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For example, 13 0 0 has three significant figures (and hence indicates that the number is precise to the nearest ten). Less often, using a closely related convention, the last significant figure of a number may be underlined; for example, "1 3 00" has two significant figures. A decimal point may be placed after the number; for example "1300."
Under these circumstances, all the significant figures go into expressing b. For example, if the precision is 15 figures, and these two numbers, b and the square root, are the same to 15 figures, the difference will be zero instead of the difference ε. A better accuracy can be obtained from a different approach, outlined below.
A reading of 8,000 m, with trailing zeros and no decimal point, is ambiguous; the trailing zeros may or may not be intended as significant figures. To avoid this ambiguity, the number could be represented in scientific notation: 8.0 × 10 3 m indicates that the first zero is significant (hence a margin of 50 m) while 8.000 × 10 3 m indicates ...
This gives from 6 to 9 significant decimal digits precision. If a decimal string with at most 6 significant digits is converted to the IEEE 754 single-precision format, giving a normal number, and then converted back to a decimal string with the same number of digits, the final result should match the original string. If an IEEE 754 single ...
The 53-bit significand precision gives from 15 to 17 significant decimal digits precision (2 −53 ≈ 1.11 × 10 −16). If a decimal string with at most 15 significant digits is converted to the IEEE 754 double-precision format, giving a normal number, and then converted back to a decimal string with the same number of digits, the final ...
False precision (also called overprecision, fake precision, misplaced precision, and spurious precision) occurs when numerical data are presented in a manner that implies better precision than is justified; since precision is a limit to accuracy (in the ISO definition of accuracy), this often leads to overconfidence in the accuracy, named precision bias.
Decimal: The standard Hindu–Arabic numeral system using base ten. Binary: The base-two numeral system used by computers, with digits 0 and 1. Ternary: The base-three numeral system with 0, 1, and 2 as digits. Quaternary: The base-four numeral system with 0, 1, 2, and 3 as digits.
5 / 3 1.6667: 4 decimal places: Approximating a fractional decimal number by one with fewer digits 2.1784: 2.18 2 decimal places Approximating a decimal integer by an integer with more trailing zeros 23217: 23200: 3 significant figures Approximating a large decimal integer using scientific notation: 300999999: 3.01 × 10 8: 3 significant figures