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| author | Zhineng Li <im@zhineng.li> | 2026-05-22 23:25:37 +0800 |
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| committer | Zhineng Li <im@zhineng.li> | 2026-05-22 23:25:37 +0800 |
| commit | 58f01bbcaaf232db05726fd84dbce8bb92183484 (patch) | |
| tree | 3fd1e823c7cd5aac32bc19ff73e40b5d4bc67da6 | |
| parent | bce94c890d0b73a3bfa5e92d61f273328fc743e7 (diff) | |
| download | zhineng.li-58f01bbcaaf232db05726fd84dbce8bb92183484.tar.gz zhineng.li-58f01bbcaaf232db05726fd84dbce8bb92183484.zip | |
add May 21, 2026 post
| -rw-r--r-- | 2026-05-21.txt | 127 |
1 files changed, 127 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/2026-05-21.txt b/2026-05-21.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..df0e513 --- /dev/null +++ b/2026-05-21.txt @@ -0,0 +1,127 @@ +Phew. I spent two days finishing Unit 3, Congruence, from the High +School Geometry course on Khan Academy. I went through a lot of geometry +proofs. I can definitely feel my progress slowing down a little, but it +was worth the time. + +When two triangles have the same lengths for all corresponding sides and +the same measures for all corresponding angles, we can say the two +triangles must be congruent. However, we do not necessarily need all of +those facts to prove congruence. There are several shortcuts: SSS, SAS, +ASA, AAS, and HL. + +SSS stands for side-side-side. When three pairs of corresponding sides +are congruent, the two triangles are congruent. + +Proof: For triangles ABC and DEF, suppose we are given that segment AB +is congruent to segment DE, segment BC is congruent to segment EF, and +segment AC is congruent to segment DF. We map segment AB onto segment DE +through a rigid transformation. Rigid transformations preserve distances +and angle measures. Then draw a circle centered at D with radius DF, and +another circle centered at E with radius EF. The image of point C must +lie at one of the intersections of the two circles. If the image point +C' lands on F, we are done. Otherwise, it lies on the opposite side of +segment DE, and reflecting the triangle across DE maps C' onto F. + +SAS stands for side-angle-side. If two corresponding sides are +congruent, and the included angles between them are congruent, then the +two triangles are congruent. + +Proof: For triangles ABC and DEF, suppose we are given that segment AB +is congruent to segment DE, segment BC is congruent to segment EF, and +angle B is congruent to angle E. We map segment AB onto segment DE +through a rigid transformation. Rigid transformations preserve distances +and angle measures. Then draw a circle centered at E with radius EF. The +image point C' lies at the intersection of the circle and the ray +forming angle E with segment DE. If C' lands on F, we are done. +Otherwise, it lies on the opposite side of segment DE, and reflecting +the triangle across DE maps C' onto F. + +ASA stands for angle-side-angle. When two pairs of corresponding angles +are congruent, and the included side between them is congruent, then the +two triangles are congruent. + +Proof: For triangles ABC and DEF, suppose we are given that segment BC +is congruent to segment EF, angle B is congruent to angle E, and angle C +is congruent to angle F. We map segment BC onto segment EF through a +rigid transformation. Rigid transformations preserve distances and angle +measures. The two angles determine two rays, and their intersection +determines the image point A'. If A' lands on D, we are done. Otherwise, +it lies on the opposite side of segment EF, and reflecting the triangle +across EF maps A' onto D. + +AAS stands for angle-angle-side. When two pairs of corresponding angles +are congruent, and a non-included side is congruent, then the two +triangles are congruent. + +Proof: The interior angles of a triangle sum to 180°. Since two angles +are already known, we can calculate the third angle. Then we can apply +the ASA postulate to prove the triangles are congruent. + +HL stands for hypotenuse-leg. If the hypotenuses and one pair of +corresponding legs of two right triangles are congruent, then the +triangles are congruent. + +Proof: This is a special case of right triangles. Using the Pythagorean +Theorem, we can calculate the missing side length. Once we know all +three side lengths, we can apply the SSS postulate. + +There is also an SSA case—side-side-angle—which is not a valid triangle +congruence postulate. + +Suppose we are given that segment AB is congruent to segment DE, segment +AC is congruent to segment DF, and angle C is congruent to angle F. We +map segment AC onto segment DF through a rigid transformation. Rigid +transformations preserve distances and angle measures. Then draw a +circle centered at D with radius DE. The image point B' may lie at one +of two intersections between the circle and the ray forming angle F with +segment DF. In some cases, both positions satisfy the given conditions +but form different triangles. Therefore, SSA is ambiguous and does not +guarantee triangle congruence. + +The unit also covers the reflexive, symmetric, and transitive properties +of congruence. + +Reflexive property: A relation is reflexive if every object is related +to itself. For example, if triangles ABC and ADC share side AC, then +segment AC is congruent to itself by the reflexive property. + +Symmetric property: If A is related to B, then B is also related to A. +For example, if segment AB is congruent to segment BC, then segment BC +is also congruent to AB by the symmetric property. + +Transitive property: If A is related to B, and B is related to C, then A +is related to C. For example, if angle A is congruent to angle B, and +angle B is congruent to angle C, then angle A is congruent to angle C by +the transitive property. + +In the evening, I spent some time watching the keynote of Google I/O +2026. Google introduced a new family of Gemini models—Gemini 3.5 Flash, +which is highly capable and outperforms Gemini 3.1 Pro. It even +outperforms Claude Opus 4.7 and GPT 5.5 in some benchmarks. The crazy +thing is that its output speed is incredibly fast, reaching nearly 280 +tokens per second. The Pro version will be released later next month. + +Google also lowered the price of the highest-tier Gemini subscription +from $250 to $200. One thing that stops me from using Gemini is that I +cannot opt out of AI traning unless I gave up my chat history. I feel +uncomfortable about that, almost as if I am being force into it. + +During the keynote, Google—an AI-first company—also demonstrated how +deeply they are integrating Gemini 3.5 Flash into their products and +across the entire ecosystem: Google Search, Shopping, YouTube, Gmail, +and more. In the near future, Google Search will leverage Antigravity to +generate interactive demos from scratch to help people understand new +ideas or concepts. That was probably the feature I liked the most. + +I feel deeply touched by how AI may completely change people's work and +daily lives. Software may become dispoable and one-time use. At the end +of the keynote, Google introduced a new version of Google Glasses. I +guess I probably will not be able to experience them, but I can already +think of one use case that would suit me very well right now: whenever I +need help with a math problem, I would not need to take out my phone and +snap a photo anymore. I could simply talk to Gemini directly through the +glasses—it sees what I see. + +Oh, and there was also another keynote dedicated specifically to +developers. I guess I need to set aside some extra time to watch that as +well. |
