Daughter's math homework (1 Viewer)

[Harry Manback]

Bing says -25 too

 

[Juxtatarot]

After thinking about this a few times a year over the last 9, I'd like to officially propose to the math notation powers that be that we no longer use the - to designate a negative number. Instead we should use a strike through.

-5^2 is unclear

5^2 is clear

 

[bagger]

-5^2 is clear in that it doesn't read -(5^2).

 

[tommyboy]

-5^2 is clear in that it doesn't read -(5^2).

and we're off!

 

[bagger]

-5^2 is clear in that it doesn't read -(5^2).

and we're off!

lol. Math trolling...I have hit yet another new low.

 

[Snoopy]

An answer of -25 would involve squaring an imaginary number, and -5^2 involves all real numbers, so 25 is the correct number.

 

[tommyboy]

An answer of -25 would involve squaring an imaginary number, and -5^2 involves all real numbers, so 25 is the correct number.

 

[Alonzo Mosely]

An answer of -25 would involve squaring an imaginary number, and -5^2 involves all real numbers, so 25 is the correct number.

or it could involve the negation of a square

 

[jon_mx]

An answer of -25 would involve squaring an imaginary number, and -5^2 involves all real numbers, so 25 is the correct number.

or it could involve the negation of a square

Well that sounds impossible. Can we just stick to imaginary numbers please.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

An answer of -25 would involve squaring an imaginary number, and -5^2 involves all real numbers, so 25 is the correct number.

There's a 563-page thread on this somewhere. It was pretty conclusively established that -5^2 = -25 according to the conventional order of operations.

We're not squaring an imaginary number. We're squaring five. The unary minus is applied after the exponentiation.

 

[dparker713]

An answer of -25 would involve squaring an imaginary number, and -5^2 involves all real numbers, so 25 is the correct number.

There's a 563-page thread on this somewhere. It was pretty conclusively established that -5^2 = -25 according to the conventional order of operations.

We're not squaring an imaginary number. We're squaring five. The unary minus is applied after the exponentiation.

Or we're squaring negative five. -5^2 is sloppy notation and that's the only thing that can be conclusively established.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

An answer of -25 would involve squaring an imaginary number, and -5^2 involves all real numbers, so 25 is the correct number.

There's a 563-page thread on this somewhere. It was pretty conclusively established that -5^2 = -25 according to the conventional order of operations.

We're not squaring an imaginary number. We're squaring five. The unary minus is applied after the exponentiation.

Or we're squaring negative five.

That would be a non-standard order of operations, akin to saying that 5 + 2 * 4 = 28 (rather than 13).

 

[jon_mx]

yahoo says its 25

That is why everyone stop using yahoo.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

yahoo says its 25

That is why everyone stop using yahoo.

Google says it's -25. I can't get the answer from Yahoo. When I type "-5^2" into Yahoo and press Enter, I get ... nothing relevant at all.

When I type "=-5^2" into Excel (in a worksheet, but not in VBA), it simplifies to 25. But that's because Excel uses a non-standard order of operations in that case.

 

[dparker713]

An answer of -25 would involve squaring an imaginary number, and -5^2 involves all real numbers, so 25 is the correct number.

There's a 563-page thread on this somewhere. It was pretty conclusively established that -5^2 = -25 according to the conventional order of operations.

We're not squaring an imaginary number. We're squaring five. The unary minus is applied after the exponentiation.

Or we're squaring negative five.

That would be a non-standard order of operations, akin to saying that 5 + 2 * 4 = 28 (rather than 13).

No, negative five is an integer. There is no operation being done other than squaring an integer.

 

[Ilov80s]

What is the co-efficient on -x^2? It's -1. The x^2 is being multiplied by -1. Now apply this same thought process to -5^2. It's basic order of operations.

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

An answer of -25 would involve squaring an imaginary number, and -5^2 involves all real numbers, so 25 is the correct number.

There's a 563-page thread on this somewhere. It was pretty conclusively established that -5^2 = -25 according to the conventional order of operations.

We're not squaring an imaginary number. We're squaring five. The unary minus is applied after the exponentiation.

Or we're squaring negative five.

That would be a non-standard order of operations, akin to saying that 5 + 2 * 4 = 28 (rather than 13).

No, negative five is an integer. There is no operation being done other than squaring an integer.

There are two operations signaled by the two operators ("^" for exponentiation and "-" for negation). The question is what order the two operations should be performed in. The standard convention is to give priority to the exponentiation.

Negative five is an integer, but if you want "-5" to be treated as the integer negative five (and not as the integer five with the unary minus operator being applied to it), you need to put parentheses around it, like so: "(-5)". There is no doubting that (-5)^2 = 25.

 

[dparker713]

An answer of -25 would involve squaring an imaginary number, and -5^2 involves all real numbers, so 25 is the correct number.

There's a 563-page thread on this somewhere. It was pretty conclusively established that -5^2 = -25 according to the conventional order of operations.

We're not squaring an imaginary number. We're squaring five. The unary minus is applied after the exponentiation.

