Use Automatic Format For Results
This option will allow the program to use maximum precision or only the statistically significant digits when formatting numbers for output rather than fixed format (F8.3). This option is useful when printing out trace element concentrations when more significant digits to the right of the decimal point are desired or when it is desirable to easily ascertain exactly how sensitive the quantitative analysis is, based on the counting statistics.
If the statistically significant automatic format output option is selected, then the program will calculate the percent error (precision) and the detection limit for each element and use this information to first format the number so that only statistically significant digits are displayed and finally it will check the value against the calculated detection limit and set the value to "n.d." (not detected) if the value is below the detection limit. This is scaled for each data type output (elemental, oxide, atomic percent and formula).
The calculation for significant digits is based on the percent analytical error as follows:
|
Percent Analytical Error |
Number of Significant Digits |
|
> 10 |
1 |
|
> 1 |
2 |
|
> 0.1 |
3 |
|
> 0.01 |
4 |
|
> 0.001 |
5 |
|
> 0.0001 |
6 |