Last night one of my coworkers (and good friends) was struggling with trying to make a multiplication table in a spreadsheet for something work related.

Basically they needed to calculate the pounds per cubic foot of a given object based on it’s estimated dimensions and weight. And wanted a multiplication table so that they could at a glance check if it was the correct freight class based on that value. They do cost adjustments so getting this at a glace means that they have more time to chill when attempting to make their inspection goals at work. (We treat our production targets at work like a cheap contractor treats local building codes)

After an hour of back and forth, trying to figure out why the numbers in our table were so catastrophically wrong. We finally figured it out. When we made the formula we accidentally made it calculate cubic inches per pound rather than pounds per cubic foot.

Once we figured that out it took no time at all to fix. Literally swapping what was being divided by what and ensuring the units were correct.

Thank you for attending my TED Talk, we’ll be taking questions now.

Edit: And before anyone asks, yes we got paid for our efforts. I know what I’m about.

And no the boss doesn’t know we did this because they don’t need to know that we mad our job easier.

  • Another CatgirlEnglish
    1·
    7 days ago

    This reminds me of my current theory of quantity communication. My understanding of how you communicate a variable has four requirements:

    • the name of the variable (e.g. cell range C2-C13 in spreadsheet, give it an alias)
    • the quantity (dimensionnal meaning) of the variable (specific weight, force / (length^3))
    • the units of the variable (pounds per cubic foot) needed for unit conversions
    • the value of the variable (e.g. a formula assignment or a number)