{"id":88,"date":"2022-05-20T21:09:09","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T21:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-ecc-guidetowriting\/chapter\/writing-with-numbers\/"},"modified":"2022-05-20T21:09:09","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T21:09:09","slug":"writing-with-numbers","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-ecc-guidetowriting\/chapter\/writing-with-numbers\/","title":{"raw":"Writing with Numbers","rendered":"Writing with Numbers"},"content":{"raw":"\n<div id=\"node-1825\" class=\"node\">\n<div class=\"content clear-block\">\n<h2>The General Rule<\/h2>\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-1015\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/453\/2016\/08\/11180128\/background-1143869_1280-1024x681.jpg\" alt=\"a collage of several numbers\" width=\"350\" height=\"233\">The rules for expressing numbers are relatively simple and straightforward. When you're writing in a nontechnical subject&nbsp;(like English or art),&nbsp;numbers ninety-nine&nbsp;and below should be written out with letters, not numerals:\n<ul>\n \t<li>There were <strong>sixty<\/strong> dogs in the competition.<\/li>\n \t<li>I don't think it's possible to get <strong>264<\/strong> bracelets made in <strong>one<\/strong> week.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nIn technical fields&nbsp;(like math or science), you spell&nbsp;out numbers ten and below. Numbers above this&nbsp;should be written as numerals:\n<ul>\n \t<li>This study&nbsp;is based on <strong>three<\/strong> different ideas<\/li>\n \t<li>In&nbsp;this treatment, the steel was heated <strong>18<\/strong> different times.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Other Rules<\/h2>\nIf a sentence begins with a number, the number should be written out:\n<ul>\n \t<li><strong>Fourteen<\/strong> of the participants could not tell the difference between samples A and B.<\/li>\n \t<li><strong>Eighteen hundred and eighty-eight<\/strong> was a very difficult year.\n<ul>\n \t<li>You may want to revise sentences like this so the number does not come first: \"The year <strong>1888<\/strong> was quite difficult.\"<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nYou should treat similar numbers in grammatically connected groups alike:\n<ul>\n \t<li><strong>Two<\/strong> dramatic changes followed: <strong>four<\/strong> samples exploded and <strong>thirteen<\/strong> lab technicians resigned.<\/li>\n \t<li><strong>Sixteen<\/strong> people got&nbsp;<strong>15<\/strong> points on the test, <strong>thirty<\/strong> people got&nbsp;<strong>10<\/strong> points, and <strong>three<\/strong> people got&nbsp;<strong>5<\/strong> points.\n<ul>\n \t<li>In this sentence, there are two different \"categories\" of numbers: those that modify the noun&nbsp;<em>people<\/em> and those that modify the noun&nbsp;<em>points<\/em>. You can see that&nbsp;one category is spelled out (<em>people<\/em>) and the other is in numerals (<em>points<\/em>). This division helps the reader immediately spot which category the numbers belong to.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nWhen you write a percentage the number should always&nbsp;be written numerically (even if its ten or under). If you're writing in a technical field, you should use the percentage symbol (%):\n<ul>\n \t<li>This&nbsp;procedure&nbsp;has a <strong>7%<\/strong> failure&nbsp;rate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nIf you're writing in a nontechnical field, you should spell out the word percent:\n<ul>\n \t<li>The judges have to give prizes to at least <strong>25 percent<\/strong> of&nbsp;competitors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nAll important measured quantities\u2014particularly those involving decimal points, dimensions, degrees, distances, weights, measures, and sums of money\u2014should be expressed in numeral form:\n<ul>\n \t<li>The metal should then be submerged for precisely <strong>1.3<\/strong> seconds.<\/li>\n \t<li>On average, the procedure costs&nbsp;<strong>$25,000<\/strong>.<\/li>\n \t<li>The depth to the water at the time of testing was <strong>16.16<\/strong> feet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nIn technical settings, degree measures of temperature are normally expressed with the \u00b0 symbol rather than by the written word, with a space after the number but not between the symbol and the temperature scale:\n<ul>\n \t<li>The sample was heated to <strong>80 \u00b0C<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nUnlike the abbreviations for Fahrenheit and Celsius, the abbreviation for Kelvin (which refers to an absolute scale of temperature) is not preceded by the degree symbol (i.e., <strong>12 K<\/strong> is correct).\n\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"clear-block\">\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>On the Web<\/h3>\nCheck out these handy resources related to expressing numbers and numerals in text:\n<ul>\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.radcomservices.com\/technical-writing-best-practices-numbers\/\">Technical Writing Best Practices \u2013 By the Numbers<\/a><\/li>\n \t<li><a href=\"http:\/\/grammar.ccc.commnet.edu\/grammar\/numbers.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\"Using Numbers, Writing Lists\" advice from Capital Community College website<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","rendered":"<div id=\"node-1825\" class=\"node\">\n<div class=\"content clear-block\">\n<h2>The General Rule<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1015\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/453\/2016\/08\/11180128\/background-1143869_1280-1024x681.jpg\" alt=\"a collage of several numbers\" width=\"350\" height=\"233\" \/>The rules for expressing numbers are relatively simple and straightforward. When you&#8217;re writing in a nontechnical subject&nbsp;(like English or art),&nbsp;numbers ninety-nine&nbsp;and below should be written out with letters, not numerals:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There were <strong>sixty<\/strong> dogs in the competition.<\/li>\n<li>I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s possible to get <strong>264<\/strong> bracelets made in <strong>one<\/strong> week.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In technical fields&nbsp;(like math or science), you spell&nbsp;out numbers ten and below. Numbers above this&nbsp;should be written as numerals:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This study&nbsp;is based on <strong>three<\/strong> different ideas<\/li>\n<li>In&nbsp;this treatment, the steel was heated <strong>18<\/strong> different times.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Other Rules<\/h2>\n<p>If a sentence begins with a number, the number should be written out:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Fourteen<\/strong> of the participants could not tell the difference between samples A and B.