Chinese Daigou shoppers represent a new type of entrepreneur

The Chinese practice of Daigou—to "buy on behalf of"—has grown from a seemingly disorganized practice associated with individuals cleaning out supermarkets of baby formula to a multi-billion-dollar phenomenon according ...

Experts sound alarm on 'exploitative' baby formula industry

Baby milk formula companies are exploiting parents' emotions and manipulating scientific information and policymakers to generate sales at the expense of the health and rights of families, women, and children, argue an international ...

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Formula

In mathematics, a formula (plural: formulae or formulas) is an entity constructed using the symbols and formation rules of a given logical language.

In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically (as in a mathematical or chemical formula), or a general relationship between quantities. Colloquial use of the term in mathematics often refers to a similar construct.

Such formulae are the key to solving an equation with variables. For example, determining the volume of a sphere requires a significant amount of integral calculus; but, having done this once, mathematicians can produce a formula to describe the volume in terms of some other parameter (the radius for example). This particular formula is:

Having obtained this result, and knowing the radius of the sphere in question, we can quickly and easily determine its volume. Note that the quantities V, the volume, and r the radius are expressed as single letters. This convention, while less important in a relatively simple formula, means that mathematicians can more quickly manipulate larger and more complex formulae.

Expressions are distinct from formulae in that they cannot contain an equals sign; whereas formulae are comparable to sentences, expressions are more like phrases.

In a general context, formulae are applied to provide a mathematical solution for real world problems. Some may be general: F = ma, which is one expression of Newton's second law, is applicable to a wide range of physical situations. Other formulae may be specially created to solve a particular problem; for example, using the equation of a sine curve to model the movement of the tides in a bay. In all cases however, formulae form the basis for all calculations.

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