MHB Round To Two Significant Digits

  • Thread starter Thread starter mathdad
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Significant digits
AI Thread Summary
Rounding to two significant digits means retaining only the first two non-zero digits of a number, regardless of its decimal or whole number status. For example, rounding 542,867.21054031 results in 5.4 x 10^5. This process does not equate to rounding to two decimal places or the tens place; it focuses on the significance of the digits. Understanding significant digits is crucial for accurate scientific and mathematical communication. Researching this topic can provide further clarity on rounding rules and applications.
mathdad
Messages
1,280
Reaction score
0
What does it mean to round to TWO SIGNIFICANT DIGITS?

SAMPLE:

Round 542,867.21054031 to two significant digits.

Does this means to round to two decimal places or does it mean to round to the tens place?
 
Mathematics news on Phys.org
RTCNTC said:
What does it mean to round to TWO SIGNIFICANT DIGITS?

SAMPLE:

Round 542,867.21054031 to two significant digits.

Does this means to round to two decimal places or does it mean to round to the tens place?

$5.4 \times 10^5$

recommend you research the topic of significant digits ...

Rounding and Significant Digits | Purplemath
 
skeeter said:
$5.4 \times 10^5$

recommend you research the topic of significant digits ...

Rounding and Significant Digits | Purplemath

1. Thank you for the link provided.

2. I also found some helpful youtube clips.
 
Seemingly by some mathematical coincidence, a hexagon of sides 2,2,7,7, 11, and 11 can be inscribed in a circle of radius 7. The other day I saw a math problem on line, which they said came from a Polish Olympiad, where you compute the length x of the 3rd side which is the same as the radius, so that the sides of length 2,x, and 11 are inscribed on the arc of a semi-circle. The law of cosines applied twice gives the answer for x of exactly 7, but the arithmetic is so complex that the...
Thread 'Video on imaginary numbers and some queries'
Hi, I was watching the following video. I found some points confusing. Could you please help me to understand the gaps? Thanks, in advance! Question 1: Around 4:22, the video says the following. So for those mathematicians, negative numbers didn't exist. You could subtract, that is find the difference between two positive quantities, but you couldn't have a negative answer or negative coefficients. Mathematicians were so averse to negative numbers that there was no single quadratic...
Thread 'Unit Circle Double Angle Derivations'
Here I made a terrible mistake of assuming this to be an equilateral triangle and set 2sinx=1 => x=pi/6. Although this did derive the double angle formulas it also led into a terrible mess trying to find all the combinations of sides. I must have been tired and just assumed 6x=180 and 2sinx=1. By that time, I was so mindset that I nearly scolded a person for even saying 90-x. I wonder if this is a case of biased observation that seeks to dis credit me like Jesus of Nazareth since in reality...

Similar threads

Replies
6
Views
4K
Replies
12
Views
2K
Replies
25
Views
335
Replies
12
Views
5K
Replies
8
Views
2K
Replies
11
Views
1K
Back
Top