In engineering exact means 'as close as possible',that means taking account of tolerances in the manufacturing process.somewhere inbetween plus and minus tolerance ranges lies 'EXACT' which is a theoretical figure.Hence the statement in 'about' lies 'exactly'. ----- Original Message ----- From: "R. I. Nelson" To: "Microcontroller discussion list - Public." Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 3:34 AM Subject: Re: [OT] newbie question on timing > This has to be a different meaning in different country thing. I n all > school, college and military classes I have taken the word EXACT means > right on no variance one way or the other. To my knowledge engineering > is supposed to be an "exact science". Not a half way thing of "that > looks close enough". > > for an example here is the reason this is "ABOUT" and not "EXACTLY" > > The error factor is .18 per HR. 4.32 per day, 30.24 per week. > Thats about and not exactly in my line of thinking. > > I do not have to be that exact. The only reason I am writing this is > clarify the difference between about and exact. > > > Russell McMahon wrote: > > >>> 55ms (or 55.55555ms to be more exact) is about 18 pulses per second. > >> > >> If you want 55.55555 ms, that's *exactly* 18 pulses/second. > > > > > > In engineering at least, 'about' includes 'exactly' :-) > > > > RM > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist