Floating Point

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Floating Point </dt>
In computer operations, a positional notation in which corresponding places in different quantities are not necessarily occupied by coefficient of the same power of the base. Compare fixed point. </dd>
''Floating point corresponds to multiplication using powers of 10; for example, 186,000 can be represented as 1.86 * 10⁵. By shifting the point so that the number of significant digits in any quantity does not exceed machine capacity, widely varying quantities can be handled. The scale factor may be fixed for each problem, or indicated along with the digits and sign for each quantity. [[/a>|/a> ]]</dd>

References

This article is based on NASA's Dictionary of Technical Terms for Aerospace Use