ERIC Number: EJ1195088
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Nov
Pages: 2
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0031-921X
EISSN: N/A
Guard Digits vs. Roundoff Error vs. Overall Uncertainty
Denker, John; Smith, Larry
Physics Teacher, v56 n8 p532-533 Nov 2018
Roundoff error is an error. It can be dramatically reduced by the use of additional low-order digits, i.e. "guard digits." Although the significant-figures idea in its standard form is incompatible with guard digits, this problem can be neatly solved by underlining the last "significant" digit, and then appending guard digits to the right of there. This clarifies the distinction between roundoff error and overall uncertainty while preserving compatibility with sig figs. The focus here is on reducing roundoff error; we defer discussion of most other contributions to the uncertainty.
American Association of Physics Teachers. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740. Tel: 301-209-3300; Fax: 301-209-0845; e-mail: pubs@aapt.org; Web site: http://aapt.scitation.org/journal/pte
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A