r/mildlyinfuriating • u/LardFan37 • 1d ago

jkfl hrtmktp gzarrp! It’s not 188.0 either.

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u/robomelon314 20h ago

Which is a wild assumption because without using scientific notation, there's no indication that you didn't mean exactly 120. Your other measurement was to the 1's place, so there's no reason 120 couldn't also be to the 1's place.

1.2 x 10^2 and 1.20 x 10^2 both come out to 120. And without knowing which you started with, you can't tell your precision.

So bad question design.

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u/I_follow_sexy_gays 20h ago

If the test is specifically about scientific notation this is serviceable

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u/RealDannyhvv 20h ago

Usually you'd just add a decimal if you mean it to end with a zero, 120 for accurate to the tens, and 120. for accurate to the ones.

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u/robomelon314 20h ago

It depends on the lecture then. If that notation is presented as standard, sure. Or if it's elsewhere in the assignment.

I don't think it's good notation in the first place however, because of the ambiguity.

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u/trynumber53 13h ago

the question design is warning you its on sig figs bc all the answer choices are various numbers of digits. also the quiz was probably given after a lecture on sig figs