SOLUTION: What does the word "mantissa" mean?

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Question 79396: What does the word "mantissa" mean?
Answer by mathdoc314(58) About Me  (Show Source):
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The logarithm of a number has a mantissa and a characteristic.
The mantissa is the fractional part and the characteristic is the whole number part.
For example +log%28350%29+=+2+%2B+log%283.50%29+=+2.5441+
The characteristic is 2 and the mantissa is 0.5441.
For another example +log%280.0035%29+=+-3+%2B+log%283.50%29+=+-3+%2B+0.5441+=+-2.4559+
The characteristic is -3 and the mantissa is still 0.5441
This is sometimes written as a (3 with a bar over it).5441 to show the 3 is negative and the rest of the number is positive. Your teacher may vary.