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Wikipedia:WikiProject Short descriptions—{{Short description|A version of scientific notation in which the exponent of ten reflects powers of a thousand}} |
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Compared to normalized scientific notation, one disadvantage of using SI prefixes and engineering notation is that [[significant figure]]s are not always readily apparent. For example, 500 µm and 500 × 10<sup>−6</sup> m cannot express the [[uncertainty]] distinctions between 5 × 10<sup>−4</sup> m, 5.0 × 10<sup>−4</sup> m, and 5.00 × 10<sup>−4</sup> m. This can be solved by changing the range of the coefficient in front of the power from the common 1–1000 to 0.001–1.0. In some cases this may be suitable; in others it may be impractical. In the previous example, 0.5 mm, 0.50 mm, or 0.500 mm would have been used to show uncertainty and significant figures. It is also common to state the precision explicitly, such as "47 kΩ ±5%"
Another example: when the [[speed of light]] (exactly {{val|299792458|u=m/s}}<ref name="CUU_2014_c"/> by the definition of the meter and second) is expressed as 3.00 × 10<sup>8</sup> m/s or 3.00 × 10<sup>5</sup> km/s then it is clear that it is between 299 500 km/s and 300 500 km/s, but when using 300 × 10<sup>6</sup> m/s, or 300 × 10<sup>3</sup> km/s, 300 000 km/s, or the unusual but short 300 Mm/s, this is not clear. A possibility is using 0.300 Gm/s
On the other hand, engineering notation allows the numbers to explicitly match their corresponding SI prefixes, which facilitates reading and oral communication. For example, 12.5 × 10<sup>−9</sup> m can be read as "twelve-point-five nanometers" and written as 12.5 nm, while its scientific notation equivalent 1.25 × 10<sup>−8</sup> m would likely be read out as "one-point-two-five times ten-to-the-negative-eight meters".
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