SIGNIFICANT DIGITS Definition & Meaning

significant digits

plural noun

Mathematics.

all the nonzero digits of a number and the zeros that are included between them or that are final zeros and signify accuracy:
The significant digits of 0.01230 are 1, 2, 3, and the final 0, which signifies accuracy to five places.

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of significant digits¹

First recorded in 1920–25

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“It always gives me a chuckle when HUD” – the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which publishes the data – “reports it to six significant digits. It’s real misplaced precision.”

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She worked through every minute of what was programmed to be a three-orbit mission, coming up with numbers for eleven different output variables, each computed to eight significant digits.

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Replacing the team stats with the starting quarterbacks’ stats, we get an unfathomably even result, needing four significant digits to discern the favorite.

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The most significant digits of the product are left in the Accumulator and the least significant digits in the In-Out Register.

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Patrick talked about a math book that he was reading, and Joe got started on significant digits, of all things.

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