Benford's Law
Syllabification: (Ben·ford's Law)
Pronunciation: /ˈbenfərdz/
Definition of Benford's Law
noun
- Mathematics the principle that in any large, randomly produced set of natural numbers, such as tables of logarithms or corporate sales statistics, around 30 percent will begin with the digit 1, 18 percent with 2, and so on, with the smallest percentage beginning with 9. The law is applied in analyzing the validity of statistics and financial records.
Origin:
Named for US physicist Frank Benford, whose 1938 paper demonstrated the statistical validity of the phenomenon