Or we're squaring negative five.

That would be a non-standard order of operations, akin to saying that 5 + 2 * 4 = 28 (rather than 13).

No, negative five is an integer. There is no operation being done other than squaring an integer.

There are two operations signaled by the two operators ("^" for exponentiation and "-" for negation). The question is what order the two operations should be performed in. The standard convention is to give priority to the exponentiation.

Negative five is an integer, but if you want "-5" to be treated as the integer negative five (and not as the integer five with the unary minus operator being applied to it), you need to put parentheses around it, like so: "(-5)". There is no doubting that (-5)^2 = 25.

Negation is not an operation. Subtraction is an operation.

And your notational convention is hardly universal, both people and programs dispute your claim.

 

[dparker713]

What is the co-efficient on -x^2? It's -1. The x^2 is being multiplied by -1. Now apply this same thought process to -5^2. It's basic order of operations.

Or, the co-efficient is 1 and you're subtracting the result. Regardless, the notation for variables and constants is not the same.

 

[Hooper31]

Negation is not an operation. Subtraction is an operation.

And your notational convention is hardly universal, both people and programs dispute your claim.

No. People and programs don't dispute this. Morons dispute this. Hope that clears it up. You're welcome.

Who the #### takes on Maurile?

 

[Maurile Tremblay]

An answer of -25 would involve squaring an imaginary number, and -5^2 involves all real numbers, so 25 is the correct number.

There's a 563-page thread on this somewhere. It was pretty conclusively established that -5^2 = -25 according to the conventional order of operations.

We're not squaring an imaginary number. We're squaring five. The unary minus is applied after the exponentiation.

Or we're squaring negative five.

That would be a non-standard order of operations, akin to saying that 5 + 2 * 4 = 28 (rather than 13).

No, negative five is an integer. There is no operation being done other than squaring an integer.

There are two operations signaled by the two operators ("^" for exponentiation and "-" for negation). The question is what order the two operations should be performed in. The standard convention is to give priority to the exponentiation.

Negative five is an integer, but if you want "-5" to be treated as the integer negative five (and not as the integer five with the unary minus operator being applied to it), you need to put parentheses around it, like so: "(-5)". There is no doubting that (-5)^2 = 25.

Negation is not an operation. Subtraction is an operation.

And your notational convention is hardly universal, both people and programs dispute your claim.

Negation is an operation. So is subtraction.

You're right that the convention is not universal. MS Excel uses a different convention, for example. But they do not dispute my claim. They acknowledge that their treatment of the unary minus in the order of operations is non-standard.

 

[Mr. Pickles]

If someone chooses not to accept the accepted definition, well, okay. I'm guessing they don't have a very high Erdos number.

Ummm, wouldn't you want a low Erdos number?

 

[Hooper31]

yahoo says its 25

My cat was about to chime in with an answer, but instead coughed up a hairball. Seemed equally relevant compared to the opinions of some of the mouth breathers that can't hold back from displaying their lack of a mathematics education.

I wonder if I'm qualified to share a opinion. What sort of qualifications are necessary? I hope its not a 170+ IQ.

 

[Hooper31]

If someone chooses not to accept the accepted definition, well, okay. I'm guessing they don't have a very high Erdos number.

Ummm, wouldn't you want a low Erdos number?

Too true. I've only ever met one guy that knew his number. He was popular at parties.

 

[Alonzo Mosely]

An answer of -25 would involve squaring an imaginary number, and -5^2 involves all real numbers, so 25 is the correct number.

There's a 563-page thread on this somewhere. It was pretty conclusively established that -5^2 = -25 according to the conventional order of operations.

We're not squaring an imaginary number. We're squaring five. The unary minus is applied after the exponentiation.

Or we're squaring negative five. -5^2 is sloppy notation and that's the only thing that can be conclusively established.

It's only sloppy notation if you are indeed squaring -5.

 

[((Morpheus))]

This thread still kills me... I can't believe it's been almost 10 years.

 

[Thorn]

Negation is not an operation. Subtraction is an operation.

And your notational convention is hardly universal, both people and programs dispute your claim.

No. People and programs don't dispute this. Morons dispute this. Hope that clears it up. You're welcome.

Who the #### takes on Maurile?

NOT EXCELLENT

 

[Hooper31]

Negation is not an operation. Subtraction is an operation.

And your notational convention is hardly universal, both people and programs dispute your claim.

No. People and programs don't dispute this. Morons dispute this. Hope that clears it up. You're welcome.

Who the #### takes on Maurile?

NOT EXCELLENT

I humbly await arbitrary assignment of punishment.

This thread reminds me of the Sterling hubbub over racists comments and the president's response to those comments. Just let the ignorant keep talking and they will let the world know what they are. That said, I think I'll just skulk away now and watch as there's an equally likely chance I'll make an ### of myself too.

 

[jon_mx]

This thread still kills me... I can't believe it's been almost 10 years.

The great thing is, the first post answered it correctly in less than 1 minute and it could have ended right there.