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- In mathematics, the integral part (whole
- number) of a logarithm. For example, in base
- ten, 10^0 = 1, 10^1 = 10, 10^3 = 100, and so
- on; the powers to which 10 is raised are the
- characteristics. To determine the power to
- which 10 must be raised to obtain a number
- between 10 and 100, say 20, the logarithm for
- 2 is found (0.3010), and the characteristic 1
- added to make 1.3010. The fractional part (in
- this case 0.3010) is the mantissa.
-