How can different formats for numerical values impact the outcome of calculations in PHP?

Different formats for numerical values can impact the outcome of calculations in PHP because PHP may interpret them differently based on their format. To ensure consistent and accurate calculations, it's important to standardize the format of numerical values before performing any calculations.

// Example code snippet to standardize numerical values before calculations
$num1 = "10";
$num2 = "20.5";

// Convert numerical values to float for accurate calculations
$standard_num1 = (float)$num1;
$standard_num2 = (float)$num2;

// Perform calculations using standardized numerical values
$result = $standard_num1 + $standard_num2;

echo $result; // Output: 30.5