I’m confused as to how, when and why I’m supposed to use significant digits vs when to carry all the decimals my calculator spits out. This is for surveying/civil engineering related fields in particular. My professor has covered both topics extensively but didn’t do a very good job explaining when said rules apply.
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Let’s say I want the sqrt(2.00)^2
I know the answer should be 2.00, but if I round too soon I get an issue
Sqrt(2.00) = 1.41
1.41^2 = 1.99
1.99 is not 2.00, so clearly something went wrong. I rounded too soon.
Always round once you’ve finished calculating, but if you need to calculate further, you need to use the exact value you calculated.
Sqrt(2.00) is indeed 1.41 and 1.41^2 is indeed 1.99, but sqrt(2.00)^2 = 2.00
Let’s say I want the sqrt(2.00)^2
I know the answer should be 2.00, but if I round too soon I get an issue
Sqrt(2.00) = 1.41
1.41^2 = 1.99
1.99 is not 2.00, so clearly something went wrong. I rounded too soon.
Always round once you’ve finished calculating, but if you need to calculate further, you need to use the exact value you calculated.
Sqrt(2.00) is indeed 1.41 and 1.41^2 is indeed 1.99, but sqrt(2.00)^2 = 2.00
You got excellent practical answers but if you want a deeper understanding of what’s going on you can look up *interval arithmetic*, perhaps starting with its Wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_arithmetic
Be warned that the subject can get somewhat murky, or at least involved, depending on the calculation at hand.
You got excellent practical answers but if you want a deeper understanding of what’s going on you can look up *interval arithmetic*, perhaps starting with its Wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_arithmetic
Be warned that the subject can get somewhat murky, or at least involved, depending on the calculation at hand.
You got excellent practical answers but if you want a deeper understanding of what’s going on you can look up *interval arithmetic*, perhaps starting with its Wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interval_arithmetic
Be warned that the subject can get somewhat murky, or at least involved, depending on the calculation at hand.
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