I would presume, perhaps incorrectly, that “120 per 100,000” has 3 significant d... | Hacker News

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		everforward 25 days ago \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: America’s incarceration rate is in decline I would presume, perhaps incorrectly, that “120 per 100,000” has 3 significant digits and “12 per 10,000” has 2. I’ve never seen a period used like that in census data. It seems like a conscious choice because the period is confusing when used in the middle of a phrase. 12E1 makes more sense but is abnormal notation for many people.

Jtsummers 25 days ago [–]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Significant_figures

> Trailing zeros in an integer may or may not be significant, depending on the measurement or reporting resolution.

120 is either two or three significant figures, and you can't know which without knowing how the number was arrived at.

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