12 ms·

I don't have a minor in math, and I instinctively thought "shrinking by 30x" means 1/30 of size.

• jonas21 4y ago
  Yeah. "growing" = numerator. "shrinking" = denominator. It's nice because they're inverses - if you shrink by 30x, then grow by 30x, you're back where you started, whereas a 97% decrease in size followed by a 97% increase in size leaves you at ~6% of the original size.
  • Karellen 4y ago
    But "30x" is just another way of saying "3000%". Or, "3000%" is just another way of saying "30x". "Shrinking by 30x" means the same thing as "shrinking by 3000%".
    • Karellen 4y ago
      Huh. Downdooted without explanation for correctly explaining how percentages work. Not something I expected on HN. Never change, interwebs!
      • anon2020dot00 4y ago
        30x doesn't seem to mean 3000% but means 30 times original value. If I had starting capital of 100 usd and it increased by 20x then that means I gained 2000 usd which is 20x of my starting capital. EDIT: correction 30x is same as 3000%.
  • bigpod 4y ago
    essentialy yes
  • jewayne 4y ago
    I think if you want to say "1/30th of the size", you should say that. Growth is usually measured as a difference. For example, a 200% increase means the value has tripled.