what does pd to numeric function do in pandas

# convert all columns of DataFrame
df = df.apply(pd.to_numeric) # convert all columns of DataFrame

# convert just columns "a" and "b"
df[["a", "b"]] = df[["a", "b"]].apply(pd.to_numeric)

>>> s = pd.Series(["8", 6, "7.5", 3, "0.9"]) # mixed string and numeric values
>>> s
0      8
1      6
2    7.5
3      3
4    0.9
dtype: object

>>> pd.to_numeric(s) # convert everything to float values
0    8.0
1    6.0
2    7.5
3    3.0
4    0.9
dtype: float64

pd.to_numeric(ser, downcast ='signed') 

# importing pandas module  
import pandas as pd  
    
  
# get first ten 'numbers' 
ser = pd.Series(['Geeks', 11, 22.7, 33]) 
  
pd.to_numeric(ser, errors ='coerce') 

# importing pandas module  
import pandas as pd  
    
  
# get first ten 'numbers' 
ser = pd.Series(['Geeks', 11, 22.7, 33]) 
  
pd.to_numeric(ser, errors ='ignore')