Correct verb for "formula"

Question

Hi there,I am desperately looking for the correct verb for formula, the latter being the subject. What I mean is a mathematical formula, such as E = mc², not anything that is computer-related.the formula YIELDS?the formula RETURNS?(I have found hundreds of instances of the latter, but all seemed to be in a computer context)Or is it preferrable to use some other construction, sth likeX, as calculated with/by means of the Y formula ... applying the Y formula yields X as/an X ofOr could you propose less clumsy ways of saying that?I'd be very obliged for any help.Florian v. Savigny(If you are going to reply in private, please be patient, as I only check for mail something like once a week. - Si vous allez répondre personellement, patientez s.v.p., car je ne lis les courriels qu'environ une fois par semaine.)

Usenet · Accepted Answer

Sorry, I forgot to say that I need the British way of expressing that - if there is any difference, that is.

Florian v. Savigny
(If you are going to reply in private, please be patient, as I only check for mail something like once a week. - Si vous allez répondre personellement, patientez s.v.p., car je ne lis les courriels qu'environ une fois par semaine.)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi there, I am desperately looking for the correct verb for formula, the latter being the subject. What I mean is a mathematical formula, such as E = mc², not anything that is computer-related. the formula YIELDS? the formula RETURNS?[/nq]
I'd say you have a range of choices.
'Energy can be calculated (or "determined") with (or "using" or "by") the formula (or "equation") E = mc².'
'Using E = mc², we see that X amount of energy will be produced' might be how an instructor would word it.
'The equation yields the result...' is fine, with 'returns' there being a possibility, although the latter is more a computer term, which you wanted to avoid.

Charles Riggs
Correct the stuff that demands correction,
leave the rest be.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1] I am desperately looking for the correct verb for formula, the latter being the subject. What I mean is ... as/an X of Or could you propose less clumsy ways of saying that? I'd be very obliged for any help.[/nq]
I'm British with a mathematical and computer background. I'd say that you can't go wrong using "yields" for a formula. "Produces" is also good. "Returns" is found in less formal contexts, and perhaps implies that some "black box" mechanism is performing the calculations.

Matti

Usenet · Answer

Thanks a lot to both of you. In the meantime, I've worded

A and B had a high agreement in assessing X as computed with the Y statistic.
("statistic", as my specialised dictionary says, meaning either "A quantity, such as a mean or variance, derived or computed from observed data" or the formula used to compute it. The "agreement" thus should be the statistic in the first sense while Y is the statistic in the second sense.)
Following your suggestions, I could also say
The Y statistic produced/yielded a high agreement between A and B in assessing X.
A high agreement between A and B in assessing X was calculated/determined with/using/by the Y statistic.
Would you think any variant of these three is preferable over the rest?
(BTW, I'm also not so sure about "in assessing...". What is meant is that the only quality of A and B that is compared here is which results they yield (not one particular result, but which results they yield generally, or say, in the mean) when assessing X. I am hesitating to say "agreement on the assessment of / assessing X", since this sounds to me like "on a single thing" and like "on how X should be assessed".)

Florian v. Savigny
(If you are going to reply in private, please be patient, as I only check for mail something like once a week. - Si vous allez répondre personellement, patientez s.v.p., car je ne lis les courriels qu'environ une fois par semaine.)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I am desperately looking for the correct verb for formula, the latter being the subject. What I mean is a mathematical formula, such as E = mc², not anything that is computer-related. the formula YIELDS? the formula RETURNS?[/nq]
You should keep in mind the difference
between a formula and and an equation.
This example is an equation, i.e. states
an equivalence. But most formulas are
recipes (instructions how to get a result)
e.g. that the area of a triangle is half
the product of the base and its right height.
Many formulas are written as if they were
equations, as A = BH/2 but this is a
colloquial convenience and not so clear as the
precise distinction between equations
and formulas.
In English texts, we may say a formula
yields, produces, returns, etc: thus may
choose according to the context whether
(a) to vary usage for euphony or (b) to
choose one specific term and use it with
scrupulous care.

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada)

Usenet · Answer

(Email Removed) wrote, in part:
[nq:2]I am desperately looking for the correct verb for formula, ... latter, but all seemed to be in a computer context)[/nq]
[nq:1]I'm British with a mathematical and computer background. I'd say that you can't go wrong using "yields" for a formula. "Produces" is also good. "Returns" is found in less formal contexts, and perhaps implies that some "black box" mechanism is performing the calculations.[/nq]
I'm unsure of the context of the original question. Was it (1) y=3x^2 yields x=\pm\sqrt(y/3)
or
(2) y=3x^2 with x=2 yields 12
?
For (1), I'd say 'yields', 'implies', 'gives us' (or, more often, '(comma,) giving us'), or '(comma,) from which we obtain' (or 'get' or 'have') (or with 'so' instead of 'from which').
For (2), I'd not usually use the equation as a subject. Rather, I'd use 'y', a human, or the gerund(?) 'substituting' (or 'plugging in', I'm afraid) as my subject. I'd say, say, 'so y is 12', 'substituting 2 for x gives us 12' (or, less likely, 'yields'), or 'we plug 2 in for x and get 12'.
I'm American; see sig.
Michael Hamm Since mid-September of 2003, AM, Math, Wash. U. St. Louis I've been erasing too much UBE. (Email Removed) Of a reply, then, if you have been cheated, http://math.wustl.edu/~msh210/ Likely your mail's by mistake been deleted.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]the formula YIELDS? the formula RETURNS?[/nq]
The formula (or, better, equation) YIELDS (or gives, or produces) and an algorithm (or procedure) RETURNS. I always disliked using "formula" for the reason that Don Phillipson gives.

John Varela
(Trade "OLD" lamps for "NEW" for email.)
I apologize for munging the address but the spam is too much.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi there, I am desperately looking for the correct verb for formula, the latter being the subject. What I mean is a mathematical formula, such as E = mc², not anything that is computer-related. the formula YIELDS? the formula RETURNS?[/nq]
I say "gives" in formal contexts. When I'm teaching, I often say "tells you". ...

Jerry Friedman

Correct verb for "formula"

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