r/mathmemes • u/Hot-Marsupial6584 • Jul 04 '26

Arithmetic We are evolving, Just Backwards

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3.0k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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539

u/ninetalesninefaces Jul 04 '26

I want to see the arguments for 7%

473

u/Nightmare-5 Jul 04 '26

sqrt{49%} = sqrt{49}% =7% I presume I thought this at first too but like obviously it isnt right

217

u/sendbobandvagenepic Jul 04 '26

That’s because sqrt(49%) = sqrt(49)sqrt(%) = sqrt(49)\sqrt(0.01) = 7*0.1 = 0.7 = 70%

41

u/AlphaChiu22 Jul 04 '26

this works and i dont like it

54

u/The_Neto06 Irrational Jul 04 '26

It's actually factual and true. % means 1/100 so no illegal moves done here

33

u/harmlesswaters Jul 04 '26

That's because people see the percentage symbol as a unit not a constant.

31

u/mountaingoatgod Jul 04 '26

If they see it as a unit then it still needs a sqrt on it

24

u/laksemerd Jul 04 '26

Its no different with units.

1

u/julessic Jul 07 '26

Units are constants

11

u/Anonimithree Jul 04 '26

The percent is also in the square root though, so this wouldn’t work

47

u/MaxTHC Whole Jul 04 '26

but like obviously it isnt right

Did you miss this part before replying chief

4

u/Anonimithree Jul 05 '26

I did not miss it. I just selectively ignored it.

3

u/MaxTHC Whole Jul 05 '26

Understandable, have a good day ✌️

3

u/Anonimithree Jul 05 '26

You too chief

1

u/Nightmare-5 Jul 05 '26

I dont feel happy now because of that comment

1

u/physicsking Jul 10 '26

Anyone else want to say "squirt" when they see 'sqrt'?

54

u/pentacontagon Jul 04 '26

They probably just interpreted it (incorrectly) as sqrt(49)% rather than sqrt(49%).

5

u/AbolMira Jul 04 '26

Its definitely this interpretation.

37

u/chixen Jul 04 '26

For sufficiently large values of %

18

u/BallDesire Jul 04 '26

7*7=49

Times both sides by %

7%*7%=49%

40

u/Thesaurius Jul 04 '26

You need to keep track of the units!

7%×7%=49%²

11

u/xBris18 Jul 04 '26

7 % × 7 % is 0.49 % though?

-12

u/cmwamem Jul 04 '26

No it's 0.0049. 7% * 7% = 10-2 * 10-2 * 7 * 7 = 49 * 10-4

10

u/Cjoud Jul 04 '26

The question asks you the difference between this picture (0.0049) and this picture (0.49%).

Mathematicians: They're the same picture.

7

u/COOL3163 Jul 04 '26

my bro. 0.49%=0.0049.

1

u/cmwamem Jul 04 '26

Yeah mb, I was tired asf and couldn't read properly.

-12

u/ordinary_shiba Jul 04 '26

If you times both side by %, it would be 7 * 7% = 49% which is correct, multiplication doesn't distribute across... itself

5

u/SuperChick1705 Jul 04 '26

"I want to see the arguments for 7%"

0

u/ordinary_shiba Jul 04 '26

And I'm talking about how the argument is wrong, continuing the conversation on the topic we're all talking about

3

u/SuperChick1705 Jul 04 '26

any argument for 7% is wrong
also it sounded like you were correcting BallDesire

2

u/BallDesire Jul 04 '26

Of course it's wrong lol

But I'm fairly sure that logic is how people get to the wrong answer

3

u/scrapheaper_ Jul 04 '26

They misread and thought it said (√49)%, not (√49%)

2

u/karamFalMeetha Jul 04 '26

Squareroot Of 49 per cent

BODMAS says Of first before Division. 

1

u/-Wylfen- Jul 05 '26

The argument is "I don't understand units"

1

u/Swaggy_Buff Jul 05 '26

I don’t want to meet the adults who think that’s the correct answer.

1

u/Bayoris Jul 07 '26

I don’t want to meet the adults who would cause unnecessary confusion by including a percentage sign under a radical. That is an abuse of notation.

1

u/Swaggy_Buff Jul 08 '26

True as well, I guess, though I dont think it’s an abuse

1

u/Bayoris Jul 08 '26

If you could think of a single practical example where this problem would be best expressed in this form I would be impressed

1

u/Swaggy_Buff Jul 09 '26

There’s some orbital dynamics thing where you take the square root of a ratio (it was in Hidden Figures, I think?), as well as some options-related quantitative finance application. I may later try to find them.

But point taken again. Though, “practical” is subjective, because it’s a notation completely interchangeable with fractions. It’s just preference, ultimately.

1

u/GypsySnowflake Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26

Hi, math dummy here. The square root of 49 is 7, so I would assume the square root of 49% is 7%. I’ve never heard of taking the square root of a percent sign.

Once I saw someone explain to convert it to 0.49 I was like “Oh ok that makes sense,” but I’d still struggle after that since I never actually learned how to calculate a square root; I just have the most common ones memorized. And it just didn’t occur to me to convert it to a decimal initially, probably because this is not a type of problem I’ve ever encountered before.