exponential notation misnamed

[heldercorreia]

Originally reported on Google Code with ID 33

Documentation/nomenclature issue:

The notation you label "exponential" in which 3e2 means 3x10^2 is commonly
referred to as "scientific" notation, at least in English.  This form is
common on calculators and in programs because the typography is simpler.
Exponential forms typically mean something quite different -- a base number
to some power.

Suggest referring to the form as "scientific notation" instead.

Additionally, engineers frequently adjust the exponent to be a power of 3,
making it easy to apply SI multipliers:  3.45e4 grams is 34.5 kilograms.

Suggest providing an "engineering notation" mode.

Thanks -- looks like a cool tool, worthy of further expansion.

Reported by mbhaynie@zoominternet.net on 2007-05-09 16:13:19

[heldercorreia]

Thank you for the feedback. You are totally correct. This will be fixed in the next
release. I'm also creating a new issue for the engineering notation proposal which
is
great too. But exponents are products of 3 and not powers of 3.

Reported by helder.pereira.correia on 2007-05-12 00:46:41

• Status changed: Started
• Labels added: Priority-High, Milestone-0.8
• Labels removed: Priority-Medium

[heldercorreia]

Fixed in trunk. It will be available in 0.8.

Reported by helder.pereira.correia on 2007-05-12 01:34:55

• Status changed: Fixed