• copd@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    13
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    edit-2
    30 days ago

    Technically there is a (x - 𝑥) in there. U+1D465 != x so this post is a little meh

    • MBM@lemmings.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      29 days ago

      Mathematicians do weird stuff to get more letters, but I’ve never seen anyone use x and 𝑥 for different things

      • threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        29 days ago

        I’ve never seen anyone use x and 𝑥 for different things

        Yeah, me neither. I have had situations where I needed to distinguish between u, v, nu, and upsilon though. I had to be very careful with my handwriting that day…

      • joshthewaster@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        29 days ago

        They also wouldn’t want to be ambiguous. If I was trying to write this problem the a, b, c… would get replaced by something like a_1, a_2,…, a_26 to be clearer. This problem works as a fun gotcha but isn’t something that would come up in the real world.

    • pyre@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      28 days ago

      the first variables aren’t roman. they’re italicized as well. idk where you’re getting the x vs x thing.