2170: Coordinate Precision - Revision history

81.179.199.253: Refixing the 'fix' that managed to move the '9 digit' row (partially) before the '7 digit' one. I think OP just wanted a line-feed between the prior statement and this one.

2026-05-15T18:30:53Z

Refixing the 'fix' that managed to move the '9 digit' row (partially) before the '7 digit' one. I think OP just wanted a line-feed between the prior statement and this one.

SomebodyElse: /* Chart */ WHOOOPS - placed in wrong area

2026-05-15T11:07:40Z

‎Chart: WHOOOPS - placed in wrong area

SomebodyElse: /* Chart */ linking to Geocaching

2026-05-15T11:05:51Z

‎Chart: linking to Geocaching

Graham87: /* Explanation */ copyedit

2026-03-19T05:31:16Z

‎Explanation: copyedit

172.70.110.32: /* Explanation */

2025-03-14T16:17:07Z

‎Explanation

172.70.110.33: /* Explanation */

2025-03-14T16:16:50Z

‎Explanation

172.70.110.32: /* Explanation */

2025-03-14T16:16:30Z

‎Explanation

172.68.186.60: /* Explanation */ Typo!

2024-10-10T23:17:41Z

‎Explanation: Typo!

172.69.134.28: /* Explanation */

2023-10-23T04:56:17Z

‎Explanation

172.69.134.29: /* Explanation */

2023-10-23T04:55:48Z

‎Explanation

@@ Line 71: / Line 71: @@
 | The [https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/-/media/DNC/KSCVC/Blog-Images/Rocket-Garden/rocket-garden-with-labels.ashx?h=860&w=1173&la=en&hash=7B9ADC7AFF5370E462AC98D9651945B806B77B2C Thor-Delta] rocket in Rocket Garden
 | As the comic notes, the differences between {{w|geodetic datum}}s – different ways to map geodetic coordinates to specific points on the Earth's surface – become large enough that one needs to specify the one in use when supplying coordinates to this degree of precision (or greater, of course). Since the Earth is not a perfect ellipsoid, different parts of the planet conform best to ellipsoids of slightly different proportions, resulting in different coordinates for a specific location; not to mention that locally used datums have local reference points, which means that the local and global standards are slowly drifting away from each other with the tectonical plates.
-Note that the comment in the comic concerns only the {{w|North American Datum|NAD 1983}} datum which is fairly close to the international, “one size fits all” standard {{w|WGS-84}}. Other datums may be shifted by tens or even hundreds of meters (yards), making geodetic datum specification necessary for less precise coordinates as well. {{w|Geocaching}} uses seven numbers, five decimal places, for precision, although it can only really be trusted to five or six (three or four decimal places).
+Note that the comment in the comic concerns only the {{w|North American Datum|NAD 1983}} datum which is fairly close to the international, “one size fits all” standard {{w|WGS-84}}. Other datums may be shifted by tens or even hundreds of meters (yards), making geodetic datum specification necessary for less precise coordinates as well.
 |-
 | 7
@@ Line 82: / Line 79: @@
 | This refers to ''{{w|Where's Wally?|Where's Waldo?}}'', a series of books and magazines containing various scenes (densely packed with people) where one must find Waldo, a character wearing a red and white striped shirt. In the puzzles, he usually stands less than 2 cm (1 in) tall.
 Finding Waldo on a page using satellites was also referenced in [[1358:_NRO|#1358]].
 | A specific grain of sand
 | rowspan=3 | N/A

@@ Line 71: / Line 71: @@
 | The [https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/-/media/DNC/KSCVC/Blog-Images/Rocket-Garden/rocket-garden-with-labels.ashx?h=860&w=1173&la=en&hash=7B9ADC7AFF5370E462AC98D9651945B806B77B2C Thor-Delta] rocket in Rocket Garden
 | As the comic notes, the differences between {{w|geodetic datum}}s – different ways to map geodetic coordinates to specific points on the Earth's surface – become large enough that one needs to specify the one in use when supplying coordinates to this degree of precision (or greater, of course). Since the Earth is not a perfect ellipsoid, different parts of the planet conform best to ellipsoids of slightly different proportions, resulting in different coordinates for a specific location; not to mention that locally used datums have local reference points, which means that the local and global standards are slowly drifting away from each other with the tectonical plates.
-Note that the comment in the comic concerns only the {{w|North American Datum|NAD 1983}} datum which is fairly close to the international, “one size fits all” standard {{w|WGS-84}}. Other datums may be shifted by tens or even hundreds of meters (yards), making geodetic datum specification necessary for less precise coordinates as well.
+Note that the comment in the comic concerns only the {{w|North American Datum|NAD 1983}} datum which is fairly close to the international, “one size fits all” standard {{w|WGS-84}}. Other datums may be shifted by tens or even hundreds of meters (yards), making geodetic datum specification necessary for less precise coordinates as well. {{w|Geocaching}} uses seven numbers, five decimal places, for precision, although it can only really be trusted to five or six (three or four decimal places).
 |-
 | 7
@@ Line 79: / Line 82: @@
 | This refers to ''{{w|Where's Wally?|Where's Waldo?}}'', a series of books and magazines containing various scenes (densely packed with people) where one must find Waldo, a character wearing a red and white striped shirt. In the puzzles, he usually stands less than 2 cm (1 in) tall.
 Finding Waldo on a page using satellites was also referenced in [[1358:_NRO|#1358]].
 | A specific grain of sand
 | rowspan=3 | N/A

