On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 13:20:22 +0100, Ace wrote:

On Wed, 12 Jan 2005 12:01:45 +0000, Alex Heney
wrote:

On 11 Jan 2005 17:29:02 -0800, "Sammy" wrote:

I can't let this one go: km^2 is just another way of writing sq km,
they are very much the same thing.

No they aren't.

3 sq Km is an area that would fit in a rectangle 1000m by 3000m.

3Km^2 is 9 Sq Km, which would need a 3000m by 3000m rectangle (square)
to enclose it.

No, I'm afraid you're mistaken. km^2 is the standard form of writing
what we'd normally say as 'square kilometre', in the same way as other
measures are used, e.g. lb/in^2 is spoken as 'pounds per square inch'.

The misleading term is the rarely-used 'kilometres square' which would
indeed indicate a 3*3km square, with an area of 9 km^2.

I would read km^2 as being kilometres square.

--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
Oxymoron: Safe Sex.

To reply by email, my address is alexATheneyDOTplusDOTcom