These numbers are displayed in a popular photo on the internet these days. They are shown on a gas pump with 10.00 being the gallons of gas bought and 39.99 being the cost, presumably, then, with the cost per gallon of $3.99 and that pesky 9/10 cents.

The title of the photo is something like, “Tough OCD Decision.” But, for the engineer, this decision is simply based on one thing. What are you going to do with the data? If the engineer wishes to calculate gas mileage, keep it at 10.00 gallons. If the engineer is keeping track of costs and budgets, bump it up to $40.00.

Of course, for the engineer, it really doesn’t matter, because once any of these numbers is entered into a spreadsheet that calculates mpg or tracks spending, whether it is a round number or not matters not.

So, to sum up. Engineers enjoy a round number like the rest of the world, though not needing them like some who are insistent upon them, because, engineers have calculators and computers and spreadsheets and algorithms and apps and programs and…. well, you get the idea.