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0.1 Significant Figure

This document provides guidelines for determining the number of significant figures in measurements and calculations. It states that 1) all non-zero digits are significant, while zeros may or may not be significant depending on their placement, 2) in addition and subtraction the result can have no more decimal places than the least precise measurement, and 3) in multiplication and division the result must have the same number of significant figures as the least precise measurement. Examples are given to illustrate these rules.

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نور روسلن
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22 views

0.1 Significant Figure

This document provides guidelines for determining the number of significant figures in measurements and calculations. It states that 1) all non-zero digits are significant, while zeros may or may not be significant depending on their placement, 2) in addition and subtraction the result can have no more decimal places than the least precise measurement, and 3) in multiplication and division the result must have the same number of significant figures as the least precise measurement. Examples are given to illustrate these rules.

Uploaded by

نور روسلن
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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GUIDELINES FOR USING

SIGNIFICANT FIGURES IN
CALCULATIONS
1
All nonzero digits are significant.
Zero may or may not be significant,
depending on how they appear in the
number

2
A) SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
1. Zeros between nonzero digits are always
significant
eg:
1006 kg (four significant figures)
1.07 cm (three significant figure)


2. Zeros at the beginning of a number are never
significant
eg :
0.024g (two significant figures)
0.0026 cm (two significant figures)

3. Zeros that fall both at the end of a number
and after the decimal point are always
significant
eg:
0.0200 g (three significant figures)
3.0 cm (two significant figure)



4. When a number ends in zeros but contain no
decimal point, the zeros may be or may not be
significant
eg :
400 cm
(one, two or three significant figures)

10300 g
(three, four or five significant figures)




(to avoid the ambiguity, 400 can be written in
exponential notation showing one, two or
three significant figures.

4 X 10
2
(one significant figure)
4.0 X 10
2
(two significant figure)
4.00 X 10
2
(three significant figure)


In addition and subtraction, the result can
have no more decimal places than the
measurement with the fewest number of
decimal places
e.g:
20.4 (one decimal places)
+ 1.322 (three decimal places)
21.722

Answer : 21.7 (one decimal places)

B) SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
IN CALCULATIONS
In multiplication and division,the result
must be reported with the same number
of significant figures as the measurement
with the fewest number of significant
figures
e.g:
15.5 (three significant figures)
x 5.4 (two significant figures)
83.7

Answer : 84 (two significant figures)
Keep in mind that the exact number
obtained from definitions or by counting
numbers of objects can be considered to
have an infinite number of significant
figures.
e.g:
a) Mass of eight objects :
0.2786 g X 8 = 2.229
(because 8 is 8.000 by definition)
b) Average of two measured length :
6.64cm + 6.68cm = 6.66cm
2
(because 2 is 2.00 by definition)

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