3

Is this question on mathematical notation on topic? Why the letter q for the line equation y = mx + q? Is it used only in Italian?

There are many mathematicians here (me included), so we may be partial in its favor, but it seems to me that it is very borderline. It is not, strictly speaking, about language, and I find it difficult to formulate a rule that makes it on-topic without being too broad. In addition, since there is [hsm.se], one might argue that it is a better fit there.

3
  • 1
    I think it should be posted on math.meta.stackexchange.com, but given the scarcity of questions on Italian SE we will keep it here.
    – user519
    Commented Dec 13, 2019 at 22:02
  • 1
    Scusa, @Gio, ma perché "meta"?
    – Charo Mod
    Commented Dec 15, 2019 at 20:55
  • 1
    @Charo - scusa, intendevo math.stackexchange.com
    – user519
    Commented Dec 16, 2019 at 11:54

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

I admit that maybe this should be written in a more explicit way in the body of the question, but I've always interpreted that question as asking something like "has the letter q used for the y-intercept in the explicit equation of a non-vertical straight line something to do with any Italian word"? Giving this sense to the question, I think it's on-topic.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .