Download Lesson 4: Quantitative and Numerical Expressions How to write

At every stage of your career, your priorities change in
your research writing. If after initially completing the
training, you wish to take any select lessons from this
training in future, visit the link ‘Lesson-based Learning’
on our website www.p3r.in or write to us at
[email protected], and look for lesson- based learning
options.
Module 1: Introduction to Scientific Communication
Lesson 4: Quantitative and Numerical Expressions
How to write number in scientific writing
The way in which numbers are written can impact the interpretation of a
sentence. You need to follow the rules, mentioned in the table below
while writing numbers in scientific writing:
Rule name
Example
Word form of numbers
Three out of seven samples turned red.
Plural form of numbers
We interviewed people who had retired in the 1980s.
Numbers in lists
Twenty-five species of bacteria, fifteen species of
fungi and two species of algae.
Hyphens in numbers
Forty-two samples were discarded.
Measurements or calculations
We dissolved 6 µg of sample in 1 ml of distilled
water.
Fractions
The anomaly was limited to two-thirds of the total
population.
Ratios
The ratio of producers to non-producers was 12:7.
Dates
Dolly, the first cloned mammal, was born on 5 July
1996.
Numerical ranges
We added sample A in columns 1 – 4 and sample B in
columns 5 – 8.
Very large or very small numbers
The number of molecules was 3.12 × 1011.
Percentages
Thirty-three percent to thirty-nine percent of the
animals typically are non-inhalers.
Mathematical symbols
It is a function of sin θ.
Mathematical formulas
If x is a real number, then x2 ≥ 0.
Module 1: Introduction to Scientific Communication