I got 1600 for the problem. Wow, looking through fanfiction and this is what I do with a stray math problem. I can’t tell if I should be amused or defeated.

I’m glad I’m not the only one who wanted to solve for apple.

@bradzz
 
I did a physics/math double major at UT - Austin back in the 90s. They had the same core requirements and similar elective lists, physics required some math already, and some of their core courses could be electives for each other. There ended up being not all that much extra coursework required. I had to take some summer courses but I managed it in four years (plus the summer following my senior year).
 
Obviously this may differ from school to school. Consult your academic advisors about a course plan if you want to pull this off – the earlier you start carefully picking courses, the better.

Looks like Applejack got some kind of curse going on and it seems like everytime she writes something it comes out an apple.

@bradzz  
Not worth being awful at it and miserable doing it. :I I would be more than content to live modestly if I could have a job doing what I love to do. And since doing algebra is my most job-marketable thing I enjoy doing. :V

@Keith Mowz
 
MONEYMONEYMONEYMONEYMONEY!!11

@mathprofbrony
 
So when you say “a physics and a math degree”, you did two separate undergraduate degrees? How’d you cope with the workload, if so?

@bradzz  
I went in for mechanical engineering. Got about eight months into it then dropped it. I’m going back in the fall for accounting instead. Mmmmm, plain practical math.

I have both a physics and a math degree, so let me chime in on the discussion of applied math: the thing that finally helped me get through some of the trickier math on the physics side of things is to remember that nearly every equation in physics can be interpreted as a verbal statement about something, and those that can’t are usually empirical models.
 
Easy example: F=GMm/r^{2: the force of gravity is proportional to the product of the masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance. The “is” is the equals sign, and the proportionality constant puts both sides in units of force, usually Newtons.
 
Slightly harder: gamma = sqrt(1-v}2/c^{2). Treat it as gamma*c = sqrt(c}2-v^{2). The Lorentz factor is the other leg of a right triangle with hypotenuse c and one leg v. Gamma itself is unitless.
 
Another right triangle has hypotenuse E and legs mc}2 and pc: E = sqrt((mc^2)^2+(pc)^2). Both sides are in units of energy, such as Joules.
 
Obviously when things start involving matrices or exponentials the explanations get longer than it’s probably wise to put here. But it’s still basically the same deal. Try to figure out what the equation is saying conceptually, and the shape of the algebra will usually make more sense. At least that helped me.

16 panels to many.

@Keith Mowz
 
Sounds fun. What engineering did you do?

@bradzz  
I’m great at solving algebra and geometry problems, not so much at knowing what formulas to use when and where and what variables go where and augh.
 
Basically, you have to not only be good at doing the math, you have to be good at knowing how to set up the math you need to do in the first place. Its like if you had to solve a world problem who’s solution was another word problem that you then had to solve with regular math.

@Keith Mowz  
for me its the other way around
 
i was a wiz in science
 
then chemistry and physics came around….

@Keith Mowz
 
How so? I’m planning on doing engineering in a few years.

@Hypastpist  
Engineering was a goddamn nightmare, because of the science moreso than the math. The math I loved. The science made the math ugly as fuck.

Okay, phew. It was just a case of me trying to do it all in my head. Somehow I managed to completely fail at subtracting the top half of the fraction which threw my answer way off. When I started to actually type it out I figured out what went wrong.

@bradzz  
thank god im not an engineer or something similar
 
i heard those guys one helluva time in college

@Hypastpist  
It’s useful for using formulas to find out something, like the speed of a car (v=d/t, or velocity = distance / time)

@bradzz  
algebra is fucking confusing
 
at least its a good insomnia cure

eyes ninja’ed comments after he left the window and came back
 
I’m glad we’re all insistent about this. %^)

@Prof.NightJack
 
In this case, apple = 1600.

@Hypastpist
 
Basic algebra. You replace the letters with the corresponding numbers above, then solve like a normal sum.

@bradzz  
that actually made sense to you?

or, [Apple] = 1600

The answer is 1600.