog in the 2021 edition of [Link To Item #quills] !](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Quill_Award-1375927_6.gif) ![Merit Badge in Quill Award 2
[Click For More Info]
2022 Quill Award - Best Blog - [Link To Item #1196512] . Congratulations!!!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Quill_Award_2-1375927_6.gif) ![Merit Badge in 30DBC Winner
[Click For More Info]
Congratulations on winning the Jan. 2019 [Link To Item #30dbc] !!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-30DBC_Winner-2064535_14.gif) ![Merit Badge in Blogging
[Click For More Info]
Congratulations on winning an honorable mention for Best Blog at the 2018 Quill Awards for [Link To Item #1196512] . *^*Smile*^* This award was sponsored by the blogging consortium including [Link To Item #30dbc] , [Link To Item #blogcity] , [Link To Item #bcof] and [Link To Item #1953629] . For more details, see [Link To Item #quills] .](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/type-Blogging-2180.gif) ![Merit Badge in Highly Recommended
[Click For More Info]
I highly recommend your blog.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/Kudos-Highly_Recommended.gif) ![Merit Badge in Opinion
[Click For More Info]
For diving into the prompts for Journalistic Intentions- thanks for joining the fun!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Opinion-1150.gif) ![Merit Badge in High Five
[Click For More Info]
For your inventive entries in [Link To Item #2213121] ! Thanks for the great read!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/Kudos-High_Five.gif) ![Merit Badge in Enlightening
[Click For More Info]
For winning 3rd Place in [Link To Item #2213121] . Congratulations!](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Enlightening.gif) ![Merit Badge in Quarks Bar
[Click For More Info]
For your awesome Klingon Bloodwine recipe from [Link to Book Entry #1016079] that deserves to be on the topmost shelf at Quark's.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Quarks_Bar-2046190_12.gif)       |
| It's been a while since I had a bit about cooking here, partly because I haven't found many lately, and partly because I haven't been doing much cooking, opting instead for convenience. But here's one from bon appétit: How to Measure Sticky Ingredients Without Losing Your Gosh Darn Mind  I spent 30 years measuring sticky ingredients like a fool. Amusingly, if you preview the URL at the link above, it provides a handy spoiler answer to the clickbait headline. There used to be exactly one thing I didn’t like about baking. I called it the Peanut Butter Problem and it happened every time I made my favorite three-ingredient cookies. Are you going to share the magical recipe with us along with the sorcerous solution to the problem? No? Oh, well, there's always Google, if you can stand scrolling through pages and pages of anecdote before getting to the actual recipe. The Peanut Butter Problem was, as you may have guessed, my best attempt to get a precise amount of peanut butter from a measuring cup into a mixing bowl, and it involved multiple butter knives, my pointer finger, and swearing. From my lofty perch of having figured out two different solutions to this problem many years ago, I could only laugh at this imagery. It's like those commercials that show people failing at different tasks before presenting the One True Solution, Only $19.95 While Supplies Last CALL NOW. Do they still have those? I avoid ads. You'll be getting my solutions for the low, low price of free. And then came TikTok. hu... hu.... HURK The trick? Simply oil your measuring spoons and cups before measuring sticky ingredients. I can't trust any other content from this author, because, like I said, I figured that out decades ago. There are two ways to do it: The first is to dip a finger in oil (hereby referred to as your “oily fingie”) and swoop it around the inside of a measuring spoon or cup, using your oily fingie pad to grease the bottom like you’re coloring it in. And also because she finds "oily fingie" somehow amusing. Anyway, I know a better solution. This whole "measuring ingredients by volume" thing is imprecise. With or without "oily fingie," two cooks measuring the same ingredients with the same tools can come up with different quantities, because of how void spaces get filled or not. No, for the absolute best method, and one that requires fewer steps, is to measure ingredients by mass, not volume. Yes, this does require you to figure out the proper number of grams or ounces in a standard volumetric measure of, say, peanut butter. But you only have to do this once. A quick Google search yields 256 grams for 1 cup. Now, set a sheet of wax paper on a kitchen scale and tare it. Add peanut butter until you reach 256 grams. If you go over, put a dab back into the jar. Then dump the ingredient into your mixing bowl or whatever. For ingredients that are sticky but spread out more, line a bowl with wax paper and tare the scale with that. Better yet, find recipes that give quantities in mass/weight (really, as long as you're on Earth, it doesn't matter) in the first place. This has the other important advantage of requiring less cleanup. Just chuck the wax paper into the trash afterwards. Sure, it contributes to landfill problems, but at least you waste less water. But then you won't get to give it a cutesy name like "oily fingie." Unless you're cool with "waxy scaley." |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