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Eighteen hundred and eighty-eight<\/strong> was a very difficult year.\n<ul>\n<li>You may want to revise sentences like this so the number does not come first: &#8220;The year <strong>1888<\/strong> was quite difficult.&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You should treat similar numbers in grammatically connected groups alike:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Two<\/strong> dramatic changes followed: <strong>four<\/strong> samples exploded and <strong>thirteen<\/strong> lab technicians resigned.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sixteen<\/strong> people got&nbsp;<strong>15<\/strong> points on the test, <strong>thirty<\/strong> people got&nbsp;<strong>10<\/strong> points, and <strong>three<\/strong> people got&nbsp;<strong>5<\/strong> points.\n<ul>\n<li>In this sentence, there are two different &#8220;categories&#8221; of numbers: those that modify the noun&nbsp;<em>people<\/em> and those that modify the noun&nbsp;<em>points<\/em>. You can see that&nbsp;one category is spelled out (<em>people<\/em>) and the other is in numerals (<em>points<\/em>). This division helps the reader immediately spot which category the numbers belong to.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When you write a percentage the number should always&nbsp;be written numerically (even if its ten or under). If you&#8217;re writing in a technical field, you should use the percentage symbol (%):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This&nbsp;procedure&nbsp;has a <strong>7%<\/strong> failure&nbsp;rate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you&#8217;re writing in a nontechnical field, you should spell out the word percent:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The judges have to give prizes to at least <strong>25 percent<\/strong> of&nbsp;competitors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All important measured quantities\u2014particularly those involving decimal points, dimensions, degrees, distances, weights, measures, and sums of money\u2014should be expressed in numeral form:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The metal should then be submerged for precisely <strong>1.3<\/strong> seconds.<\/li>\n<li>On average, the procedure costs&nbsp;<strong>$25,000<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The depth to the water at the time of testing was <strong>16.16<\/strong> feet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In technical settings, degree measures of temperature are normally expressed with the \u00b0 symbol rather than by the written word, with a space after the number but not between the symbol and the temperature scale:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The sample was heated to <strong>80 \u00b0C<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Unlike the abbreviations for Fahrenheit and Celsius, the abbreviation for Kelvin (which refers to an absolute scale of temperature) is not preceded by the degree symbol (i.e., <strong>12 K<\/strong> is correct).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"clear-block\">\n<div class=\"textbox learning-objectives\">\n<h3>On the Web<\/h3>\n<p>Check out these handy resources related to expressing numbers and numerals in text:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.radcomservices.com\/technical-writing-best-practices-numbers\/\">Technical Writing Best Practices \u2013 By the Numbers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/grammar.ccc.commnet.edu\/grammar\/numbers.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&#8220;Using Numbers, Writing Lists&#8221; advice from Capital Community College website<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-88\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Revision and Adaptation. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Style For Students Online. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Joe Schall. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: The Pennsylvania State University. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.e-education.psu.edu\/styleforstudents\/\">https:\/\/www.e-education.psu.edu\/styleforstudents\/<\/a>. <strong>Project<\/strong>: Penn State&#039;s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences&#039; OER Initiative. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Background Numbers. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: thinunes. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/background-numbers-mathematics-1143869\/\">https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/background-numbers-mathematics-1143869\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/about\/cc0\">CC0: No Rights Reserved<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":503070,"menu_order":4,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Style For Students Online\",\"author\":\"Joe Schall\",\"organization\":\"The Pennsylvania State University\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.e-education.psu.edu\/styleforstudents\/\",\"project\":\"Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences' OER Initiative\",\"license\":\"cc-by-nc-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"original\",\"description\":\"Revision and Adaptation\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Lumen Learning\",\"url\":\"\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-nc-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Background Numbers\",\"author\":\"thinunes\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pixabay.com\/en\/background-numbers-mathematics-1143869\/\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc0\",\"license_terms\":\"\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-88","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":84,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-ecc-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-ecc-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-ecc-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-ecc-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/503070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-ecc-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/88\/revisions"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-ecc-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/84"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-ecc-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/88\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-ecc-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-ecc-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=88"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-ecc-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=88"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-ecc-guidetowriting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}