“Production” to describe multiplication?
from scheep@lemmy.world to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world on 08 Jun 11:36
https://lemmy.world/post/31025403
from scheep@lemmy.world to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world on 08 Jun 11:36
https://lemmy.world/post/31025403
When you add, the end result is a sum. The process of addition can also be called summation. If this is the case, why doesn’t anyone call the process of multiplication production? It would also open up to some good jokes…FACTORies do PRODUCTION
#nostupidquestions
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IIRC that is a synonym already; and Factor » Product isn't a pun, just the what the words literally mean.
oop ok. Wait, production is a word for multiplication? never knew that…
Product not production
OP literally emphasised the distinction between process and result in their post, specifically so that this exact confusion would not occur, and yet still everyone is talking about the word for the result instead of the process.
What the hell are you talking about. I corrected OP because they used the wrong word in a sentence
More than forty years ago, “product” was used at school to mean multiplication. ie, “What is the product of 35 and 41?”
Maybe education systems in different countries used different terms over the years?
It still is, and I think it’s universal for the English speaking parts of the world.
The result of addition is the sum.
The result of subtraction is the difference.
The result of multiplication is the product.
The result of division is the quotient.
It’s also used in German. AFAIK this kind of math wording is latin based.
Physics still uses “cross-product” for a specific type of multiplication. Or did like 10 years ago at least.
No. Everywhere uses the same terms, you just didn’t understand the question.
The result of addition is the sum. The sum is calculated by summation of inputs.
The result of multiplication is the product. The product is calculated by __________ of inputs.
OP’s question is: why can’t the blank be “production”, by analogy with “summation”?
I am a bit confused here, because what you describe is what is currently happening. :)
A multiplication of one or more factors is a product.
Both factors and product are usually numbers, so we commonly just say that, but the math terms are as above
It seems like every other poster here confusing your use of the word “production” and simply stating that “product” is an acceptable word to use lol
whoops maybe I should havw worded it a bit differently
because “production” already means something else and there already is the very good word “multiplication” for it; “summation” doesn’t mean anything else common
that makes sense. But then you have words like “differentiate” (find the difference between vs multiplying the coefficients by the indexes and reducing the indexes by one) but I guess it’s because the math “differentiate” isn’t really used by people who don’t so math (whereas something like addition or multiplication is used in everyday tasks)
“summation” is also related to summary. All these words are related to reducing a collection of things to a single thing. A sum reduces a collection of numbers to its total. A summary reduces a collection of thoughts to its essence. A summation is effectively a synonym for a summary.
The word multiplication describes the operation applied to each pair of numbers. The word production would refer to the act of multiplying an arbitrary collection of numbers. Just as it would be for addition and summation.
It would fit the pattern.
“Summation” already means something else, and funnily enough words can have different meanings in different contexts without causing any confusion.