(beware, mini-
rant)
Yet another thing that
somehow people manage to
constantly bungle up in the
English language is the use of the phrase "X
times more". If you're someone who does this,
stop! There is an
inherent difference between the following:
This is three times faster.
This is three times as fast.
If newspeed = speed * 3, the
speed has increased to 300% of its old
value, which is a 200% increase (300% = 100% + 200%). This makes the speed
three times as much (by definition), which is
two times
greater: newspeed = 3 * speed = 1 * speed + 2 * speed.
The rule of thumb is:
If xn is t times the old value xo, it is (100 * t)% as much and t times as great, but it is (100 * (t - 1))% greater and t times greater.