Dual Display

I've been toying with the idea of getting an Apple 30" LCD, but have decided that it just isn't worth it. I can get the same screen area with 2 x 20" 1600x1200 displays, for a little over $1k. For the price of the single 30" monitor I could have five 20" displays.

How does the Mac handle the Dock on the bottom of the screen? does it split it? or put one on both, or just in the center of the first display? I'm looking for some screenshots, but haven't been able to find any. Any suggestions?

if the dock is set to be at the bottom middle of the screen then it will place it on the screen that you choose as the active screen. The bar at the top of the screen only goes on one screen

Is the "active" screen something I set, or whenever I click on an application, whichever screen that application is on, the doc will appear on the bottom of that screen? Thank you for your help.

The dock will always stay at the bottom of one screen. You choose what screen you want as your active screen in system preferences and that screen will always have the dock and the top bar with all the menus

Once again, thank you for your help.