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Subject:Re: Order of Magnitude From:"Dick Margulis " <margulis -at- mail -dot- fiam -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 22 Apr 2002 11:21:25 -0400
Order of magnitude has a specific meaning and it is not a new term. It refers to the number of places in the number needed to express a quantity. So a number in the tens of thousands is an order of magnitude larger than a number in the thousands. (It is an intentionally broad measure. For example 20,000 is an order of magnitude larger than 4,000. You'd be thought deceptive, though, if you said that 10,000 is an order of magnitude larger than 9,000.)
If something is two to three times larger, it is not an order of magnitude larger. If it is 100 times larger, it is two orders of magnitude larger.
>
>I think 'order of magnitude' is a relatively new use of jargon and am
>grappling with how best to word it.
>My application increases speed by 2 to 3 times; so do I say:
>
>* We increase speed by an order of magnitude of 2-3 times;
>
>* Speed is increased by 2-3 orders of magnitude(s);
>
>* Speed is increased (order of magnitude x 2)
>
>Any ideas would be appreciated.
>
>TIA,
>
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