Comment on Ok, some nerd please explain the switches on this IRL calculator app

• bstix@feddit.dk ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  Hmm. I guess different brands do this stuff differently. In real life I’d definitely prefer to break the equation into separate operations, just to ensure that I understand and can document the process.

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  • ObviouslyNotBanana@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    I guess that’s why I don’t know what I’m looking at. I’ve not had great math teachers through my school time, and I don’t actually know what this is supposed to do. Like, in actual math steps.

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    • bstix@feddit.dk ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      It’s supposedly used for gross profit margin calculations, which is an equation for business stuff rather than an ordinary math function. It adds a profit of a margin calculated from the gross price. The gross price is unknown, so you’d input the net price and the desired margin of the result.

      Ordinary percentages would be used for “net margin”: net price + percentage of net price = gross price. This can be done by simple multiplication, such as: 100 x 1.2 = 120

      This does “gross margin”: net price + percentage of gross price = gross price. This would require solving an equation in several steps to do: 100 / ( 1 - 0.20) = 125

      It might seem like a rather random function to add to a calculator, but it has to be seen in the context of being prior to computer spread sheets, where accountants would make price lists of hundreds of products manually, so a short cut like this could save a lot of time.

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      • ObviouslyNotBanana@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

        Well I did that manually and it sure does work out to 125. Wonder why it doesn’t work with the functions the calculator is supposed to have. Thanks for the patience lmao

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