Del/Nabla Problem?

8 months ago

Am trying to piece together a math question I saw on a test. I have completed said test (I am not cheating). Long story short, I had no idea what this symbol meant, beyond that it looked like a delta symbol flipped over. Here is what I have recalled. If something looks weird, I probably forgot something c; $ab = a^3b$ Where b was defined as either three or five. Then it showed the symbol ∇, indicating (1 ∇ 3) ∇ 4.

8 months ago

Or maybe it was a ∇ b with a^3 = b. Again, a bit unsure..it was a long test. If anyone can shed light on this symbol, how it works/its uses, and anything pertaining to this problem or another problem (and I do not blame you, this is not much to go on).

8 months ago

@Vocaloid

8 months ago
Vocaloid:

I don't think you're supposed to interpret the symbol using information outside the context of the problem sometimes math problems make up symbols to test your logic/intuition

8 months ago

Yeah, it was extremely odd and out of place.

8 months ago
Vocaloid:

I would imagine they want you to take this formula a ∇ b with a^3 = b and apply this logic to (1 ∇ 3) ∇ 4

8 months ago
Angle:

"sometimes math problems make up symbols to test your logic/intuition" ^ this is the most likely scenario for this question I have seen such problems on the SAT math section where they make up a new symbol/operation and ask you questions based on it

8 months ago

Yeah, it was an exam my school ran on the collegiate level, to prep us and all.

8 months ago
Angle:

so 1 ∇ 3 = (1)^3 * 3 = 3 3 ∇ 4 = (3)^3 * 4 = 27 * 4 = probably the answer

8 months ago
Angle:

having the comment a^3 = b wouldn't make much sense as you can't draw any conclusions from that

8 months ago
Angle:

so if a ∇ b = a^3 * b you would get an operation that can be applied

8 months ago

That seems more like what I saw. What would happen from there^ ?

8 months ago
Angle:

so 1 ∇ 3 = (1)^3 * 3 = 3 (1 ∇ 3) ∇ 4 = (3) ∇ 4 = (3)^3 * 4 = 27 * 4 = probably the answer

8 months ago

B) was 108, and was my guess, lol

8 months ago
Angle:

nice! :)

8 months ago