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Math Learning Stations

The document provides information about scientific notation and significant figures. It includes the following key points: Scientific notation is used to express very large or small numbers in a way that is easier to work with. It involves writing a number as the product of a numeric value between 1 and 10 and a power of 10. Rules for significant figures specify that only non-zero digits and trailing zeros are significant. Calculations with measurements must be carried out and rounded off in a way that preserves the least number of significant figures among the values used. Dimensional analysis uses conversion factors to solve measurement problems by analyzing the units.

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Shrey Mahida
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
86 views

Math Learning Stations

The document provides information about scientific notation and significant figures. It includes the following key points: Scientific notation is used to express very large or small numbers in a way that is easier to work with. It involves writing a number as the product of a numeric value between 1 and 10 and a power of 10. Rules for significant figures specify that only non-zero digits and trailing zeros are significant. Calculations with measurements must be carried out and rounded off in a way that preserves the least number of significant figures among the values used. Dimensional analysis uses conversion factors to solve measurement problems by analyzing the units.

Uploaded by

Shrey Mahida
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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LEARNING STATION#1

Scientific Notation:
Numbers in science are often very large or very small. To avoid confusion,
we use scientific notation. Scientific notation utilizes the numeric digits in
a measurement followed by a power of ten. The numeric digits are
expressed as a
number
between 1 and 10.

Applying Scientific Notation:

1. There are 26,800,000,000,000,000,000,000 helium atoms in 1.00 L of


helium gas. Express the number in scientific notation.

2. The typical length between two carbon atoms in a molecule of benzene is


0.000000140 m. What is the length expressed in scientific notation?
3. Convert the following numbers to scientific notation:
1. 378000 2. 0.00934 3. 0.000000983 4. 1.9284 5.
34.903

4. converting the given scientific notation to the correct standard


form:
1. 1.493 x 105 2. 2.908 x 10-4 3. 3.90284 x 102 4. 1.333 x 10-1
5. 6.0000009 x 10 7
LEARNING STATION#2

1.
LEARNING STATION#3
In an attempt to get away from the mathematical burden of uncertainties, scientists
have gone to the use of established rules for significant digits that have greatly
simplified calculations. These rules are:

1. Significant numbers are always measurements and thus should always be


accompanied by the
measurement's unit. For simplicity, units are not included in the following examples.

2. Any numbers (that are measurements) other than zero are significant. (Many times
the zeros are also significant as you will see below.) Thus 123.45 contains five
significant digits.

3. Any zeros between numbers are significant, thus 1002.05 contains six significant
digits.
4. Unless told differently, all zeros to the left of an understood decimal point (a decimal
that is not printed) but to the right of the last number are not significant. The number
921000 contains three significant digits.

5. Any zeros to the left of a number but to the right of a decimal point are not significant.
921000. has six significant digits.
6. These zeros are present merely to indicate the presence of a decimal point (they are
used as place holders), (these zeros are not part of the measurement). The
number 0.00123 has three significant digits. The reason that these zeros are not
significant is that the measurement 0.00123 grams is equal in magnitude to the
measurement 1.23 milligrams. 1.23 has three significant digits, thus 0.0123 must
also have three significant digits.

7. Any zeros to the right of a number and the right of a decimal point are significant.
The value 0.012300 and 25.000 both contain five significant digits. The reason for
this is that significant figures indicate to what place a measurement is made. Thus
the measurement 25.0 grams tells us that the measurement was made to the tenths
place. (The accuracy of the scale is to the tenths place.)
1. Give the number of significant digits in each of the following measurements:
1. 1278.50 __________ 3. 8.002 __________ 5. 43.050 ___
2. 120000 __________ 4. 823.012 __________ 6. 0.147 ___

2. Round off the following numbers:


(a) 2.778 to 3 significant digits:
(b) 0.0035 to 1 significant digit:
(c) 234567 to 4 significant digits:
(d) 3.4020 to 4 significant digits:
(e) 26.70 to 3 significant digits:
LEARNING STATION#3

Significant figures in derived quantities (Calculations)


In all calculations, the answer must be governed by the least significant
figure employed.

ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION: The answer should be rounded off so as


to contain the same number of decimal places as the number with the least
number of decimal places. In other words, an answer can be only as
accurate as the number with the least accuracy.
Thus: 11.31 + 33.264 + 4.1 = 48.674 Rounded off to 48.7

MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION: The answer should be rounded off to


contain the same number of digits as found in the LEAST accurate of the
values.
Thus: 5.282 x 3.42 = 18.06444 Rounded off to 18.1

3. Perform the following operations giving the proper number of


significant figures in the answer:

a. 23.4 x 14 ________ d. 0.005 - 0.0007


___________
b. 7.895 + 3.4 _________ e. 7.895 / 34 _______
c. 0.0945 x 1.47 _________ f. 0.2 / 0.0005
__________

4. Carry out the following operations and round to the correct


number of significant digits.

a. 0.006 m2 / 0.2 m =

b. 2.89 cm x 4.01 cm =

c. 5.0 mm x 5.0 mm =

d. 5 mm x 5 mm =

e. 289 g – 43.7 g =
EARNING STATION#4
CONVERTING UNITS – DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS

We can solve mathematical problems using many different methods. One very
successful and easy to understand (hopefully!) method is called Dimensional
Analysis.
In this method, the dimensions or units of the measurements are analyzed in
the calculations. If the final units make sense, then the problem has probably
been solved correctly.
This method of problem solving uses Conversion Factors.
A conversion factor is a fraction that is equal to the number 1.
Remember, a fraction is equal to 1 if the numerator is equal to the
denominator.
xamples of conversion factors:
1 min , 1 km , 24 h , 1000 mg
60 s 1000 m 1d 1g

NOTE: 1) Any conversion factor can be inverted and it will still be a


conversion factor.
2) Units of measurements can be factored out when doing
calculations just as numbers can.

e.g. 360 s x
1 min = 6 min
60 s
SOLVING PROBLEMS USING DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS

Answer wanted = given information x conversion factor(s)


Examples:
1) Suppose you wish to cut a rope into pieces of identical length. Each piece
must be 30 cm long. The length of the rope is 540 cm. How many pieces
can be obtained?
Let X pieces be the number of pieces obtained.

answer wanted given conversion factor


X pieces = 540 cm x 1 piece
30 cm
= 18 pieces (answer)

2) How many seconds are there in 2 weeks?


X s = 2.0 wks x 7 d x 24 h x 60 min x 60 s
1 wk 1d 1h 1 min
= 1.2 x 10 s
6
Use dimensional analysis in solving each of the following problems.

1. Convert 14 mm to its equivalent in m.

2. Convert 35 kg to its equivalent in g.

3. Convert 57 mL to its equivalent in L.

4. Convert a speed of 88 m/s to its equivalent in cm/s.

5. Convert a density of 9.45 g/L to its equivalent in g/mL.

6. The density of mercury metal is 13.6 g/mL. What is the mass of 3.55 mL of the
metal?

7. The density of lead is 11.3 g/mL. What is the mass of 45 mL of the metal?

8. The density of table salt, NaCl, is 2.16 g/mL. What is the mass of 100.0 mL of this
solid?

9. A particle moves through a gas at a speed of 15 km/s. How far will it move in 5.5 s?

10. A mole of copper contains 6.02 X 1023 atoms. How many atoms are there in 0.525
moles?

11. A solution of barium nitrate contains 61.2 g per liter of solution. How many grams of
barium nitrate is contained in 2.75 L of this solution?

12. A sample of seawater contains 0.000245 g of sodium chloride per mL of solution.


How much sodium chloride is contained in 50.0 mL of this solution?
LEARNING STATION#5
Notes on Tables:
The first row/column generally contains the ___________ variable and will be plotted on
the x-axis.

The second row/column generally contains the __________ variable and will be plotted
on the y-axis.

Table 1: Distance travelled over time.


Time (h) 0 1 2 3 4
Distance (km) 0 60 120 180 240

What is happening to the values for x?


________________________
What is happening to the values for y?
________________________

Fill in the blank:


x is _________________ by _________ as
y is _________________ by _________ .

x
Explain the relationship shown by these graphs:
A. B.

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