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I've heard the idea bandied about that we should just drop the ambiguous names (w.r.t., the whole long/short scale thing) and start using scientific notation.
by smanek 17y ago
I've heard the idea bandied about that we should just drop the ambiguous names (w.r.t., the whole long/short scale thing) and start using scientific notation.
It is much more obvious that 10^12/10^6 = 10^6
- zackattack 17y agoWhy is it much more obvious? I would probably understand if I knew how you went about solving the problem. I am quite curious as to your thought process! My thought process involved these components: 1. Remembering heuristics for proportions. 2. Remembering that Million -> billion -> trillion 3. Knowing that 1000 million = 1 billion 4. Knowing that 1000 billion = 1 trillion 5. Knowing that 1000 * 1000 = 1 million
- smanek 17y agoDividing numbers with exponents is simple - you just subtract. A^B / A^C = A^(B-C) This is an obvious result of the rules of arithmetic. To use a concrete example: A^3/A^2 = A because A^3 is A x A x A divided by A^2 is A x A, then the two A's on the bottom cancel out with two of the A's on the top - leaving only one A on the top.
- zackattack 17y agoYou didn't read my post. For what it's worth, I know how to divide with exponents. I'm curious why you think converting to exponents in the first place is so much more obvious.
- RiderOfGiraffes 17y agoI remember the tale of a programmer talking to his manager. When his manager asked how close he was to completion the programmer said that if there were 10^6 things to do, they had done 10^3. The manager said "Great! We're halfway there!" I'm not sure scientific notation would "solve the problem".
- anigbrowl 17y agoTen to the power of six? That's like a cube, right, because a cube has six sides, right?