Students love digital thermometers. They are easier to read and they seem to be better because they read to 1 decimal place. Here are 3 in the same place. We say that the uncertainty in the reading is 1/2 x range and thus is 1/2 x (21.6-20.7) = 0.45 degree Celsius. So in other words, the true precision of these thermometers is to the nearest 0.5 degrees, which is the same as our old-fashioned analogue thermometers.
