Definition
Indirect comparison
Indirect comparison compares two quantities by comparing each with the same third quantity.
What it means
When two things cannot be put side by side, use one bridge object. Compare the first thing with the bridge, then compare the same bridge with the second thing. Because the bridge stays unchanged and you compare the same attribute, the two results tell how the first and second things relate.
Remember it
Use one bridge object to carry the comparison from one thing to the other.
Example
A ribbon is longer than a strip. The same strip is longer than a pencil. Length is the attribute in both comparisons, so ribbon > strip > pencil, which means the ribbon is longer than the pencil even though the ribbon and pencil were not placed together.
Watch for
Putting the ribbon and pencil together with one end aligned is a direct comparison, not an indirect comparison.
Common mix-up
Both comparisons must use the same unchanged reference and the same attribute. A length comparison and a mass comparison cannot be joined into one order.
Exact meaning
An indirect comparison determines how two quantities relate without placing them together, by comparing both on the same attribute with one unchanged reference quantity and using the resulting order relationship.