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Groups > comp.lang.python > #111235 > unrolled thread

Curious Omission In New-Style Formats

Started byLawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com>
First post2016-07-09 22:54 -0700
Last post2016-07-12 00:17 -0400
Articles 4 on this page of 84 — 19 participants

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  Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-07-09 22:54 -0700
    Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-10 01:21 -0600
      Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-07-10 17:34 -0700
        Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-11 09:04 -0600
          Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-12 02:28 +1000
            Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2016-07-11 10:24 -0700
              Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2016-07-12 11:47 +1200
                Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2016-07-11 17:24 -0700
                Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-11 19:16 -0600
            Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-11 12:38 -0600
              Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-12 13:38 +1000
                Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-13 00:21 -0600
                  Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2016-07-13 09:57 +0300
                  Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-07-13 00:05 -0700
                    Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-13 18:49 +1000
                      Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-13 16:01 +0200
                      Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2016-07-13 20:04 -0400
                  Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-07-13 15:24 -0700
                    Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-13 18:45 -0600
                      Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-07-13 20:39 -0700
                        Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-13 23:18 -0600
                          Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-14 17:47 +1000
                            Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2016-07-14 07:34 -0400
                            Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-14 08:30 -0600
                              Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2016-07-14 19:02 +0300
                                Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-14 11:10 -0600
                                  Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2016-07-14 20:30 +0300
                                    Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-14 18:17 -0600
                                      Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-07-14 18:08 -0700
                                      Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2016-07-15 09:06 +0300
                                        Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-15 09:54 +0200
                                          Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Jussi Piitulainen <jussi.piitulainen@helsinki.fi> - 2016-07-15 11:40 +0300
                                            Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-15 20:56 +1000
                                              Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-15 13:44 +0200
                                                Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Jussi Piitulainen <jussi.piitulainen@helsinki.fi> - 2016-07-15 16:38 +0300
                                                  Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-15 16:47 +0200
                                              Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Jussi Piitulainen <jussi.piitulainen@helsinki.fi> - 2016-07-15 16:13 +0300
                                                Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-16 01:12 +1000
                                              Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Random832 <random832@fastmail.com> - 2016-07-15 09:39 -0400
                                              Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-15 16:32 +0200
                                            Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-15 13:05 +0200
                                              Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Jussi Piitulainen <jussi.piitulainen@helsinki.fi> - 2016-07-15 16:28 +0300
                                                Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-16 01:13 +1000
                                                  Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Jussi Piitulainen <jussi.piitulainen@helsinki.fi> - 2016-07-15 18:27 +0300
                                          Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2016-07-15 12:20 +0300
                                            Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-15 12:44 +0200
                                  Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-07-14 16:26 -0700
                            Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Robert Kern <robert.kern@gmail.com> - 2016-07-14 16:17 +0100
                      Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Lawrence D’Oliveiro <lawrencedo99@gmail.com> - 2016-07-15 16:35 -0700
                        Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-07-16 10:57 +1000
                    Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats MRAB <python@mrabarnett.plus.com> - 2016-07-14 01:59 +0100
                Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Dennis Lee Bieber <wlfraed@ix.netcom.com> - 2016-07-13 07:46 -0400
                  Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Jussi Piitulainen <jussi.piitulainen@helsinki.fi> - 2016-07-13 16:04 +0300
                Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-07-13 23:00 +1000
                  Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Jussi Piitulainen <jussi.piitulainen@helsinki.fi> - 2016-07-13 16:16 +0300
                    Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-07-13 23:49 +1000
                      Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Jussi Piitulainen <jussi.piitulainen@helsinki.fi> - 2016-07-13 17:23 +0300
                        Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-07-14 00:28 +1000
            Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2016-07-11 14:54 -0400
            Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Ian Kelly <ian.g.kelly@gmail.com> - 2016-07-11 13:27 -0600
            Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Michael Torrie <torriem@gmail.com> - 2016-07-11 14:06 -0600
            Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Random832 <random832@fastmail.com> - 2016-07-11 16:34 -0400
            Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2016-07-11 16:52 -0400
            What is precision of a number representation? (was: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats) Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2016-07-12 06:56 +1000
              Re: What is precision of a number representation? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-07-11 23:28 +0100
            Re: What is precision of a number representation? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2016-07-11 14:22 -0700
            Re: What is precision of a number representation? (was: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats) Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-07-12 07:51 +1000
              Re: What is precision of a number representation? (was: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats) Jan Coombs <jenfhaomndgfwutc@murmic.plus.com> - 2016-07-12 00:14 +0100
                Re: What is precision of a number representation? (was: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats) Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-07-12 09:57 +1000
              Re: What is precision of a number representation? (was: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats) Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-12 14:19 +1000
                Re: What is precision of a number representation? (was: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats) Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-07-12 14:36 +1000
                Re: What is precision of a number representation? Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-12 11:50 +0200
                  Re: What is precision of a number representation? Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2016-07-12 13:27 +0300
                    Re: What is precision of a number representation? Antoon Pardon <antoon.pardon@rece.vub.ac.be> - 2016-07-12 13:02 +0200
                  Re: What is precision of a number representation? Steven D'Aprano <steve@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-12 23:16 +1000
            Re: What is precision of a number representation? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2016-07-11 15:17 -0700
              Re: What is precision of a number representation? Steven D'Aprano <steve+comp.lang.python@pearwood.info> - 2016-07-12 16:21 +1000
                Re: What is precision of a number representation? Random832 <random832@fastmail.com> - 2016-07-12 09:36 -0400
            Re: What is precision of a number representation? Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> - 2016-07-11 15:29 -0700
            Re: Curious Omission In New-Style Formats Gregory Ewing <greg.ewing@canterbury.ac.nz> - 2016-07-12 11:26 +1200
            Re: What is precision of a number representation? Chris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com> - 2016-07-12 11:57 +1000
            Re: What is precision of a number representation? Ben Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au> - 2016-07-12 13:41 +1000
            Re: What is precision of a number representation? Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2016-07-12 00:14 -0400
            Re: What is precision of a number representation? Terry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu> - 2016-07-12 00:17 -0400

