Numbers poll!

[enismirdal]

[Poll #1441446]

Comments

[phyncke.livejournal.com]

first one:

2/56
or 2 divided by 56

as you said 56 into 2

It is awkward phrasing but that is how I would read that. Literally which is pretty much how you do math.

answer is .0357142

[atreic.livejournal.com]

Yes, this. "2 into 56" is how many times 2 fits into 56 (ie 28), 56 into 2 is how many times 56 fits into 2 (ie 0, or 0.04 times)

[phyncke.livejournal.com]

That is what I thought. Yep.

[atreic.livejournal.com]

I think the second is genuinely ambiguous and needs context. If it was 'divvy up 14 by 7' then it is clearly a divide, if it was 'the area of the patio is 14 by 7' it is clearly a multiplication.

[phyncke.livejournal.com]

Yes, less clear that. You are right on that one. Ambiguous phrasing.

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

This is true... I tend to assume the latter in absence of any other clues. Flatmate and his sister apparently assume the former!

[aglarien1.livejournal.com]

Ah, I just said the same thing. Californians unite.

[phyncke.livejournal.com]

Weez smaht.

[oloriel.livejournal.com]

What phyncke said.

Stopping to think about the whole thing for a while, I assume that one might also mean "dividing 56 into 2 heaps" (i.e. 28), but that's not the first interpretation I'd come up with. My first interpretation would be "how often does 56 go into 2", i.e. 2 divided by 56.

Of course I'm not a native speaker of English, so my interpretation is likely wide off. ;)

[enismirdal.livejournal.com]

This is interesting cos that's an interpretation neither I nor American Flatmate had considered. We were arguing with Indian Flatmate and his sister, who insist that in India "into" would be taken to me "multiplied by"... *eyebrow raise*

So it's quite intriguing that already two of you have come through with a totally different idea!

[alexcat.livejournal.com]

That is the interpretation I got... because that is exactly how we referred to 2 divided 56 or how many times will 56 go into 2.

[naurring.livejournal.com]

First one actually sounds like '2 divided by 56', but considering I'm not a native speaker, I don't know how representative that is. XD Second one most probably '56 multiplied with 2'.

[jay-of-lasgalen.livejournal.com]

I think '56 into 2' means 2 divided by 56 (0.0357), and '56 by 2' means 56 multiplied by 2.

[lauand.livejournal.com]

In Spanish, the literal translation for coloquial maths would be:

56 between/amongst 2 = division

56 by/for 2 = multiplication

So I voted instinctually for into=division and by=multiplication, since it's the closest to my own (learnt) line of thinking.

[rainien.livejournal.com]

I agree with the majority about the first one. "Into" definitely means "how many times the first number goes into the second."

The DIYer in me always ready "by" to mean "area" which means multiply.

LOL Funny this should come up! My oldest starts high school this year and will be taking Algebra I. He's all kinds of anxious about it. I was talking to a friend about this on the phone and we got around to the fact that many math/algebra teachers forget or ignore the fact that most students don't "speak math." I tutored math and algebra for years and can solve just about any equation put in front of me. But I cannot, off the top of my head, give you the definition of something as simple as an integer. LOL Guess that's why I worked so well with other students. I didn't "speak math" either. *S*

[naath.livejournal.com]

1)2/56

2)I think that's a description of a flat thing (or a cross-section) 56 units on one side and 2 units on the other; as in a 2-by-4 (or clue-by-four *grin*); in a sentence I guess it could be either such an object or 56*2 or 56/2 depending on context.

Real mathematics uses clear notation.

Real mathematics uses clear notation

[ewx.livejournal.com]

...until someone decides to use postfix notation for function application...

[eveiya.livejournal.com]

I'm with phyncke and the rest on the first one - 2/56.

The second I would only use for giving the dimensions of something rectangular in shape, 56 long and 2 wide. It doesn't really imply multiplication or division at all to me.

[tehta.livejournal.com]

I agree with Eveiya as usual. (Well, and with everyone else.)

[larianelensar.livejournal.com]

I agree with Jane on the first one...56 into 2 means 56/2 to me

56 by 2 means divide 56 by 2 ---- 56/2 (at least to me)

Oh...I just read all the other answers and 56 x 2 didn't even occur to me!

[rochvelleth.livejournal.com]

Just to lend more weight to the 2/56 brigade!

[aglarien1.livejournal.com]

I'd take the first as 2 divided by 56, or .0357142.