Subnormal Number

For a particular format in the IEEE 754-2008 framework, a subnormal number is a nonzero floating-point number with magnitude less than the magnitude of that formatÕs smallest normal number. As a result, a subnormal number in a given format fails to use the full precision available to normal numbers of the same format.

See also

Arithmetic, Biased Exponent, Floating-Point Algebra, Floating-Point Arithmetic, Floating-Point Exponent, Floating-Point Normal Number, Floating-Point Number, Floating-Point Preferred Exponent, Floating-Point Quantum, Floating-Point Representation, IEEE 754-2008, Interval Arithmetic, NaN, Quiet NaN, Signaling NaN, Significand, Subnormal

This entry contributed by Christopher Stover

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References

IEEE Computer Society. "IEEE Standard for Floating-Point Arithmetic: IEEE Std 754-2008 (Revision of IEEE Std 754-1985)." 2008. http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/articleDetails.jsp?arnumber=4610935.

Cite this as:

Stover, Christopher. "Subnormal Number." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource, created by Eric W. Weisstein. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/SubnormalNumber.html

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