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Re: [Phys-L] Significant Figures



On 09/16/2017 09:41 AM, John Sohl wrote:

Then, some news report comes out that says something stupid like:
"The new roadway into the university's campus will cost $204,531.18
and will be paid for by..."

When has any large project come in, on-budget, to an accuracy down
to the penny?????

On the bright side, I can show these articles in class and ask "what
do you think is wrong with this number?"

What if somebody says there is nothing wrong?

AFAICT it only becomes a problem if you interpret the numeral
as a claim of uncertainty, comparable to 1 count in the last
digit. However:
a) Representing uncertainty that way would be bad practice, and
b) The more insignificant digits there are, the more obvious
it is that no such claim was intended.

The cost of writing an abundance of guard digits is infinitesimal,
so tell me again, what is wrong with that number?