greater than or equal two a squared

[Bryan Thatcher]

How can I get the symbols to say "greater than or equal to a squared" is Revit? Thanks.

[rtaube]

I haven't tested this in a formula within Revit, but it should be

>= x^2

right?

[gwnelson]

TWO or TO?

[Bryan Thatcher]

to, sorry about that

[MikeJarosz]

Are you using calculated parameters in a family? You need to understand order of operations

The formula is ambiguous because of order of operations. Are you asking for (2a)^2 or 2(a^2). Example: make a=4 then (2a)^2 = 64. On the other hand, 2(a^2)= 32.

What will happen in most computers is the ambiguous formula will be parsed according to an order-of-operations rule built into the software. The result may not turn out to be what you are expecting. You were looking for 64, but got 32 instead. You need to use parentheses to make the computation unambiguous.

You have stumbled onto a facinating subtopic of arithmetic and computer science. If you are really interested in learning more, google "reverse Polish notation"

[MikeJarosz]

I reread the question and realized you were asking >=a^2. I misread the to as a two. Still an interesting question from the standpoint of computer programming though. I would use a*a rather than a^2. Most computers perform multiplication in hardware, but exponents require a complicated subroutine to evaluate the result. So the rule is to break down simple exponentials into multiplication. Things like this are what make programs fast or slow (Are any Revit coders listening?)

[Bryan Thatcher]

No, I was just labeling a column in a schedule, giving a range.