Which of these sockets are in the right place? (If any)

[morqthana]

Just for the record I`d say 4 inches square or 4 inches squared means a square 4 inches each side thereby 16 sq inches in area.

I agree.

Yet we write out a conductor area csa as 2.5 millimetre square

No, we don't.

We write it as '2.5mm²'

But 'mm²' is not pronounced "millimetre(s) square", it is pronounced "square millimetres".

We may write '2.5mm²', but we read it and say it "2.5 square millimetres".

Or at least we should if we want to be correct and to avoid confusion.

 

[JohnW2]

You said it wasn't a unit of measurement. True
But I was replying to you saying .... And it is a perfectly legitimate term.

Again, you seem to be ignoring the totality of the series of posts.

I did, indeed, say that it wasn't a legitimate term of measurement - but that was when I subsequently clarified (more than once) that that was precisely what I had meant/intended when I initially posted my poorly-worded comment that it wasn't "a legitimate term".

 

[JohnW2]

May not be 'unit' as such but it is a term in EVERY DAY USE

Not in everyday use as a 'unit'.

 

[morqthana]

If you are right (you aren't) then we can't use "mm²" to mean the csa of a conductor.

He is right, and we can, because "mm²" is not "mm square", or "mm squared", it is "square mm".

 

[ebee]

so its written as mm sq but is spoken as sq mm? ok i suppose its another £5 mean five pounds then rather than pounds five as written. hmmm ok.

Isnt English confusing?

 

[JohnW2]

Just for the record I`d say 4 inches square or 4 inches squared means a square 4 inches each side thereby 16 sq inches in area.

Not in my book ....

... 4 inches square" does, indeed, mean a square with 4 inch sides, hence 16 square inches in area. The "4 inches" is being used as a sort-of adjective, to qualify the noun "square".

However, as I've written several times, I think "inches squared" means the same as "square inches" or "in²" (i.e. a 'unit'), so that "4 inches squared" refers to a square whose area is 4 square inches, hence with sides of 2 inches.

Is that not correct, since it's what I've believed for all the decades of my life to date?!

 

[morqthana]

I did, indeed, say that it wasn't a legitimate term of measurement - but that was when I subsequently clarified (more than once) that that was precisely what I had meant/intended when I initially posted my poorly-worded comment that it wasn't "a legitimate term".

But it is a legitimate term of measurement.

Not a unit, a term. Units are kg, m, s etc.

Just like "2m long" is a legitimate term of measurement.

"10kg in weight" is a legitimate term of measurement.

This shape is 4cm square(d).

 

[SUNRAY]

Depends who you mean by people, I suppose.

Most just say "2.5" or at a push "2.5mm".

I agree most do use those terms but if they used the whole thing they would say: "2.5 square millimteres", never: "2.5 squared millimteres"

if one is ordering carpet tiles for a room four metres by six metres, one would order twenty-four square metres (24 m²), one would not order twenty-four squared metres (24² m).

It would make more sense if we added a space or perhaps a comma between the numerator and the term.

 

[morqthana]

Not in my book ....

... 4 inches square" does, indeed, mean a square with $2 sides, hence 16 square inches in area. The "4inches" is being used as a sort-of adjective, to qualify the noun "square".

However, as I've written several times, I think "inches squared" means the same as "square inches" or "in²" (i.e. a 'unit'), so that "4 inches squared" refers to a square whose area is 4 square inches, hence with sides of 2 inches.

Is that not correct, since it's what I've believed for all the decades of my life to date?!

What's '4 squared'?

What's '4kg' squared?

Therefore what's '4 inches' squared?

 

[SUNRAY]

so its written as mm sqd but is spoken as sq mm? ok i suppose its another £5 mean five pounds then rather than pounds five as written. hmmm ok.

Isnt English confusing?

 

[pete01]

WTF are you lot on OMG

 

[ebee]

That reminds me, some will remember my stance on 12pm or 12am a while back (we were instructed at both Junior School level then again at Senior School level that these are both incorrect. Either 12 Noon or 12 Midnight. Nothing else is correct.

Anyway three weeks ago my GP surgery via the NHS app booked me an appointment with reference to me apparently. I called in at the surgery to ask them to cancel it a few days later (two appointments actually) and they replied there were no such appointments booked for me in the first place.
This week I called in to book an appointment and was told I had missed the first appointment.
I reminded them of their previous statement and also pointed out that it must have been done by an illiterate person anyway because the time stated was 13:00 pm and I showed them my phone screen of it to prove it.

The mind boggles

 

[JohnW2]

Most just say "2.5" or at a push "2.5mm".

They/we often do, but if one is talking about a cable CSA (or the area of anything else) it's just plain wrong (usually just 'laziness'), on a par with, say, referring to a speed as 'miles', rather than mph.

If you ever see any (of the many!) Australasian 'police programmes' on TV, you will see that their police officers (and maybe all Australasians?) make this mistake, by referring to car speeds as "k" or "kilometres", rather than the correct "kph" or "kilometres per hour".

 

[morqthana]

so its written as mm sq but is spoken as sq mm? ok i suppose its another £5 mean five pounds then rather than pounds five as written. hmmm ok.

Isnt English confusing?

It is.

Also don't forget that in maths we use "squared" when there's no suggestion of or relation to an area of a 2D shape.

And acceleration is measured in (for example) "metres per second squared". Which is written 'm/s²' but not pronounced "metres per square(d) second".

It's English - there's no way to work it out, you just have to know.

But I guess "metres per square(d) second" would work just as well. Although the concept of a measurement for acceleration would IMO be easier to understand if it was stated as "metres per second per second".

 

[JohnW2]

What's '4kg' squared?

Pretty meaningless, I would say. The square of a mass or weight does not really have any useful physical meaning.

Therefore what's '4 inches' squared?

As I've said, I consider that as synonymous with "4 square inches" - legitimate concepts, since areas are measured in units which are the square of linear ones.