Float variable via the serial monitor

Projects Programming
1

Hello,
I am writing some code to measure the loop current in a 4-20mA control loop. Everything is working well, except the float I send to the serial monitor is only two digits after the decimal, i.e. "8.92". Never 1 place, never 3 places, always 2.
I have tried a number of things to increase the number of places to the right of the decimal, but so far no luck. Why does this always spit out x.xx?

Here is the snippet that does the analog read and prints the result. (Note, the steps that multiply and divide val2 are just some things I am using to keep straight in my head how the value is processed. I know I could do it in one step).

int analogPin = A3;

int val = 0; // variable to store the value read

float val2 = 0.000;

// the setup function runs once when you press reset or power the board
void setup() {

Serial.begin(115200); // setup serial

}

// the loop function runs over and over again forever
void loop() {

val = analogRead(analogPin); // read the input pin

val2=val*12.350;

val2=val2/1000.000;

val2=val2*2.000;

Serial.println(val2); // debug value

}

2 
  Serial.println(val2, 5);          // debug value

Now?

(This isn't some undocumented feature, BTW)

4

TheMemberFormerlyKnownAsAWOL:
  Serial.println(val2, 5);          // debug value
Now?

@OP

Are you getting 5 digits after the decimal point? If so, try the following:

  Serial.println(val2, 2);          // debug value

How many digits are you getting after the decimal points? 2? Yes!

Try the following code, again:

  Serial.println(val2);          // debug value

How many digits are you getting after the decimal points? 2? Yes!

Conclusion: Serial.println(arg1, arg2) method takes two arguments -- arg1 and arg2. If arg1 is a float number, then arg2 is the numbers of digits after the decimal point (called precision). If arg1 is a float number and arg2 is missing, then the default precision is 2-digit.

Try the following code:

byte val2 = 147; //0x93;
Serial.println(val2, 2);

What are you getting? 10010011? Yes?

What is your conclusion?