The Cellar / Math Question

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 2/25/2022 9:27 pm

I got an oil delivery and the new kid on the truck has poor handwriting.
So I took the numbers the machine printed on the ticket and did the math.
Well my calculater did the math and gave me $XXX.8847 so it has to be rounded off to two decimal places.
My first instinct was 47 is less than half so it would round down to 88
But then I wondered if the numbers round one at a time so the 7 bumps the 4 to 5 and the 5 bumps the 8 to 9.
My question is what is the right way to handle the rounding, because I don't have a clue?

Last edited by xoxoxoBruce (2/25/2022 9:27 pm)

**Posted by monster** 2/25/2022 11:06 pm

.88

**Posted by footfootfoot** 2/26/2022 8:46 am

THE CUCUMBERS NOW WEIGH 50 POUNDS!!!

**Posted by Diaphone Jim** 2/26/2022 1:11 pm

88 makes sense to me.
Rounding is necessarily and beneficially imprecise.

**Posted by glatt** 2/26/2022 2:04 pm

https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2585:_Rounding

**Posted by TheNeverWas** 2/26/2022 9:29 pm

footfootfoot wrote:
THE CUCUMBERS NOW WEIGH 50 POUNDS!!!

I can't wait to hear that reference explained.

No, rly.

**Posted by footfootfoot** 2/26/2022 10:07 pm

TheNeverWas wrote:
footfootfoot wrote:
THE CUCUMBERS NOW WEIGH 50 POUNDS!!!
I can't wait to hear that reference explained.

No, rly.

Worth reading the thread:
http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=9821

TL:DR
Back in the day one of our favorite dwellars who has since passed on offered oral sex to whoever could answer a math problem she had: You have 100 pounds of cucumbers that are 99% water. By the end of the day they've dried out and are now only 98% water. How much does the pile of cucumbers now weigh?

Last edited by footfootfoot (2/26/2022 10:09 pm)

**Posted by Clodfobble** 2/26/2022 11:35 pm

Good times.

**Posted by xoxoxoBruce** 2/27/2022 7:14 am

Clodfobble wrote:
Good times.

Yes they were, very much so.

OK, so 88 it is, thank you very much.

**Posted by TheNeverWas** 2/27/2022 1:13 pm

Thank you, Feet.