COMPUTER SYSTEMS RESEARCH
Elements of Technical Writing
2005-2006

  • Do not inflate the accuracy by writing decimals with too many digits
    1. When you divide decimals, the quotient is written with the same number of digits after the decimal point as the
      longer of the numerator or denominator. 
       2.34 divided by 5.55 should be expressed as 0.42, not 0.4216216 (calculator answer)

 Writing the answer as 0.422 implies accuracy to the nearest thousandth, which is not the case.
 (You can't have a quotient more accurate than the numbers being divided)