The discussion centers around the notation used for the mass of an electron, specifically the significance of the last two digits being presented in parentheses in the value 0.510 998 9461(31) MeV/c². Participants explore the implications of this notation and its relation to uncertainty in measurements.
Participants exhibit some disagreement regarding the interpretation of the parentheses, with one participant initially misunderstanding its meaning. However, there is a shared understanding of the notation's purpose after clarification.
Participants reference external sources to explain the notation, indicating that the discussion is informed by established conventions in scientific communication.
This discussion may be useful for individuals interested in scientific notation, measurement uncertainty, and the conventions used in reporting physical constants.
Mason Smith said:± 0.000 000 0031
This helped a lot. Thank you for the reference.Lord Jestocost said:Use of concise notation (from https://physics.nist.gov/cgi-bin/cuu/Info/Constants/definitions.html)
If, for example, y = 1 234.567 89 U and u(y) = 0.000 11 U, where U is the unit of y, then Y = (1 234.567 89 ± 0.000 11) U. A more concise form of this expression, and one that is in common use, is Y = 1 234.567 89(11) U, where it understood that the number in parentheses is the numerical value of the standard uncertainty referred to the corresponding last digits of the quoted result.