LinRTX Posted January 28, 2020 Posted January 28, 2020 What is the difference in the phrase "multiply by a factor of 1.75" and "increase by a factor of 1.75"? Are they the same? Please explain your answers. We are having an interesting discussion at our house. I also posted this on the high school board. Hoping others will see it here and chime in. Quote
maize Posted January 28, 2020 Posted January 28, 2020 I think they are generally used to mean the same thing--multiple the original number by 1.75. Quote
maize Posted January 28, 2020 Posted January 28, 2020 1 minute ago, square_25 said: I think of the second phrase as ungrammatical, but if pressed, I’d say it means the same thing as the first. We do user the somewhat similar "enlarge by a factor of 1.75" in image processing etc. Quote
maize Posted January 28, 2020 Posted January 28, 2020 (edited) I think the key word is factor, which lets us know we should multiply. The least ambiguous interpretation then is multiply the original number by the new factor. I'm guessing the other interpretation is to increase the original number by (that number multiplied by 1.75)? But then you would be increasing it by a quantity, not by a factor. Or is someone proposing some other interpretation? Edited January 29, 2020 by maize Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.