Why Do Initial and Final Conditions Swap Places in Scientific Fractions?

[physicsgal]

numberator or denometer??

good lord. I am working on a lesson about instruments. and the the formula has a bunch of different fractions (eg/ tension fraction, length fraction, density fraction, etc.)

so they have one list of the "initial conditions" and then the other list of "final conditions".

and there seems to be no logic for the putting the initial or final conditions into the fractions.

like on question it'll suggest "since an increase in density results in a decrease in frequency, the density fraction will have the smaller density in the numerator"

and then on another question "since a decrease in density results in an increase in frequency, the density fraction will have a larger density in the numerator"



~Amy

 

[Mindscrape]

I'm as confused as you are. I have no idea what experiment you or doing, and what density relates to what frequency. I might be able to help with more details.

As far as I can tell, it's just trying to show you how proportionality and inverse proportionality work. For example $$f(x) = g(x) * (h(x))^{-1}$$ or also written $$f(x) = \frac{g(x)}{h(x)}$$. If we increase h(x) then f(x) will decrease because they are inversely proportional. If we increase g(x) then f(x) will increase because they are proportional.

Is this it? If not, more details.

 

[kyle8921]

It seems like you are asking about the placement of variables in fractions in a formula. This is a common occurrence in scientific equations and is determined by the relationship between variables. In fractions, the numerator represents the value being measured or changed, while the denominator represents the reference or comparison value. Therefore, in the examples you provided, the placement of the density values in the numerator or denominator depends on whether an increase or decrease in density results in a change in frequency. This is based on the specific relationship between density and frequency in the formula being used. It is important to carefully consider the relationship between variables when determining their placement in a fraction in a scientific equation.