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scientific notation
scientific notation means of expressing very large or very small numbers in a compact form that is easy to use in computations. In this notation, any number is expressed as a number between 1 and 10 multiplied by a power of 10 that indicates the correct position of the decimal point in the original...
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decimal system
decimal system [Lat.,=of tenths], numeration system based on powers of 10. A number is written as a row of digits, with each position in the row corresponding to a certain power of 10. A decimal point in the row divides it into those powers of 10 equal to or greater than 0 and those less than 0, i....
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micrometer
micrometer . 1 Instrument used for measuring extremely small distances. Typical examples are devices used in astronomical telescopes to measure the apparent diameter of celestial objects and similar devices used in microscopes. In both of these devices a fine hair or filament is moved from one ext...
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Twelve Tables
Twelve Tables early code of Roman law. Most modern authorities accept the traditional date of 450 BC, but several place the work later. The tables were supposedly written in response to the plebeians' protest that the patrician judges were able to discriminate against them with impunity because the...
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Singapore Strait
Singapore Strait channel, 30 mi (48 km) long and 10 mi (16.1 km) wide, between Singapore island and the Riau Archipelago, Indonesia. It links the Strait of Malacca with the South China Sea and is a major shipping route of SE Asia.
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binary system
binary system numeration system based on powers of 2, in contrast to the familiar decimal system , which is based on powers of 10. In the binary system, only the digits 0 and 1 are used. Thus, the first ten numbers in binary notation, corresponding to the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3,...
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angstrom
angstrom , abbr. Å, unit of length equal to 10 -10 meter (0.0000000001 meter); it is used to measure the wavelengths of visible light and of other forms of electromagnetic radiation , such as ultraviolet radiation and X rays. Scientists now prefer to use the nanometer (nm); 1 nm=10 Å...
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binomial
binomial , polynomial expression (see polynomial ) containing two terms, for example, x + y. The binomial theorem, or binomial formula, gives the expansion of the n th power of a binomial ( x + y ) for n= 1, 2, 3, … , as follows:
where the ellipsis (…) indicates a...
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rosary
rosary [rose garden], prayer of Roman Catholics, in which beads are used as counters. The term, applied also to the beads, is extended to Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist prayers that use beads. The traditional Catholic rosary is a series of 15 meditations on events (mysteries) in the lives of Jesus and...
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decibel
decibel , abbr. dB, unit used to measure the loudness of sound . It is one tenth of a bel (named for A. G. Bell), but the larger unit is rarely used. The decibel is a measure of sound intensity as a function of power ratio, with the difference in decibels between two sounds being given by dB=10 log...
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