4 ms·
Did you just linearize squaring?
by jmkerr 6y ago
Did you just linearize squaring?
- sandworm101 6y ago"not just twice ...; it's twice squared" So "twice"(2) and "twice squared" (x^2^2) = 2^2^2 = 16
- whatshisface 6y agoWhere are you getting the third two to put in for x? Your number would be phrased as "twice squared twice."
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- AshleyGrant 6y agoEnglish is a strange language. "Twice squared" could be interpreted both as "Twice as hard, squared" or "Twice as hard, squared two times." Think of the sentence, "A man, twice fooled, shall not be fooled again."
- cgriswald 6y agoIf x is the difficulty, the phrase either means “twice the difficulty, squared”: (2x)^2 or 4x^2. Or “the difficulty squared and squared again”: (x^2)^2 or x^4. The GP is asking why x == 2 in the second example rather than just “the difficulty”. English interpretation doesn’t explain that.
- sandworm101 6y agoRead "not just twice" as "not only twice". Then you can read "it's twice squared" as (the first use of twice) + ("twice squared") The 'it' reference can change. The first 'it' is referencing the difficulty. The second 'it' is referencing the first 'twice', creating the option that 'it' is further "twice squared". Not the most elegant interpretation but a possible interpretation. Learning to avoiding this vague language is why math majors should still take the occasional poetry class.