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View Full Version : Am I saying this right?


Traab
2012-12-08, 01:38 PM
If something is 10x larger, say 200 is 10x larger than 20, could I also say larger by a factor of ten? Or is that something totally different? I can never remember if saying something is larger by a factor is breaking out the exponents or not. Ive been out of school way too damn long.
Douglas
2012-12-08, 01:46 PM
Yes, 200 is larger than 20 by a factor of 10. That is correct.

It's "orders of magnitude" that break out the exponents. 200 is 1 order of magnitude larger than 20. 200,000,000 is 7 orders of magnitude larger than 20.
Traab
2012-12-08, 02:32 PM
Ah good, thanks, I didnt want to say something like that out loud and be looked at as a moron because I was apparently suggesting that 200 is 20 to the tenth power because I said by a factor of 10.
Anarion
2012-12-08, 03:21 PM
I'd be careful with using the term "factor of x" though. Enough people have had the same confusion as you that occasionally you'll meet someone who has it wrong and is absolutely convinced that they're right and that's the end of the matter.
Kjata
2012-12-09, 01:08 AM
Just say "X times larger." You'll be fine.
KillianHawkeye
2012-12-09, 01:13 AM
I'd be careful with using the term "factor of x" though. Enough people have had the same confusion as you that occasionally you'll meet someone who has it wrong and is absolutely convinced that they're right and that's the end of the matter.

Yeah, but if that actually happened, then Traab would be the one able to look at them as if they were the morons.
Worira
2012-12-09, 01:57 AM
"Heh. Looks like somebody didn't fact-check with the internet."
Aliquid
2012-12-10, 07:46 PM
You could also say that 200 is a tenfold increase of 20.... if you want to throw in a different term.
Capt Spanner
2012-12-14, 08:33 AM
Yes, 200 is larger than 20 by a factor of 10. That is correct.

It's "orders of magnitude" that break out the exponents. 200 is 1 order of magnitude larger than 20. 200,000,000 is 7 orders of magnitude larger than 20.

You can, strictly speaking, use "order of magnitude" with any base - just for further confusion.

In general conversation one order of magnitude is 10 times bigger, but there are several fields where it uses factors of 2 so 256 (2^8) is four orders of magnitude larger than 16 (2^4).