Hatrack River Forum: Google math

This is topic Google math in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

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Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :

My brother just sent me an email telling me about this. It's totally wild.

quote:
I just discovered that if you type in the Google search box any mathematical equation in words (or probably in any form at all), it will instantly give you the answer.

For instance, you type in (4 to the power of 6) divided by 20 and it instantly spits out (4 to the power of 6) divided by 20 = 204.8

Or you type in 2 to the 3rd divided by 10 and it instantly spits out (2 to the 3rd) divided by 10 = 0.8

Unreal.

And it takes regular notation as well. I tried 2^3/10, and got the same answer. And it doesn't even wait for you to click the search button; it shows up in the autocomplete.

Posted by Rawrain (Member # 12414) on :

That feature has been there for about 2 years now...... pretty handy when you need a scientific calculator (but you don't wanna buy one XD)

Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :

Not two years, seven years. Here's a reference to them rolling out the feature in 2003: http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/003618.html

It also knows units and common constants, so you can do all sorts of handy calculations.

Posted by airmanfour (Member # 6111) on :

Yup. Welcome to the party.

Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :

Oh, well.

Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :

It even does unit conversions.

4.5 inches in mm
spits out
4.5 inches = 11.43 centimeters

and

(1.5*3) inches in cm
spits out
(1.5 * 3) * inches = 11.43 centimeters

Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :

One thing I like is currency conversion
http://www.google.ca/intl/en/help/features.html#currency

Ex:
400 CAD to HKD
=>
400 Canadian dollars = 3 072.42482 Hong Kong dollars

Posted by Glenn Arnold (Member # 3192) on :

convert 500 horsepower to newton smoots per hour

quote:
500 horsepower = 788 729 445 (newton smoots) per hour

Posted by Shmuel (Member # 7586) on :

It's got a bunch of constants, too!

(the answer to life the universe and everything x pi) / (Avogadro's number x Planck's constant)