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Approximation of pi based on sqrt(10)
09-10-2017, 12:08 PM
Post: #21
RE: Approximation of pi based on sqrt(10)
(09-08-2017 08:58 PM)Dieter Wrote:  
(09-07-2017 07:10 PM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  Not a native speaker, but what you're looking for is "decimal places."
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/decimal_place

Thank you.

Then I read the wiktionary entry for "significant digit" and now I wonder if wiktionary really is a reliable source. According to the given definition ("A digit that is nonzero or, when zero, followed only by further zeros") 1000001 has just two significant digits. #-)
This is probably closer to what everybody has in mind: significant figures

Not sure why it uses "figures" instead of "digits".
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09-11-2017, 12:25 PM (This post was last modified: 09-11-2017 12:31 PM by Dieter.)
Post: #22
RE: Approximation of pi based on sqrt(10)
(09-10-2017 12:08 PM)AlexFekken Wrote:  
(09-08-2017 08:58 PM)Dieter Wrote:  ...
Then I read the wiktionary entry for "significant digit" and now I wonder if wiktionary really is a reliable source. According to the given definition ("A digit that is nonzero or, when zero, followed only by further zeros") 1000001 has just two significant digits. #-)

This is probably closer to what everybody has in mind: significant figures

Yes, that's much better, I think.

The Wiktionary definition seems to lack a "not": Something like "A digit that is nonzero or, when zero, followed not only by further zeros" sounds correct to me.
In other words: "A digit that is nonzero or, when zero, followed by at least one non-zero".

However, this still does not address the question of trailing zeros that may be significant, as discussed in the Wikipedia article.

Dieter
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09-11-2017, 04:51 PM (This post was last modified: 09-11-2017 04:53 PM by pier4r.)
Post: #23
RE: Approximation of pi based on sqrt(10)
(09-11-2017 12:25 PM)Dieter Wrote:  Yes, that's much better, I think.

The Wiktionary definition seems to lack a "not": Something like "A digit that is nonzero or, when zero, followed not only by further zeros" sounds correct to me.
In other words: "A digit that is nonzero or, when zero, followed by at least one non-zero".

However, this still does not address the question of trailing zeros that may be significant, as discussed in the Wikipedia article.

Dieter

The nice part on the wiki is the approach:
be bold, change it, and if other people don't like it, a discussion starts.

So, changed: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/significant_digit

Now either someone else reverts the change (so a discussion over it can be started in the Talk page), or someone else improves it. In both case, it is a step closer to a better solution.

wiki:
- less complain
+ more action

Wikis are great, Contribute :)
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