• BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca
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    2 days ago

    Why does even-ness matter? Just because our number system is decimal doesn’t mean nature fits into that pattern nicely.

    at 0.08 you can be measurably tested to have worse reaction capability, so that’s where they set the limit.

    4 beers at 12 oz isn’t exactly 0.08, that’s just approximately what it takes in the average person. Some people will be more, some less. Time and other factors affect it too.

    • howrar@lemmy.ca
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      1 day ago

      Why does even-ness matter?

      Because significant figures.

      0.1 means you have a margin of error of ±0.05 (i.e. the true value is between 0.05 and 0.15).

      0.08 means the margin of error is ±0.005 (i.e. the true value is between 0.075 and 0.085).

      OP’s question can be rephrased as “how did we obtain a value to this level of precision?”

      • spongebue@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        I mean, that’s just an issue of notation. OP could have just as easily meant 0.10 but chopped off the trailing zero out of habit.

        • howrar@lemmy.ca
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          10 hours ago

          OP actually did write 0.10, but I think it’s pretty clear from context that they meant it with one sigfig.