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Significant Figures

The document discusses rounding decimals to a specified number of significant digits. It provides examples of rounding various numbers like 3.14159, 1000, 1000.0, 0.00035, 0.000350, 1006, 560, 560.0 to different numbers of significant digits. It also gives examples of rounding 742,396 and 0.07284 to four, three and two significant digits and explains the process. Basic rules for determining significant digits in a number are also listed.

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Siva Raman R
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21 views3 pages

Significant Figures

The document discusses rounding decimals to a specified number of significant digits. It provides examples of rounding various numbers like 3.14159, 1000, 1000.0, 0.00035, 0.000350, 1006, 560, 560.0 to different numbers of significant digits. It also gives examples of rounding 742,396 and 0.07284 to four, three and two significant digits and explains the process. Basic rules for determining significant digits in a number are also listed.

Uploaded by

Siva Raman R
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 DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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3.

14159 has six significant digits. That is to say, all the numerals ("digits") give us useful
information.
 
MathHelp.com

Rounding Decimals

1000 has one significant digit: only the 1 is interesting (only it tells us anything specific); we
don't know anything for sure about the hundreds, tens, or units places; the zeroes may just be
placeholders; they may have rounded something off to get this value.

1000.0 has five significant digits: the ".0" tells us something interesting about the presumed
accuracy of the measurement being made; namly, that the measurement is accurate to the
tenths place, but that there happen to be zero tenths.

0.00035 has two significant digits: only the 3 and 5 tell us something; the other zeroes are
placeholders, only providing information about relative size.

0.000350 has three significant digits: the last zero tells us that the measurement was made
accurate to that last digit, which just happened to have a value of zero.

1006 has four significant digits: the 1 and 6 are interesting, and we have to count the zeroes,
because they're between the two interesting numbers.

560 has two significant digits: the last zero is just a placeholder.

560. : notice that "point" after the zero! This has three significant digits, because the decimal
point tells us that the measurement was made to the nearest unit, so the zero is not just a
placeholder.
560.0 has four significant digits: the zero in the tenths place means that the measurement was
made accurate to the tenths place, and that there just happen to be zero tenths;
the 5 and 6 give useful information, and the other zero is between significant digits, and must
therefore also be counted.

 Round 742,396  to four, three, and two significant digits:


To do my rounding, I have to start with the first significant digit, which is the 7. Then I count
to the right from there. The first four significant digits of 742,396 are the 7, the 4, the 2, and
the 3. Just to the right of the 3 is a 9. Because this value is "5 or greater", I have to round
the 3 up to 4. I replace the remaining digits (the 9 and the 6) with zeroes. Then:

742,400 (four significant digits)

To round 742,396 to three places, I start again with the 7 and include the next two digits,
being the 4 and the 2. Since the next digit is a 3, which is "less than 5", I leave the 2 alone; I
don't round up. I replace the three digits after the comma with zeroes. Then:

742,000 (three significant digits)

To round 742,396 to two places, I use only the first two digits, which are followed by a 2, so I
don't round up. Instead, I just replace the final four digits with zeroes, to get:

740,000 (two significant digits)

n with the 7 and include the next two digits, being the 4 and the 2. Since the next digit is a 3,
which is "less than 5", I leave the 2 alone; I don't round up. I replace the three digits after the
comma with zeroes. Then:

742,000 (three significant digits)

To round 742,396 to two places, I use only the first two digits, which are followed by a 2, so I
don't round up. Instead, I just replace the final four digits with zeroes, to get:

740,000 (two significant digits)

 Round 0.07284  to four, three, and two significant digits:


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To round 0.07284 to four significant digits, I start with the first significant digit, which is
the 7. (The zero between the decimal point and the 7 is not significant, as it serves only to
"place" the 7 into the hundreds place. It provides no information about the accuracy of the
following digits.) There are only three more digits, so all of them will be included in my
answer. Since no digit follows the 4, there is no information about rounding, so I'll just leave
the 4 as it is.

0.07284 (four sig-digs)

When rounding 0.07284 to three sig-digs, the final sig-dig is the 8, which is followed by
the 4. Since 4 is less than 5, I won't round up. Because these sig-digs are after the decimal
point, I will not replace the 4 with a zero. If I tacked a zero after the 8, I would be adding an
improper digit, as it would be "significant" (according to the rules) but wrong (according to
the original number they gave me). Instead, I drop that last digit entirely. Then:

0.0728 (three sig-digs)

To round 0.07284 to two sig-digs, I use the 7 and the 2. Since the 2 is followed by an 8, I'll
round the 2 up to 3; I'll drop everything that follows.

0.073 (two sig-digs)

1. Non-zero digits are always significant


2. Zeros between non-zero digits are always significant
3. Leading zeros are never significant
4. Trailing zeros are only significant if the number contains a decimal point

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