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#111308 — Re: What is precision of a number representation?

FromChris Angelico <rosuav@gmail.com>
Date2016-07-12 11:57 +1000
SubjectRe: What is precision of a number representation?
Message-ID<mailman.3.1468288640.21009.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#111273
On Tue, Jul 12, 2016 at 8:17 AM, Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> wrote:
>> This is why it's important to be able to record precisions of
>> arbitrary numbers. If I then measure the width of this corridor with a
>> laser, I could get an extremely precise answer - say, 2,147
>> millimeters, with a precision of four significant digits, and
>> excellent accuracy. But if I multiply those numbers together to
>> establish the floor area of the corridor, the result does NOT have
>> four significant figures. It would be 64 square meters (not 64.41),
>> and the accuracy would be pretty low (effectively, the *in*accuracies
>> of both measurements get combined). But on the other hand, if you want
>> to know whether your new fridge will fit, you could measure it with
>> the same laser and come up with a figure of 1,973 mm (four sig fig),
>> which would mean your clearance is 174mm (four sig fig). How do you
>> record this? Is it 174.0? 0174? "174 with four significant figures"?
>
>
> 174.0, because those last tenths of a millimeter could be very important,
> while knowledge that there are no thousands of millimeters is already
> present.
>

But I never measured it to tenths of a millimeter. The display on my
laser measurer (I don't actually have one, by the way, so all this is
complete fabrication for the sake of the example) displays integer
millimeters, with an implicit "+/- 0.5 mm".

ChrisA

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#111312 — Re: What is precision of a number representation?

FromBen Finney <ben+python@benfinney.id.au>
Date2016-07-12 13:41 +1000
SubjectRe: What is precision of a number representation?
Message-ID<mailman.4.1468294936.21009.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#111273
Ethan Furman <ethan@stoneleaf.us> writes:

> On 07/11/2016 01:56 PM, Ben Finney wrote:
>
> > Precision is not a property of the number. It is a property of the
> > *representation* of that number.
> >
> > The representation “1×10²” has a precision of one digit.
> > The representation “100” has a precision of three digits.
> > The representation “00100” has a precision of five digits.
> > The representation “100.00” also has a precision of five digits.
>
> […] you haven't explained how 00100 is more precise than 100.

