I am not totally opposite in view from Rick Tarara when he suggests this
type of question could be directed elsewhere. I do think we often ask each
other questions we could answer on our own if we took the time to do a
little searching in the right places. And I often chastise my students for
this very thing.
On the other hand, we scientists sometimes need features that are not
restricted to us, but heavily used by us. This is a good example. It sure
is better style if our numbers and their units stay together on a line. As
scientists we deal with this a lot. I not only need to know how to do this
myself, I also ought to teach this to my students. So I think this is part
of learning how to communicate science ideas properly.
Here, at a liberal-arts college, we believe in "writing across the
curriculum." This means I am supposed to teach good writing habits to my
students in general (even in physics class), and I specifically am supposed
to point out the proper writing style for my discipline.
With respect to numbers and units, I try to get students to pay attention to
several items. (1) Use a space between a number and unit if the number and
unit are being used as a noun; but use a dash if these are being used as a
compound adjective. Examples: The scale on this air track measures 2
meters. This is a 2-meter air track. (2) In either case, use a hard-return
or a hard-hyphen/hard-dash so the number and unit won't separate at the end
of a line. (3) Although I just abused this, it is considered best if we
write out single digit numbers in words. We switch to numerals after ten,
or if we need to indicate a precision. The scale on this air track is two
meters. The scale on this air track is 2.00 meters.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail: 419-358-3270
Professor of Chemistry & Physics FAX: 419-358-3323
Chairman, Science Department E-Mail edmiston@bluffton.edu
Bluffton College
280 West College Avenue
Bluffton, OH 45817