Can By be synonymous with in?
Ok, a math question has come up and started a huge war, and what it all comes down to is wording.
Divide 30 by half.
Would this mean the same as Divide in half, answer 15?
or
would it refer to Dividing by half of 30, which is 15, so the answer is 2?
Top answer
5 which would mean the answer is 60! If you want the result to be 15, then you would say "Divide 30 by 2". DabR4B1T would it refer to Dividing by half of 30, which is 15, so the answer is 2?
- 5 which would mean the answer is 60!
- If you want the result to be 15, then you would say "Divide 30 by 2".
- DabR4B1T would it refer to Dividing by half of 30, which is 15, so the answer is 2?
- No.
- No one would interpret it that way.
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Strictly speaking, it means 30/0.5 which would mean the answer is 60!
If you want the result to be 15, then you would say "Divide 30 by 2".
DabR4B1Twould it refer to Dividing by half of 30, which is 15, so the answer is 2?
No. No one would interpret it that way.
0One way "by half" comes into play in talking about arithmetic is, for example,"The herd of 30 horses had been reduced by half when the auction was over." There are now 15 horses in the herd. You couldn't say "reduced in half", but you could say "cut in half".
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