Significand

The significand[1] (also coefficient,[1] sometimes argument,[2] or more ambiguously mantissa,[3] fraction,[4][5][nb 1] or characteristic[6][3]) is the first (left) part of a number in scientific notation or related concepts in floating-point representation, consisting of its significant digits.

Depending on the interpretation of the exponent, the significand may represent an integer or a fractional number, which may cause the term "mantissa" to be misleading, since the mantissa of a logarithm is always its fractional part.[7][8] Although the other names mentioned are common, significand is the word used by IEEE 754, an important technical standard for floating-point arithmetic.[9] In mathematics, the term "argument" may also be ambiguous, since "the argument of a number" sometimes refers to the length of a circular arc from 1 to a number on the unit circle in the complex plane.[10]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Kahan_2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Clements, Alan (2006-02-09). Principles of Computer Hardware. OUP Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-927313-3.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Gosling_1980 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference EE_1961 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Savard_2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Knuth_ACP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Magazines, Hearst (February 1913). Popular Mechanics. Hearst Magazines. p. 291.
  8. ^ Gupta, Dr Alok (2020-07-04). Business Mathematics by Alok Gupta: SBPD Publications. SBPD publications. p. 140. ISBN 978-93-86908-16-2.
  9. ^ IEEE. IEEE 754-1985. doi:10.1109/IEEESTD.1985.82928. ISBN 0-7381-1165-1. Retrieved 2024-11-01. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  10. ^ Gowers, Timothy; Barrow-Green, June; Leader, Imre (2010-07-18). The Princeton Companion to Mathematics. Princeton University Press. p. 201. ISBN 978-1-4008-3039-8.


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