Decreases by a factor of 0.5

John O'Flaherty wrote on 27 Feb 2005:
[nq:1]The distance between the plates is 8mm. It decreases by a factor of 0.5. What is its new value? Maybe ... like it would decrease to 4 mm. But that's the same as decreasing by a factor of two, isn't it?[/nq]
factor
5 a : any of the numbers, quantities, or symbols in mathematics thatwhen multiplied together form a product b : a quantity by whic

[nq:1]John O'Flaherty wrote on 27 Feb 2005:[/nq]
[nq:2]The distance between the plates is 8mm. It decreases by ... same as decreasing by a factor of two, isn't it?[/nq]
[nq:1]factor 5 a : any of the numbers, quantities, or symbols in mathematics that when multiplied together form a product ... would have to multiply the original size by the factor of decrease, or (8 mm X 0.05 = 4 mm).[/nq]

[nq:1]The distance between the plates is 8mm. It decreases by a factor of 0.5. What is its new value? Maybe ... like it would decrease to 4 mm. But that's the same as decreasing by a factor of two, isn't it?[/nq]
What language is this supposed to be in?

Liebs

lightbulb wrote on 27 Feb 2005:
[nq:2]factor 5 a : any of the numbers, quantities, or ... of decrease, or (8 mm X 0.05 = 4 mm).[/nq]
[nq:1]Usually when you say you are going to decrease a number by a factor of some other number, you divide. ... as 8/0.5=16. In order to get 4 mm, you would have to decrease the distance by a factor of 2.[/nq]
That may be standard usage in the math busine

Robert Lieblich wrote on 27 Feb 2005:
[nq:2]The distance between the plates is 8mm. It decreases by ... same as decreasing by a factor of two, isn't it?[/nq]
[nq:1]What language is this supposed to be in?[/nq]
Mathish, or its alter ego Numerese. It's certainly not the kind of language I would let slide by in any of the medical papers I edit.

Franke: EFL teacher & medical edito

[nq:2]The distance between the plates is 8mm. It decreases by ... same as decreasing by a factor of two, isn't it?[/nq]
[nq:1]What language is this supposed to be in?[/nq]
It's a problem from a physics book. The answers to the problem indicate that they mean the distance goes from 8mm to 4 mm. I agree with Franke's translation to English- it decreases by 50%. Or, they could have said it de

[nq:1]lightbulb wrote on 27 Feb 2005:[/nq]
[nq:1]That may be standard usage in the math business I don't know anything about math except what I learned ... English that all of us will find unexceptional: "The distance between the plates is 8 mm. It decreases by 50%."[/nq]
That would have been much clearer.

john

[nq:1]lightbulb wrote on 27 Feb 2005:[/nq]
[nq:1]That may be standard usage in the math business I don't know anything about math except what I learned ... English that all of us will find unexceptional: "The distance between the plates is 8 mm. It decreases by 50%."[/nq]
The question was worded as a math problem. If, in everyday conversation, somebody asked me that question, I would ask t

[nq:2]What language is this supposed to be in?[/nq]
[nq:1]It's a problem from a physics book. The answers to the problem indicate that they mean the distance goes from 8mm to 4 mm.[/nq]
If that is the case it might be worth writing in the correct answer. Are the solutions provided by the textbook? Is the physics book the textbook for a class you (or anybody, for that matter) are currently

[nq:2]What language is this supposed to be in?[/nq]
[nq:1]It's a problem from a physics book. The answers to the problem indicate that they mean the distance goes from ... said it decreases by 0.5, which I would see as the same as 50%. The problem is the 'factor of'.[/nq]
Factors are multiplicands if I remember my high school algebra correctly. For instance, the factors of x^2-x-2 are (x+1