re: Malapropism in Windows Calculator Accessory
Sunday, March 10, 2002 at 1:29 pm Windows 98 Annoyances Discussion Forum
Posted by Mrs. Bagley
(277 messages posted)
The Gradient Theorem: Let f(x,y,z), a scalar field, be defined on a domain D in R3.
Assume that f(x,y,z) has linear approximations on D (i.e. is continuous on D)Then
at each point P in D, . . . Perhaps the"gradients" is in there for those who are
advanced enough to figure out what to do with the gradient theorem. Me? I know third
grade math. Smiling.
On Sunday, March 10, 2002 at 12:56 pm, Sundar Narayan wrote:
>The Calculator can be found under Programs/Accessories. It lets you calculate,
among
>other things, trigonometric functions of angles. When you choose the menu item
"View"
>and "Scientific", it allows you to input the angle in degrees, radians and "gradients".
> Actually, there is no such unit called "gradients" for measuring angles. Microsoft
>undoubtedly means "grades", which is a rarely-used unit for measuring angles --
proof
>of this can be easily obtained by typing in "100", choosing "gradients" (sic) and
>pressing "sin"; the Calculator gives the answer as 1, which is correct since sin(100
>grades) = sin(90 degrees) = 1. A circle can be divided into 360 degrees or 400
grades
>(not gradients!). I once read that the French liking the metric system wanted angular
>measures to be also metric. Therefore, they came up with grades - a right angle
>equals 100 grades, 100 being a nice "metric" number, unlike 90 degrees.
>
>Evidently, the Microsoft employee who wrote the code for the Calculator did not
know
>much about the history of mathematics. Anyway, he must be dead and his position
>never filled - the Calculator has remained the same since Windows 3.1.
|
All messages in this thread [show all]
 |  | re: Malapropism in Windows Calculator Accessory (Mrs. Bagley: Sun, Mar 10, 2002, 1:29 pm) |
 |  |  |  |  | re: Paul (Mrs. Bagley: Sun, Mar 10, 2002, 6:55 pm) |
 |  |  |  | Paul (Mrs. Bagley: Mon, Mar 11, 2002, 6:30 am) |
 |  |  |  |  | re: Paul (Colin: Mon, Mar 11, 2002, 8:49 am) |
| |
| |
Return to the Windows 98 Discussion Forum
|
|