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If a number is written as, for example, 317.828 38 (the mass of Earth relative to the mass of Jupiter), what does that mean?
I.e., what is the 38 part?
3 Answers
- billrussell42Lv 72 years ago
actual value according to wikipedia is 317.8 Earths
I suspect that number means
317.828 ± 0.038
which is sometimes written as
317.828 (38)
(I regard this as somewhat ambiguous)
317.82838 is too many digits beyond the known accuracies.
- MorningfoxLv 72 years ago
It means there has been a typographic error. Or, the number is written in the European style, with a thin space after a group of three digits. In the Jupiter/Earth case, the ratio is known to be 317.828383, plus or minus 34 in the last two digits. So I vote for the "European style" explanation.