Mantissa meaning

măn-tĭs'ə
The definition of a mantissa is the part of a number located after a decimal point.

An example of mantissa is 234 in the number 1101.234.

noun
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The decimal part of a logarithm to base 10 as distinguished from the integral part (called the characteristic)

.7193 is the mantissa of the logarithm 4.7193

noun
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(mathematics, computing, proscribed) The significand; that part of a floating-point number or number in scientific notation that contains its significant digits.
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The numeric value in a floating point number. See floating point.
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(mathematics) The part of a common logarithm after the decimal point, the fractional part of a logarithm.
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The decimal part of a logarithm. In the logarithm 2.95424, the mantissa is 0.95424.
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The part of a logarithm to the base ten that is to the right of the decimal point. For example, if 2.749 is a logarithm, .749 is the mantissa.
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Origin of mantissa

  • Latin makeweight perhaps of Etruscan origin
    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
  • From Latin mantissa, mantÄ«sa, of unknown origin (said by Festus to be a loanword from Etruscan, but it may actually be from Celtic, possibly through Etruscan mediation).
    From Wiktionary

Mantissa Sentence Examples

  • When the base is to, the logarithms of all numbers in which the digits are the same, no matter where the decimal point may be, have the same mantissa; thus, for example, log 2.5613 =0-4084604, log 25.613 =1.4084604, log 2561300 = 6.4084604, &c.

  • The fact that when the base is io the mantissa of the logarithm is independent of the position of the decimal point in the number affords the chief reason for the choice of io as base.

  • The explanation of this property of the base io is evident, for a change in the position of the decimal points amounts to multiplication or division by some power of 10, and this corresponds to the addition or subtraction of some integer in the case of the logarithm, the mantissa therefore remaining intact.

  • In tables of logarithms of numbers to base io the mantissa only is in general tabulated, as the characteristic of the logarithm of a number can always be written down at sight, the rule being that, if the number is greater than unity, the characteristic is less by unity than the number of digits in the integral portion of it, and that if the number is less than unity the characteristic is negative, and is greater by unity than the number of ciphers between the decimal point and the first significant figure.

  • numbers in which the integral part is o) the mantissa is still kept positive, so that, for example, log 25613 =7-4084604, 4084604, log 0025613 = 3.4084604, &c.

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