science

What-not

What-not is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand What-not rather than just read about it. In short: A what-not or whatnot is a piece of furniture derived from the French étagère which was exceedingly popular in England in the first three-quarters of the 19th century. History It usually consists of slender uprights or pillars, supporting a series of shelves for holding china, ornaments, trifles, or "what nots", hence the allusive name.

Key takeaways

What-not belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect What-not to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of What-not from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A what-not or whatnot is a piece of furniture derived from the French étagère which was exceedingly popular in England in the first three-quarters of the 19th century.

History It usually consists of slender uprights or pillars, supporting a series of shelves for holding china, ornaments, trifles, or "what nots", hence the allusive name. The rise of the what-not coincided with the availability of purely decorative items which warranted display. The slender uprights functioned to provide as uninterrupted view of the objects on display as possible. In its English form, it is a convenient piece of drawing room furniture, and was rarely valued for its aesthetic. The first recorded what-not in England was from December 1808, in a letter from Lady Sarah Spencer to her brother Robert which mentions laying a new carpet which necessitated "old chairs, tables, what-nots, and sofas were torn up by the roots". British what-nots are typically made of mahogany or rosewood, which were fashionable woods in the late Georgian and Victorian eras. Most what-nots are square, though triangular forms were made to fit in corners. Some incorporate a drawer. American manufacturers also produced what-nots.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with What-not

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what What-not claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to What-not before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about What-not ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of What-not

In research: What-not appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses What-not in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: What-not is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 19th century in England, English furniture, Furniture, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for What-not outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study What-not in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what What-not means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain What-not out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is What-not in simple terms?

A what-not or whatnot is a piece of furniture derived from the French étagère which was exceedingly popular in England in the first three-quarters of the 19th century. History It usually consists of slender uprights or pillars, supporting a series of shelves for holding china, ornaments, trifles, o…

Why does What-not matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study What-not?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on What-not.