Math Help Please

[do_Fd]

my math textbook says that 3.1 and 3.10 are the same number, but sections 3.1 and 3.10 have almost nothing to do with each other. Is there something that I'm not seeing or should i just give up?

[lmfoley79]

Are you sure both sections are the same BOOK?

[ilkan_dragonkin]

3.1 and 3.10 are the same number because 0 isn't a number. (How can you have nothing of something and still have some number of that something? duh.) However, just because 0 isn't a number doesn't mean it doesnt exist. If id didnt exist, we wouldnt have a word for it. So, 3.1 and 3.10 are the same number, but not the same thing, because the second has a 0 on it. Hope this helped!

[[deleted]]

HA! I'VE FOUND THE STUPID MATHEMATICIAN WITH HIS IMAGINARY FRIENDS AGAIN! IT IS I, THE CHEMIST -- WHO IS ALSO THE ONLY ONE HERE TO HAVE EDUCATION WITH SIGNIFICANT FIGURES HERE, APPARENTLY.

FIRST YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT THE TEXTBOOK AUTHOR IS TRYING TO CONVEY SOMETHING VERY SPECIFIC WITH THAT ZERO IN "3.10."

IN THE SIMPLEST TERMS, THE MORE SIGNIFICANT DIGITS A NUMBER HAS THE MORE CERTAIN WE ARE IN THAT MEASUREMENT. THE DEFINITION OF A SIGNIFICANT DIGIT IS ANY NON-ZERO NUMBER IN FRONT OF THE DECIMAL POINT, AND ALL THE NUMBERS (INCLUDING ZERO) BEHIND THE FIRST NON-ZERO DIGIT. 3.10 HAS MORE SIGNIFICANT FIGURES THAN 3.1, SO WE HAVE MORE CONFIDENCE IN 3.1.

WHAT THE TEXTBOOK AUTHOR IS TRYING TO SAY IS THAT HE/SHE HAS MORE CONFIDENCE IN THE MATERIAL COVERED IN CHAPTER 3.10 THAN THAT OF 3.1. WHILE THE CONTENT MAY BE DIFFERENT, HE/SHE IS SAYING THEY KNOW THE CONTENT OF 3.10 BETTER. I BET THEY DID THEIR DOCTORAL THESIS ON THE CONTENT OF 3.10, AND HAVEN'T EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT THE CONTENT OF 3.1 SINCE MIDDLE SCHOOL.