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rounding| In mathematics, a process by which a number is approximated to the nearest above or below with fewer decimal places. For example, 34.3583 might be rounded to 3 decimal places – 34.358 (the 3 is below 5), whereas 34.3587 would be rounded to 34.359 (the 7 is above 5). Similarly, 3,587 might be rounded to the nearest thousand (or to 1 significant figure), giving 4,000. When unwanted decimals are simply left out, the process is known as truncating. |
| Rounding can produce considerable errors, especially when the rounded numbers are multiplied by other rounded numbers. |
| The volume of a cuboid is calculated as 3 × 4 × 5, each dimension being rounded to 0 decimal places, the true dimensions being 3.4 × 4.4 × 5.4. The rounding error is 20.784 out of 80.784, an error of over 25%, which could be an unacceptable degree of accuracy. |
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