Normalization and IEEE Standard notation

Normalization- A floating-point number is normalized if the exponent is adjusted so that the mantissa has a nonzero value in its most significant digit position
What is the meaning of 'its most significant digit position'

And then, How to think of the answers of the following questions?
In IEEE Standard notation,how would each of the decimal numbers be stored?
a 51.375
b -0.1

thx

kit.kit44,

..,What is the meaning of 'its most significant digit position'

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In a number like 423, the most significant digit position is "4". It is the digit that defines the number the most. You would do well to read these links: http://steve.hollasch.net/cgindex/coding/ieeefloat.html and http://www.psc.edu/general/software/packages/ieee/ieee.php . Note how the mantissa has a implied "1" in the left-most or most significant position, and the exponent has a bias of 127 decimal.

The floating point numbers in hex represented by the IEEE Standard 754 Floating for 32 bits are: 51.375 ---> 424D8000 and -0.1 ---> BDCCCCCD .

Ratch