Significant Figures
Tags
Chem
Cegep/2
Word count
78 words
Reading time
1 minute
Meaningful digits in a measurement
Rule:
- Measurements: from leftmost nonzero digit to rightmost nonzero or decimal digit
- Exact values: infinitely precise
[!example]+
9.300 -> 4 s.f.
150 -> 2 s.f.
Operations
Addition / subtraction
Take the smallest number of decimal places
[!example] 1.342*5.5
7.4 -> 2 s.f.
Multiplication or division
Take the smallest number of significant figures
[!example] 23.445 + 7.83
31.28 -> 4 s.f.
Ajitani Hifumi