ve

[red and white kop!]

all of a sudden in my math book this 've' thing pops up in a section about determining the nature of turning points. i strongly suspect it has to do with gradient but why is it not noted m like everywhere else?

 

[Deleted member 4993]

all of a sudden in my math book this 've' thing pops up in a section about determining the nature of turning points. i strongly suspect it has to do with gradient but why is it not noted m like everywhere else?

If it is written as +ve or -ve, then those refer to positive or negative, respectively.

 

[red and white kop!]

ok thanks, but why VE exactly? what does it stand for etymologically?

 

[red and white kop!]

oooooooook i get it, positiVE and negatiVE!
right
im sure mathematicians could have thought up something better than that, like with some greek letters thrown in or something...

 

[stapel]

im sure mathematicians could have thought up something better than that, like with some greek letters thrown in or something...

This is an American-high-school-educator sort of thing, not a mathematician thing. :?