The <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/technology/columns/webwatch" title="TechNews.com: Web Watch">Web Watch</a> column over at the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/" title="washingtonpost.com - nation, world, technology and Washington area news and headlines">Washington Post</a> has an <a title="Google Searches the Web And Does Math Homework (TechNews.com)" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1833-2003Aug16.html">interesting article</a> about a new feature in the <a href="http://www.google.com/" title="Google">Google</a> search engine. Here is a “link annotated” quote from the article.
The Internet’s top search engine announced it had crammed a mathematical calculator into its search service, letting users type math problems directly into the search box and get instant answers. Google’s calculator is trained to recognize words as well as numbers, so you can type in “eight plus seven minus four” or “8 plus 7 minus 4.” Both will yield 11.
You can type numeric expressions either into the search box at Google’s Web site (www.google.com) or directly into your Internet browser if you’ve installed Google’s tool-bar software or you use a browser with built-in Google searching, such as Mozilla or Apple’s Safari. Below the numeric answers Google returns, it will present a link to a regular Web search for your phrase in case you weren’t trying to use the calculator.
But this calculator doesn’t just do simple multiplication. It also handles conversions. Cooks may like being able to type in “quarter cup in teaspoons” and see Google reply “1 quarter US cup = 12 US teaspoons.” Does a mechanic want to know the size of a replacement part for a clock in inches, but you only know it in millimeters? Enter “.715 mm in inches” and Google will inform you it equals 0.0281496063 inches.
Google’s calculator goes beyond basic arithmetic to do complex math and crunch physical constants, too. It will process such queries as “G * mass of earth.” or “speed of light * two.” Type “What is the speed of light in furlongs per fortnight” and you’ll get this reply: “the speed of light = 1.8026175 x 1012 furlongs per fortnight.”
Leslie Walker (2003, August 17), <i>Google Searches the Web And Does Math Homework</i>. Retrieved Sunday, September 14, 2003, from <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1833-2003Aug16.html" title="Google Searches the Web And Does Math Homework">www.washingtonpost.com/ wp-dyn/ articles/ A1833-2003Aug16.html</a>.