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Linux and FLOSS enthusiast, trying to unplug myself from the net by selfhosting. Enfasis on trying.

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  • Programmer Belch@lemmy.dbzer0.comtomemes@lemmy.worldW Celsius
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    3 days ago

    When precision matters, that precision is considered in the measurements. You would never put 0.5 ± 0.208333, you express it as 0.50 ± 0.21. The error value is just the standard deviation of the measurements and it doesn’t make sense to use more than 2 significant digits.

    Another example would be measuring large distances using a ruler with centimeter precision. In that case, a measurement would be expressed as 250 ± 1 cm. Converting the measurement from cm to mm, it is 2500 ± 10 mm. This is much more cumbersome with inches or feet as changing units means updating the precision, possibly reducing it.