What makes up the preference for "nice, round numbers?'?

Answer 1

Our number system is base 10, and exponentiation (powers of 10) is fundamental to it. Scientific notation separates the mantissa from the exponent (order of magnitude, number of powers of 10). If you're dealing with a wide range of numeric values, it's a convenient approximation to ignore the mantissa and just use the order of magnitude. To multiply two such numbers, all you need to do is add the exponents.

Because orders of magnitude are so useful, and we use them so much, such a number immediately resonates with a concept in our minds. Say a thousand, and I know exactly what you mean. Say 1274, and I have to do some work to visualize that as a thousand, and about a quarter of another thousand.

That's also why marketing 'fraud' works so well. Tell me your product is $50, and I immediately know how much that is, and I realize it's more than I want to pay. But tell me it's $49.95, and if I don't like to think, I consider it cheaper, even if it's cheaper by only a tenth of a percent.

Answer 2

Depends on the situation........some go with the denominations of money we use....10, 20, 50, 100. Some go with case quanities of products they stock in stores or purchase from stores....like light bulbs......some come in a case of 12...so nice "round" numbers to order would be 12, 24, 36, 48, etc.

Answer 3

I presume you mean numbers that end in zero. What makes them "attractive" is that they're easy to remember, like 100 compared to 103. They are usually easier to deal with mathematically, you don't have to worry about too many non-zero digits which strain your brain.

Answer 4

It is a lot easier to conceptualize having 5 apples than having 5.1901757295827 apples.