Re: [Phys-l] formatting uncertainties

["LaMontagne, Bob" <RLAMONT@providence.edu>]

If someone has spent a lot of effort to produce a result, and they come up with 6.67255 ± 0.00100, why does someone who considers himself to be the "significant number police" feel that they have a right to take that result and bias it upward to 6.673 ± 0.001. That is not what that person's best effort to arrive at the value actually produced. 

I suspect that significant figures are placed in the first chapter of physics texts as a filler - something to do while waiting for the course to get going - not something to take seriously now that we have $10 solar calculators. Significant figures belong in the same back drawer that we keep our slide rules. However, estimated error reporting is still valid and the ± values need to be included in any reported results.

Bob at PC

> -----Original Message-----
> From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu [mailto:phys-l-
> bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf Of Rauber, Joel
> Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008 3:07 PM
> To: Forum for Physics Educators
> Subject: Re: [Phys-l] formatting uncertainties
>
>
>
>
> Was it incorrect because it was not written as
>
> 6.673 ± 0.001 or because it was not written as
>
> 6.67255 ± 0.00100