Rounding numbers is a mathematical technique used to simplify numbers while maintaining their general proximity to the original value.
This is particularly important when dealing with results from a scientific calculator, which often produces answers with many decimal places. In the logarithm exercise given, you are required to round your answer to three decimal places.Here's a quick guide to rounding:
- Look at the digit in the fourth decimal place – this is the critical digit.
- If it is greater than or equal to 5, increase the third decimal place by 1.
- If it is less than 5, keep the third decimal place as it is.
- After making this adjustment, all numbers after the third decimal become zero and are no longer shown.
For example, if your scientific calculator displays a result of \(-0.557231\), rounding to three decimal places results in \(-0.557\) since the fourth digit, 2, is less than 5. Remember, rounding helps to improve readability and usability of numerical data without significantly affecting accuracy.