@@ Line 79: / Line 79: @@
 | This refers to ''{{w|Where's Wally?|Where's Waldo?}}'', a series of books and magazines containing various scenes (densely packed with people) where one must find Waldo, a character wearing a red and white striped shirt. In the puzzles, he usually stands less than 2 cm (1 in) tall.
 Finding Waldo on a page using satellites was also referenced in [[1358:_NRO|#1358]].
 |-
 | 9

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 This cartoon gives increasingly precise latitude and longitude coordinates for a location on the planet Earth. However, a given pair of coordinates covers a trapezoidal region of land, and thus leaves some ambiguity; therefore, greater precision requires an increasing count of decimal places in your coordinates. This comic uses this information to roughly identify how precise a given coordinate length might be.
-The increasing precision of coordinates in this cartoon are similar to the increasing magnification in the short documentary {{w|Powers of Ten (film)|"Powers of 10,"}} which can be found [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0 here].  (Also parodied in [[271: Powers of One]]).
+The increasing precision of coordinates in this cartoon is similar to the increasing magnification in the short documentary {{w|Powers of Ten (film)|"Powers of 10,"}} which can be found [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0 here].  (Also parodied in [[271: Powers of One]]).
 The coordinates at [https://tools.wmflabs.org/geohack/geohack.php?pagename=Cape_Canaveral&params=28.52345_N_80.68309_W_type:landmark_region:US-FL_scale:10000 28.52345°N, 80.68309°W] (in {{w|decimal degrees}} form; in {{w|geographic coordinate system}} form using degrees, minutes, and seconds, 28° 31′ 24.4″N, 80° 40′ 59.1″W) are pointing to the {{w|Rocket Garden}} at the {{w|Kennedy Space Center}} in {{w|Merritt Island, Florida}} —specifically, the tip of the [https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/-/media/DNC/KSCVC/Blog-Images/Rocket-Garden/rocket-garden-with-labels.ashx?h=860&w=1173&la=en&hash=7B9ADC7AFF5370E462AC98D9651945B806B77B2C Delta] rocket.

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 This cartoon gives increasingly precise latitude and longitude coordinates for a location on the planet Earth. However, a given pair of coordinates covers a trapezoidal region of land, and thus leaves some ambiguity; therefore, greater precision requires an increasing count of decimal places in your coordinates. This comic uses this information to roughly identify how precise a given coordinate length might be.
-The increasing precision of coordinates in this cartoon are similar to the increasing magnification in the short documentary {{w|Powers of Ten (film)|"Powers of 10,"}} which can be found [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0 here].  (Also parodied in [[271|271:Powers of One]]).
+The increasing precision of coordinates in this cartoon are similar to the increasing magnification in the short documentary {{w|Powers of Ten (film)|"Powers of 10,"}} which can be found [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0 here].  (Also parodied in [[271: Powers of One]]).
 The coordinates at [https://tools.wmflabs.org/geohack/geohack.php?pagename=Cape_Canaveral&params=28.52345_N_80.68309_W_type:landmark_region:US-FL_scale:10000 28.52345°N, 80.68309°W] (in {{w|decimal degrees}} form; in {{w|geographic coordinate system}} form using degrees, minutes, and seconds, 28° 31′ 24.4″N, 80° 40′ 59.1″W) are pointing to the {{w|Rocket Garden}} at the {{w|Kennedy Space Center}} in {{w|Merritt Island, Florida}} —specifically, the tip of the [https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/-/media/DNC/KSCVC/Blog-Images/Rocket-Garden/rocket-garden-with-labels.ashx?h=860&w=1173&la=en&hash=7B9ADC7AFF5370E462AC98D9651945B806B77B2C Delta] rocket.

