Floating Point Notation is a method of representing very large or very small numbers in an expression of fixed size that closely resembles scientific notation, in which a number is denoted using a mantissa (a decimal number), a multiplication symbol, the base of the numbering system being used, and an exponent (for example, X 10s).
In floating-point notation, the expression is based on binary numbers; furthermore, the expression is modified by a process called normalization so that the first digit of the mantissa is always 1 (for example, 1.011 [binary] X 24 = 22 [decimal]. This number, called the hidden bit, does not have to be stored in memory.
Technipages Explains Floating Point Notation
Floating point notation is a system of operation in which numbers are represented as decimal fractions and exponents. Therefore, the relative position of the decimal is not fixed rather ‘floats.’ A float can be placed anywhere relative to the significant digits of the number. This is an effective method of representing real numbers in binary forms.
Scientific notations can be broken down into two, the exponent and mantissa. The mantissa and exponent are in binary format. The exponential part which is a designation of the location of the decimal point in case the number is to be shown in its decimal point, the mantissa is everything else but the exponential part, and the mantissa usually is signed fixed position. The sign of the mantissa depends on the presence of a” 1″ on the left side of the mantissa. If there is a 1 present at the end of the left side of the mantissa, then it is a negative binary number.
The binary notation system represents all the information in a computer, and Binary bits are used to describe Alphabetical and Numerical characters of a computer. The downside to the float notation system is that there is no way to represent binary bits exceeding 32bits. Floating point notations are usually written in the standard form as Mxre.
Common Uses of Floating Point Notation
- A float pointing notation is so because the values of the mantissa bits “float” along with the decimal point, based on the exponent’s given value.
- The representation of numbers using the floating point notation is not possible for numbers having more than 32bits.
- Unlike the fixed-point notation, floating point notation ensures the numbers re represented by decimal fractions and exponents
Common Misuses of Floating Point Notation
- Float point notation works better on integers with more than 32bits
