Questions tagged [mathematics]
This tag is for questions on the usage and meaning of mathematical terminology and the names for mathematical entities in English.
259
questions
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"X increased two times." — What can this mean?
my own sentence:
(1) X increased two times.
What meanings can (1) have?:
(1a) X that increased to two times is two X.
(1b) X that increased by two times is three X.
(1c) X increased twice.
- 4,951
0
votes
2
answers
68
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"rise 2%" VS "rise at 2%" VS "rise by 2%"
I thought we can say only "verb + by + number" but I came across "verb + at + number" and "verb + number".
I got interested in whether there is any difference between ...
- 4,951
0
votes
1
answer
79
views
Is it 1.7 times or 1.7 time? How about 0.7 time/times? Or something else?
There is a similar question asked about temperature here, but I'm asking more generally and without the convenience of the difference being a nice half.
If Alice has 10 grams of sugar and Bob has 17 ...
- 111
7
votes
3
answers
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Is it correct to say "Be m a number...", instead of "Let m be a number..." in math and elsewhere?
I know declaring things with 'be' is common in older texts. Is it grammatically sound using it in this context? It doesn't have to be in math, but that is where I saw it once and have been writing it ...
Abdullah Mustafa
0
votes
0
answers
50
views
simplifies to vs. be simplified to?
In mathematics, one often simplifies an expression.
In the mathematical writing, which one is correct (or more natural)?
Equation (1) is simplified to Equation (2).
vs.
Equation (1) simplifies to ...
- 101
-1
votes
1
answer
40
views
English in Math, x y's
Suppose there are two variables, x and y. Now, I want to describe that "there are many y's, and the number of y is x." For example, a number=yy...y and its length is x. Is "there are x ...
- 59
4
votes
10
answers
3k
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How do you read this mathematical expression aloud?
could someone tell me how to read this mathematical expression aloud?
exp(√(cosx )+1-x^4)
I didn't take math in school so I would have no clue... I just need to be able to read it aloud.
Thank you ...
- 59
-1
votes
1
answer
46
views
What does "envelope" mean in mathematics in this context?
I stumbled upon this sentence:
Compared with the envelope [some mathematical formula] of the sinusoidal term, [some other mathematical formula] decays very fast, and the overall response is similar ...
- 199
2
votes
1
answer
63
views
Why not "the space" in "R^1, R^2, R^3 are often called the line, the plane, and space, respectively."? ("Calculus on Manifolds" by Michael Spivak)
I am reading "Calculus on Manifolds" by Michael Spivak.
This book is a famous mathematics book.
In this book, the author wrote the following sentence:
R^1, R^2, R^3 are often called the ...
- 189
0
votes
1
answer
11
views
Articles modifying nouns assigned mathematical symbol
In documents including mathematics, people often specify a quantity by putting the name and mathematical symbol of it, as follows:
Suppose that quantity A is positive;
Let variable X be ...
- 237
2
votes
2
answers
302
views
Using "There exist/exists" with "and"
I think in the following sentence it is correct to use "there exists":
There exists a number and two distinct elements [...]
But then, is the following sentence correct and if it is, why?
...
- 161
0
votes
1
answer
30
views
Why did the author write "at the point a of A" instead of "at a point a of A"?
I am reading a mathematics book ("Analysis on Manifolds" by James R. Munkres).
Theorem 8.3 (The inverse function theorem).
Let A be open in R^n; let f : A -> R^n be of class C^r. If Df(x)...
- 189
0
votes
1
answer
39
views
Does "Show by insertion" make sense mathematically?
In math classes you might be given an equation like
2+x=5
and a valute like x=3. In my native Danish tongue I could now say one of the following:
Vis ved indsættelse, at x=3 er en løsning.
Vis ved ...
- 952
2
votes
2
answers
133
views
How should I interpret the phrase "f is applied to x" in function f(x) in math?
How should I interpret the phrase "f is applied to x" in function f(x) in math?
I found the expression:
f (x) (i.e. f applied to x)
inside the math book.
I only have the 3 definitions of &...
0
votes
3
answers
107
views
Mirror image of/in/over/across a line
What is the correct preposition to use in a sentence that describes how a mirror image is reflected through something? This is for mathematical use, and I am in doubt about two scenarios, here shown ...
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