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 The coordinates at [https://tools.wmflabs.org/geohack/geohack.php?pagename=Cape_Canaveral&params=28.52345_N_80.68309_W_type:landmark_region:US-FL_scale:10000 28.52345°N, 80.68309°W] (in {{w|decimal degrees}} form; in {{w|geographic coordinate system}} form using degrees, minutes, and seconds, 28° 31′ 24.4″N, 80° 40′ 59.1″W) are pointing to the {{w|Rocket Garden}} at the {{w|Kennedy Space Center}} in {{w|Merritt Island, Florida}} —specifically, the tip of the [https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/-/media/DNC/KSCVC/Blog-Images/Rocket-Garden/rocket-garden-with-labels.ashx?h=860&w=1173&la=en&hash=7B9ADC7AFF5370E462AC98D9651945B806B77B2C Delta] rocket.
-The sixth entry in the table, with seven digits of precision, includes the caveat that, while your coordinates map to areas small enough on the Earth's surface to indicate pointing to a specific person in a room, "since you didn't include datum information, we can't tell who". This is a reference to the ''{{w|geodetic datum}}'' or ''geodetic system'' — different ways of dealing with the fact that the Earth is neither perfectly spherical nor perfectly an oblong ellipsoid. The various datums do not make much difference at six digits of precision, but at seven, there is enough skew depending on which system is in use that the person in a room you are referring to with the coordinates is ambiguous. It is unstated, but the remaining lines in the table with ever-greater precision suffer from this same issue and are equally ambiguous without datum information.
+The sixth entry in the table, with seven digits of precision, includes the caveat that, while your coordinates map to areas small enough on the Earth's surface to indicate pointing to a specific person in a room, "since you didn't include datum information, we can't tell who". This is a reference to the ''{{w|geodetic datum}}'' or ''geodetic system'' — different ways of dealing with the fact that the Earth is neither perfectly spherical nor perfectly an oblate ellipsoid. The various datums do not make much difference at six digits of precision, but at seven, there is enough skew depending on which system is in use that the person in a room you are referring to with the coordinates is ambiguous. It is unstated, but the remaining lines in the table with ever-greater precision suffer from this same issue and are equally ambiguous without datum information.
 The final entry, with seventeen digits of precision, suggests that either the user is referring to individual atoms in the much-larger-scale whole-Earth coordinate system, or (perhaps more likely) has not bothered to format the values from the GPS module for viewing in the software UI in any way whatsoever, resulting in a value that is {{w|False precision|meaninglessly precise}} because the measurement wasn't that {{w|Accuracy and precision|accurate}} to begin with. See [[2696: Precision vs Accuracy]]. Even if the value is accurate, locating individual atoms by coordinates is not actually useful in most cases, and the motions of multiple systems within our physical world (continental drift, subtle vibrations, {{w|Brownian motion}}, etc.) would render the precise value obsolete rather quickly.

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
 The sixth entry in the table, with seven digits of precision, includes the caveat that, while your coordinates map to areas small enough on the Earth's surface to indicate pointing to a specific person in a room, "since you didn't include datum information, we can't tell who". This is a reference to the ''{{w|geodetic datum}}'' or ''geodetic system'' — different ways of dealing with the fact that the Earth is neither perfectly spherical nor perfectly an oblong ellipsoid. The various datums do not make much difference at six digits of precision, but at seven, there is enough skew depending on which system is in use that the person in a room you are referring to with the coordinates is ambiguous. It is unstated, but the remaining lines in the table with ever-greater precision suffer from this same issue and are equally ambiguous without datum information.
-The final entry, with seventeen digits of precision, suggests that either the user is referring to individual atoms in the much-larger-scale whole-Earth coordinate system, or (perhaps more likely) has not bothered to format the values from the GPS module for viewing in the software UI in any way whatsoever, resulting in a value that is {{w|False precision|meaninglessly precise}} because the measurement wasn't that {{w|Accuracy and precision|accurate}} to begin with. See [[Accuracy and Precision]]. Even if the value is accurate, locating individual atoms by coordinates is not actually useful in most cases, and the motions of multiple systems within our physical world (continental drift, subtle vibrations, {{w|Brownian motion}}, etc.) would render the precise value obsolete rather quickly.
+The final entry, with seventeen digits of precision, suggests that either the user is referring to individual atoms in the much-larger-scale whole-Earth coordinate system, or (perhaps more likely) has not bothered to format the values from the GPS module for viewing in the software UI in any way whatsoever, resulting in a value that is {{w|False precision|meaninglessly precise}} because the measurement wasn't that {{w|Accuracy and precision|accurate}} to begin with. See [[2696: Precision vs Accuracy]]. Even if the value is accurate, locating individual atoms by coordinates is not actually useful in most cases, and the motions of multiple systems within our physical world (continental drift, subtle vibrations, {{w|Brownian motion}}, etc.) would render the precise value obsolete rather quickly.
 For the decimal places past the 5th on the latitude, the digits given are actually the first part of the decimal expansion of the constant ''e'' (2.7182818284), while for the decimal places past the 5th on the longitude, the digits given are part of the decimal expansion of the constant ''π'' (3.14159265358) starting with the second digit (4).