Intuitive considerations clarifying the origin and applicability of the Benford law

G. Whyman; E. Shulzinger; Ed Bormashenko

doi:10.1016/j.rinp.2015.11.010

Intuitive considerations clarifying the origin and applicability of the Benford law

G. Whyman, E. Shulzinger, Ed Bormashenko

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

The diverse applications of the Benford law attract investigators working in various fields of physics, biology and sociology. At the same time, the groundings of the Benford law remain obscure. Our paper demonstrates that the Benford law arises from the positional (place-value) notation accepted for representing various sets of data. An alternative to Benford formulae to predict the distribution of digits in statistical data is derived. Application of these formulae to the statistical analysis of infrared spectra of polymers is presented. Violations of the Benford Law are discussed.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	3-6
Number of pages	4
Journal	Results in Physics
Volume	6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rinp.2015.11.010
State	Published - 2016

Keywords

Benford's law
Infrared spectra
Leading digit phenomenon
Positional notation
Statistical data

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10.1016/j.rinp.2015.11.010

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KW - Infrared spectra

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Intuitive considerations clarifying the origin and applicability of the Benford law

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Keywords

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