Which number do you think is more exact...?

Question

This is a real poll/survey that I'm organizing...
Which number do you think is more exact?

A) 10002
B) 24579
C) 0.458979621264687
D) 37000

Tell me your answer, and give me reasoning.

This is an opinion question... there is no "right" or "wrong" answer...

Answer 1

They are equally exact unless you stated that the 3 whole numbers have been rounded. You would simply add the same number of decimal places to the end of each to prove it.

Answer 2

None of these are exact, because we have no way of knowing what exactly they are about! Do significant digits play a role? If this is a scientific inquiry, or something using discrete statistical formulae, then the digits do matter!

If this is just a survey to see how many people answer a flawed question, as opposed to how many go off on the asker, mark me in the latter column!

Answer 3

Let's see. . . A has 5 significant figures, B has 5 sig figs, C has 15 sig figs, D has only 2 sig figs. The answer must be C because it has the most significant figures.

Of course, this is if your definition of "exact" is by precision (how definite or confident you are in your figure), not by accuracy (how close it is to the "real" answer). Otherwise, I can't say because these numbers have no context.

Answer 4

B) to get a number like that, it requires careful counting. No estimate would be a number like this.

A) this looks like an estimation. I would say that anyone who gives this number is estimating at 10000, but is more worried about going under than going over, so he adds two to his estimation.
C) it's a very specific decimal, but anytime I see a decimal this long, it is more than likely a decimal with no exact answer like Pi, imaginary numbers, and e
D) this looks like an estimation.

Answer 5

Technically, all numbers are exact. So I choose A B C D.
But if you really need an answer for your survey and all the answer choices are not listed, I say B.

Answer 6

C. Because its not even and you gave 15 numbers past the decimal point. That seems pretty exact to me.

Answer 7

0.458979621264687 this is an exact number because the more decimal numbers you add there is less room for errors when you do the math for any kind of exercise. any decimal number you add count in the result.

Answer 8

C) anything going back that many decimals is going to be more exact than any whole number.

Answer 9

I go with A. because it seems the 2 only off by one digit from 1.

Answer 10

I would say C because it is the smallest, but doesn't it depend on what you're "counting?" I think they may all be exact if they all exactly refer to whatever you are "counting." I'm going with E for all of the above.