Thread: Terminology

Hi!
Next week I'm going to present the solution of a math problem to some foriegn visitors that are coming to our school. Thus, the presentation is going to be in English, and I'd be grateful for some help with terminolgy.
When you say f'(x), how do you pronounce it? Is it a short i or a long i?
When you want to say for instance a>x as a condition, do you use suppose or assume?
Do for a^n say a raised to the power of n, a raised to n or a to the power of n?
Thanks!

f'(x) is "f prime of x," with a long i, as in "dine" or "fine" or "mine."

I think for a>x you can assume it or suppose it...maybe someone else can give you a better answer though.

For you could say "a to the nth" to be shorter, or "a raised to the nth" or "a raised to the nth power."

Originally Posted by thyristor

When you want to say for instance a>x as a condition, do you use suppose or assume?

I've heard both used.

Do for a^n say a raised to the power of n, a raised to n or a to the power of n?
Thanks!

"a to the n" is the shortest way. Which is a contraction of "a to the power of n", which I suppose (assume? :P) is the more proper.

Ok, thanks a lot for your replies!

Originally Posted by thyristor

Hi!
Next week I'm going to present the solution of a math problem to some foriegn visitors that are coming to our school. Thus, the presentation is going to be in English, and I'd be grateful for some help with terminolgy.
When you say f'(x), how do you pronounce it? Is it a short i or a long i?
When you want to say for instance a>x as a condition, do you use suppose or assume?
Do for a^n say a raised to the power of n, a raised to n or a to the power of n?
Thanks!

The answers that have been posted will suit your needs I am sure. But from your question I will hazarda a guess that you are more concerned over such details than will be your visitors. I think they will understand you perfectly if the mathematics is correct. Mathematicians communicate quite well -- so long as the subject is mathematics.

I would not worry too much. Your English is a lot better than my Swedish, and that probably applies to your visitors as well.

Best of luck for your talk.

Ok, thanks DrRocket!
Bye the way, how come you know at least some Swedish (if I interpreted you correctly)?

Originally Posted by thyristor

Ok, thanks DrRocket!
Bye the way, how come you know at least some Swedish (if I interpreted you correctly)?

I don't know any Swedish, and that was my point. The only Swedish that I know is "Ann Margaret". You pretty clearly know English quite well.

Ok, thanks
Gee, I was assigned something else to talk about by my teacher today. Someone else had already chosen my topic
Thus, I now have to talk about something completely different, and I would like to ask some more questions (if you don't mind)
1. Say for instance that a cicrcle is placed in a triangle in a way that the circle only touches [/] the triangle in three seperable points. What do you say that this circle is? Is it like written in the triangle (very bad Swedish translation)?
2. What do you call a triangle whose sides are of the same length?

Thanks! :-D

I think you'd say that the circle is "inscribed" in the triangle.

A triangle whose sides are all the same length is called an equilateral triangle.

Thanks Chemboy :-D