I haven't made any claim about “more precise” in the above.

But if you want such claims, here are comparable representations in
increasing order of precision:

* “0 ×10²” has one digit of precision.
* “0.0 ×10²” has two digits of precison.
* “0.01 ×10²” has three digits of precision.
* “0.010 ×10²” has four digits of precision.
* “0.0100 ×10²” has five digits of precision.
* “0.01000 ×10²” has six digits of precision.

Again, these might all be representations of the same number or of
different numbers; the representation claims only to represent a number
within a range of tolerance.


In decimal notation, some of the above can't be written with the same
precision. I could invent a representation — e.g. show “?” as a
place-holder for a digit not within the precision level. In that system,
the equivalent representations would be:

* “0????”
* “00???”
* “001??”
* “0010?”
* “00100”
* “00100.0”

Each of these claims to represent a quantity beginning at the
ten-thousands place, with increasing levels of precision in the claim.

So the comparison that invites is to show where the range of tolerance
for the representation ends. The fewer digits of precision, the less
precise the representation claims to be.

-- 
 \      “I find the whole business of religion profoundly interesting. |
  `\     But it does mystify me that otherwise intelligent people take |
_o__)                                    it seriously.” —Douglas Adams |
Ben Finney

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#111313 — Re: What is precision of a number representation?

FromTerry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu>
Date2016-07-12 00:14 -0400
SubjectRe: What is precision of a number representation?
Message-ID<mailman.5.1468296898.21009.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#111273
On 7/11/2016 5:51 PM, Chris Angelico wrote:

> This is why it's important to be able to record precisions of
> arbitrary numbers. If I then measure the width of this corridor with a
> laser, I could get an extremely precise answer - say, 2,147
> millimeters, with a precision of four significant digits, and
> excellent accuracy. But if I multiply those numbers together to
> establish the floor area of the corridor, the result does NOT have
> four significant figures. It would be 64 square meters (not 64.41),
> and the accuracy would be pretty low (effectively, the *in*accuracies
> of both measurements get combined). But on the other hand, if you want
> to know whether your new fridge will fit, you could measure it with
> the same laser and come up with a figure of 1,973 mm (four sig fig),
> which would mean your clearance is 174mm (four sig fig).

Wrong as to the last point. 2147 - 1973 = 174 has only 3 sig. figures. 
2147 - 2144 = 3 has 1 significant figure.  Subtraction of nearly equal 
numbers can cancel sig. figures.

 > How do you
> record this? Is it 174.0? 0174? "174 with four significant figures"?

None of these.

-- 
Terry Jan Reedy

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#111315 — Re: What is precision of a number representation?

FromTerry Reedy <tjreedy@udel.edu>
Date2016-07-12 00:17 -0400
SubjectRe: What is precision of a number representation?
Message-ID<mailman.6.1468297205.21009.python-list@python.org>
In reply to#111273
On 7/11/2016 6:17 PM, Ethan Furman wrote:
> On 07/11/2016 02:51 PM, Chris Angelico wrote:

>> This is why it's important to be able to record precisions of
>> arbitrary numbers. If I then measure the width of this corridor with a
>> laser, I could get an extremely precise answer - say, 2,147
>> millimeters, with a precision of four significant digits, and
>> excellent accuracy. But if I multiply those numbers together to
>> establish the floor area of the corridor, the result does NOT have
>> four significant figures. It would be 64 square meters (not 64.41),
>> and the accuracy would be pretty low (effectively, the *in*accuracies
>> of both measurements get combined). But on the other hand, if you want
>> to know whether your new fridge will fit, you could measure it with
>> the same laser and come up with a figure of 1,973 mm (four sig fig),
>> which would mean your clearance is 174mm (four sig fig). How do you
>> record this? Is it 174.0? 0174? "174 with four significant figures"?
>
> 174.0,

A common fallacy.  There are only 3 significant figures because one, the 
first, was cancelled by subtracting close numbers.  The same is true of 
adding numbers of opposite signs.

-- 
Terry Jan Reedy

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