Rounding.
Publié le 12/05/2013
Extrait du document
Rounding. Rounding, process for approximating a number to the nearest value, which may be less than or greater than the original number. Rounding of figures after a decimal point results in a number with fewer decimal places. In rounding, an ending digit of 5 or greater is rounded off by adding 1 to the digit to its left. An ending digit of 4 or less is rounded off by dropping the digit, if it occurs after the decimal point, or by replacing it with a zero, if it occurs before the decimal point. For example, 34.3587 can be rounded one decimal place to 34.359, whereas 34.3583 would be rounded to 34.358. The whole number 83 rounds one decimal place to 80. Rounding 3587 to the nearest thousand (three decimal places) yields 4000. Rounding can produce considerable errors, especially when the rounded numbers are multiplied by other rounded numbers. For example, if the volume of a cube is calculated as 3 × 4 × 5 = 60 when the true dimensions are 3.4 × 4.4 × 5.4 = 80.784, the difference is 20.784, which is an error of over 25 percent. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.