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Subject:Re: Order of Magnitude From:greg -dot- hamill -at- teradyne -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 23 Apr 2002 09:00:00 -0400
Steve Goldberg wrote...
>I think 'order of magnitude' is a relatively new use of jargon and am
grappling with how best to word >it. My application increases speed by 2 to
3 times; so do I say:
>
>* We increase speed by an order of magnitude of 2-3 times;
>
>* Speed is increased by 2-3 orders of magnitude(s);
>
>* Speed is increased (order of magnitude x 2)
Actually, order of magnitude has been around for a while. In technical
terms, it is NOT what you are indicating. In your case, 2-3 times means
If I am running today at 50 blahs per fromm, 2-3 times means 100-150 blahs
per fromm.
Orders of magnitude are factors of 10. In other words, 2-3 orders of
magnitude means
If I am running today at 50 blahs per fromm, 2-3 orders of magnitude means
5000 to 50000 blahs per fromm.
Incidentally, many people (in newsprint and broadcasting most often)
confuse an "increase of a factor of x" and an "increase by a factor of x."
Your increase by a factor of 2-3 times changes 50 to 100-150. An increase
of a factor of 2-3 might mean 50 gives 150-200. Many percentage increases
in publication confuse an increase of 150% with a 50% increase. One means
50 goes to 75 and the other means 50 goes to 125.
Greg
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