Originally posted by GeneralE:
Originally posted by kirbic:
Originally posted by GeneralE:
Bah .. a furlong is 1/8 mile, not 1/16 -- just cut my answer in half. |
Actually, it still seems you missed a multiplier of 24 for hours per day... :-) |
Dang, right -- I thought I had that in the seconds figure, but noooo ... ;-)
OK ... (186,000 x 3600 x 24 x 14) / 8 = 28,123,200,000 ... still doesn't seem to match the previously-cited answer ... :-( |
Should be: 186000*3600*24*14*8 = 1.8E+12 furlongs per fortnight. One way to eliminate the most common errors in this type of calculation is to verify the units. Start like this:
186000 mi/s * 3600 s/hr * 24 hr/day * 14 days/fortnight = 1.8E+12 furlongs/fortnight
Then cancel units and make sure the units on the left are the same as the units on the right. If you build the equation term by term, you can ensure not only that you have all the required terms but that you aren't multiplying when you should be dividing or vice versa. Another trick is to always multiply. If division is called for, write it as multiplication by the inverse.
Message edited by author 2009-09-27 19:27:43. |
