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Sig Fig, Rounding & Scientific Notation WS

This document provides information on significant figures, rounding, and scientific notation. It defines significant figures and gives rules for determining them in measurements. It explains how to round numbers to the proper number of significant figures after calculations based on whether the following digit is less than, greater than, or equal to 5. The document also outlines rules for carrying uncertainty through mathematical operations like multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction based on significant figures or decimal places. Finally, it demonstrates how to convert values between standard and scientific notation.

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33 views2 pages

Sig Fig, Rounding & Scientific Notation WS

This document provides information on significant figures, rounding, and scientific notation. It defines significant figures and gives rules for determining them in measurements. It explains how to round numbers to the proper number of significant figures after calculations based on whether the following digit is less than, greater than, or equal to 5. The document also outlines rules for carrying uncertainty through mathematical operations like multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction based on significant figures or decimal places. Finally, it demonstrates how to convert values between standard and scientific notation.

Uploaded by

Sponge
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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Significant Figures, Rounding and Scientific Notation

Worksheet
Significant Figures:
• Use significant figures to deal with uncertainty in numbers and calculations.

Rules:
(a) All non-zero integers are considered significant. ( 5.56 ---> 3 sig figs)
(b) zero integers depends on the position within the number:
(1) Leading Zero: Not significant (only positions the decimal point). (0.0041 -----> 2 sf)
(2) Captive Zero: Significant (14.301 ------> 5 sf).
(3) Trailing Zero: Significant only if decimal is present.
(250.40 ------> 5 sf, 3750 ------> 3 sf)
(c) Exact Numbers: contain unlimited significant figures by definition.
(i.e.: 3 vipers, 21 students, etc.)

Rounding
• Need to round the final answer in calculations to reflect the proper # of sig figs.

Rules: If the number following the last significant digit allowed in the answer is:
(1) less than 5 ------> keep the last sf digit the same and do not round up.
(2) greater than 5 -----> round the last sf digit up.
(3) exactly equal to 5 -----> make the last sf digit even (leave alone or round up)

Calculations using Significant Figures


* The rules for carrying uncertainty through mathematical calculations involve significant figures
and depend on the type of calculation being performed:

Multiplication or Division:
• The final answer is limited to the same # of sig figs as the value with the fewest # of sig figs
used in the calculation.

Addition, Subtraction and Averages:


• The final answer is limited to the same # of decimal places as the value with the fewest # of
decimal places used in the calculation.

• When doing calculations, it's most accurate to round only the final answer (but can be trickier to follow sf's).
It is always a good idea to indicate more than the correct number of significant figures in an
intermediate result, before you round off the number. To do so, you draw a vertical dashed line
separating the significant digits from the extra non-significant digits.

i.e.: To represent 3 sig figs, 1.06¦77 g

Scientific Notation
• Used for ease in dealing with very large or small numbers. Converts it into a number between 1 and 10
times a power of ten: i.e.: value x 10n
* All non – significant digits are removed from the value when converted to scientific notation

57,000,000,000,000 = 5.7 x 10,000,000,000,000 = 5.7 x 10 13

0.000035 = 3.5 x 10–5 5000 = 5 x 103

• If decimal is moved to the left -----> + exponent of 10


• If decimal is moved to the right -----> – exponent of 10
Problems:

1) Determine the number of significant figures in the following values:

a) 140.74 mL ---------> f) aardvarks--------->

b) 0.0041 g ---------> g) 3.70 x 1014 pg --------->

c) 31.00 mm ---------> h) 1.05 x 1012 --------->

d) 1300 nm ---------> i) 7.0400 x 103 m --------->

e) 847.040 lb ---------> j) 2495 miles -------->

2) Round the following values to 3 significant figures:

a) 3.76411 ------> f) 0.0411984 ------>

b) 3.76811 ------> g) 150.6142 ------>

c) 3.76511 ------> h) 0.013877 ------->

d) 11.048176 ------> i) 4.88223 x 109 ------>

e) 8.75510 ------> j) 2.0097 x 10–12 ----->

3) Perform the following unitless calculations and round the final answer to the proper number of sig figs:

a) 18.7644 – 3.472 + 0.4101 = f) 0.87 + 4.061 + 10.4 =

b) 17.441 ÷ 3 = g) 16 x 841.4 ÷ 16.300 =

c) 14.044 + 8.11 + 3.4 = h) 21.01 x 2.0 =

d) 3.41 – 0.086652 =

e) Calculate the average of the following set of values: 18.4, 12.99, 13.772 and 9.704

4) Convert the following values into scientific notation, or if given in scientific notation, convert back
to a regular number:

a) 47,000 -----> b) 0.0008 -----> c) 675,000,000 ----->

d) 157,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 -----> e) 0.0000003407 ----->

d) 7.66 x 10–2 -----> e) 7.8 x 105 -----> h) 4.75 x 10–4 ----->

f) 6 x 10–3 -----> g) 9x 108 ----->

j) 6.022 x 1023 (a mole) ----->

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