Editing 1184: Circumference Formula
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The title text makes a related joke. Randall has used r' (r-{{w|Prime (symbol)|prime}}) and r" (r-prime-prime, typically pronounced as ''r double prime''). Like many symbols, prime has widely differing meanings depending on context. In mathematics prime is often employed to distinguish corresponding components in analogous systems. For example, in a description of a basic physical system, if the velocity of an object is denoted with the variable ''v'', the velocity of that object at time=0 may be denoted with ''vβ²''. Playing off this use of prime, Randall has selected the radius of {{w|Earth Prime}}, a concept used in speculative fiction with parallel universes and multiple Earths. Earth Prime is our Earth (or at least the Earth from which the protagonists originate). | The title text makes a related joke. Randall has used r' (r-{{w|Prime (symbol)|prime}}) and r" (r-prime-prime, typically pronounced as ''r double prime''). Like many symbols, prime has widely differing meanings depending on context. In mathematics prime is often employed to distinguish corresponding components in analogous systems. For example, in a description of a basic physical system, if the velocity of an object is denoted with the variable ''v'', the velocity of that object at time=0 may be denoted with ''vβ²''. Playing off this use of prime, Randall has selected the radius of {{w|Earth Prime}}, a concept used in speculative fiction with parallel universes and multiple Earths. Earth Prime is our Earth (or at least the Earth from which the protagonists originate). | ||
| β | However, other disciplines use prime to mean other things. In timekeeping and navigation ' denotes minutes (fractions of hours or degrees, respectively) and " denotes seconds (fractions of minutes). In the United States and some other places not using meters to measure distance, ' denotes feet and " denotes {{w|inches}}. The suggestion of using r' or r" does not cause any mathematical confusion, but using the former to denote the radius of a specific object and the latter to denote a radius using a specific unit of measurement would be highly esoteric. Furthermore, r' and r" can be used in calculus as a method of denoting, respectively, a first derivative and a second derivative. For someone attempting to use the formula and some derivative representing a circle's radius, trouble could result quite easily. | + | However, other disciplines use prime to mean other things. In timekeeping and navigation ' denotes minutes (fractions of hours or degrees, respectively) and " denotes seconds (fractions of minutes). In the United States and some other places not using meters to measure distance, ' denotes feet and " denotes {{w|inches}}. The suggestion of using r' or r" does not cause any mathematical confusion, but using the former to denote the radius of a specific object and the latter to denote a radius using a specific unit of measurement would be highly esoteric. Furthermore, r' and r" can be used in calculus as a method of denoting, respectively, a first derivative and a second derivative. For someone attempting to use the formula and some derivative representing a circle's radius, trouble could result quite easily. |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
