• Zagorath@aussie.zone
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    1 day ago

    It means nx, where nb is a fixed constant and X is the variable we’re interested in. By contrast, damage to roads is proportional to x4, which is not exponential.

    • asret
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      1 day ago

      Thanks. That helps. I guess I’m just used to less precise usage, whether something is linear, greater than linear (exponential) or less than linear (logarithmic). I don’t often hear people talk about polynomial growth.

      • Zagorath@aussie.zone
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        19 hours ago

        Yeah I’ve seen the less precise usage before. I push back on it whenever I can, because the difference between exponential growth and quadratic or quartile growth is pretty significant. But it’s especially bad in a context like this where someone specifically asked in what manner something scales, which is a question that (to my mind) clearly indicates a desire for the specific nature of the growth, particularly given the well-known quadratic growth of air resistance with velocity and the less (but still kinda) well-known quartic growth of damage to roads with axel weight.