significant digit
Counted precision place
A significant digit is any digit in a number that contributes to its precision—all nonzero digits, zeros between them, and trailing zeros after a decimal point.
Leading zeros don't count.
When scientists report a measurement as 3.40 rather than 3.4, that trailing zero is significant, indicating precision to the hundredths place.
The number of significant digits tells you how much trust to place in a measurement.
Tenths-based notation
- place valueDigit worth by position
- measurementDetermining size or amount
- truncationCutting something shorter
- nonzeroHaving actual value
leading zero · exactness · rounding · notation · floating-point · scientific notation · integer · mantissa
Numbers times ten-powers
- exponentialIncreasing by constant ratio
- mantissaLogarithm's fractional component
- exponentSuperscript showing power
- standard formConventional way of expressing
normalized · coefficient · base ten · power of ten · order of magnitude
Cut off abruptly
- round offSimplify to nearest value
- round upGather into a group
- round downApproximate toward zero
- nearestClosest in distance
tenths · hundredths · thousandths · approximate · quantize · decimal place · chop · ceiling
Mathematics of basic operations
- computationMathematical processing work
- algorithmFinite problem-solving procedure
- binaryConsisting of two parts
- octalRadix-eight numeral system
hexadecimal · numeral · position · operand · multiplication · division · addition · subtraction
decimal
Tenths-based notation
- place valueDigit worth by position
- measurementDetermining size or amount
- truncationCutting something shorter
nonzero · leading zero · exactness · rounding · notation · floating-point · scientific notation · integer · mantissa · exponent
scientific notation
Numbers times ten-powers
- exponentialIncreasing by constant ratio
- mantissaLogarithm's fractional component
- exponentSuperscript showing power
standard form · normalized · coefficient · base ten · power of ten · order of magnitude
truncate
Cut off abruptly
- round offSimplify to nearest value
- round upGather into a group
- round downApproximate toward zero
nearest · tenths · hundredths · thousandths · approximate · quantize · decimal place · chop · ceiling · floor
arithmetic
Mathematics of basic operations
- computationMathematical processing work
- algorithmFinite problem-solving procedure
- binaryConsisting of two parts
octal · hexadecimal · numeral · position · operand · multiplication · division · addition · subtraction · carry
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