"Order of Magnitude"
In advanced mathematics, as well as colloquially in popular culture, especially geek culture, the phrase "order of magnitude" is used to denote a change in a numeric quantity, usually a measurement, by a factor of 10; that is, the moving of the decimal point in a number one way or the other, possibly with the addition of significant zeros.
Occasionally the phrase "half an order of magnitude" is also used, generally in more informal contexts. Sometimes, this is used to denote a 5 to 1 change, or alternatively 101/2 to 1 (approximately 3.162 to 1).
Read more about this topic: Magnitude (mathematics)
Famous quotes containing the words order of, order and/or magnitude:
“Art and religion first; then philosophy; lastly science. That is the order of the great subjects of life, that’s their order of importance.”
—Muriel Spark (b. 1918)
“It seems only yesterday that we saw
The movie with the cows in it
And turned to one at your side, who burped
As morning saw a new garnet-and-pea-green order propose
Itself out of the endless bathos, like science-fiction lumps.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“He all their ammunition
And feats of war defeats
With plain heroic magnitude of mind
And celestial vigour armed;”
—John Milton (1608–1674)