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I have a question regarding the correct spacing of plus-or-minus sign (±) in a specific situation.

Normally there should be a space on both sides of the sign, e.g., A ± B. If I want to express “20 percent plus or minus 3 percent” it could be 20% ± 3%. But what if I want to omit the first percentage sign for conciseness? Should it be:

  1. 20±3%, or
  2. 20 ± 3%?

I personally prefer the first one, because the second one could also mean 20(an integer) fluctuate within 3%, i.e., 19.4-20.6?

I couldn’t find the answer anywhere. Thank you in advance for answering the question.

Amelie Zhang
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    I think parentheses, rather than relying on whitespace, would be less ambiguous. I.e. $(20\pm3)$%. – hardmath Dec 19 '20 at 19:10

1 Answers1

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This is a typesetting, rather than a mathematical issue, but I'd prefer the latter, personally.

user3482749
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