well technically it ends with a zero, which means it's 208cm... so one needs to know their car down to a centimetre... would've been worse if it was smth more like 2083mm. :)
I would argue that the presence of the trailing zero implies that the measurement is supposed to be precise down to the millimeter, regardless of whether it fell on a zero or not. "Significant figures" and all that. :) Still, even if it's a centimetere...
This is first-year physics material! Indeed, the trailing zero indicates an accuracy of four digits, ie 2080mm +/- 0.5mm. The carpark must have built to exceedingly precise specifications -- let's the hope the work was carried out accurately. Remember, accuracy is not the same as precision...
3 comments:
well technically it ends with a zero, which means it's 208cm... so one needs to know their car down to a centimetre... would've been worse if it was smth more like 2083mm. :)
I would argue that the presence of the trailing zero implies that the measurement is supposed to be precise down to the millimeter, regardless of whether it fell on a zero or not. "Significant figures" and all that. :)
Still, even if it's a centimetere...
This is first-year physics material! Indeed, the trailing zero indicates an accuracy of four digits, ie 2080mm +/- 0.5mm. The carpark must have built to exceedingly precise specifications -- let's the hope the work was carried out accurately. Remember, accuracy is not the same as precision...
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