5 ms·
What's the difference between "an arbitrary constant" and "a variable"?
by jacobwilliamroy 5y ago
What's the difference between "an arbitrary constant" and "a variable"?
- analog31 5y agoThe definition is arbitary. And it varies. ;-) Both are symbols. The difference is kind of subjective, and has to do with how you treat the symbol. Do you just carry it through your derivation, or are you interested in what happens when you feed it specific values? But I believe your objection is valid. And to be honest I got all the way through a college math major by just treating everything as symbol manipulation. Caring about numerical values was for my other major, physics.
- Koshkin 5y agoIn programmer's terms, an (arbitrary) constant is a parameter. (A variable is, well, a variable.)