Talk:Equation

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Grouping types of equations

I recently grouped the essentially-identical classes of differential equation, integral equation and integro-differential equation together. The change was reverted as "not an improvement". I think that showing the connection between these nominally different types of equations is indeed an improvement, even if my particular wording was not perfect. I have made my changes again. If anyone wants to revert them, please explain here why that is done. LachlanA (talk) 13:57, 28 May 2019 (UTC)

degree zero?

At: Equation#Types of equations, should the list begin with something like: "constant equation for degree zero", since equations like "y+2=5" are typically the first type of equations that students solve? (And to be more in sync with this article: Degree of a polynomial#Names of polynomials by_degree) DKEdwards (talk) 06:45, 23 January 2022 (UTC)

IMO, the answer is no, since "equation of degree zero" and "constant equation" are rarely used, while "polynomial of degree zero" is common. D.Lazard (talk) 10:45, 23 January 2022 (UTC)

What are they called then? Just "linear"? It seems they determine a point in a one dimensional space rather than a "line", unless we implicitly assume a 2nd dimension. Should there at least be a comment explaining the convention? "linear equation for degree one and zero"? DKEdwards (talk) 08:00, 24 January 2022 (UTC)

An equation that determines a point on a line has the form $x=c,$ and is therefore linear. Typical equations of degree zero would be $3=0$ and $0=0.$ They are so trivial that it is not interesting to name them. In other words, for being interesting, an equation must contain unknowns or variables, and this excludes the degree zero. D.Lazard (talk) 08:55, 24 January 2022 (UTC)

hand

Why does this article use the terms "left-hand side" and "right-hand side"? The article is about mathematics, not anatomy.

In common English, one would not say, "left-hand eye" or "left-hand foot" or "left-hand elbow".

Neither reference 2 or 3 use the word "hand". Why does the article disagree with its references? Comfr (talk) 00:47, 27 March 2025 (UTC)

See e.g. Sides of an equation for the use of "hand". I have often seen this terminology (and the corrersponding abbreviations "LHS" and "rhs") when I worked as a mathematician. That's why I reverted your edit. - Jochen Burghardt (talk) 11:28, 27 March 2025 (UTC)

In isolation, the English words left and right are ambiguous. For example, does "right door" mean the door on the right side or the correct door? For that reason, the word "hand" can be added to avoid confusion.

When the meaning of left or right are obvious from context, inserting "hand" takes space, without clarifying meaning. For example, "No left turn" on a highway sign clearly refers to direction.

In this article, "right side" carries as much information as "right-hand side". I removed the redundant word to improve the article.

Thanks for your link to Sides of an equation. The reference does use "right-hand side", however there is only one reference.

Thanks also for your many other contributions to Wikipedia. Comfr (talk) 16:33, 27 March 2025 (UTC)