12 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: What-If 84: Paint the Earth
I'm pretty sure it's because you round the exponent; 10^5.4 would round down to 10^(5), while 10^5.6 would round up to 10^(6). 10^.5 is about equal to 3.16, so 3 rounds down and 4 rounds up.
Comment by mick4state at 19/02/2014 at 14:10 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
This is 100% correct. You round to the nearest power of 10, rounding the power itself, not the number.