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Significant Figures

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Please read before you come for the next lesson Additional Notes on significant figures

When we use an equipment to take measurement, it is important to be honest when reporting a measurement, so that it does not appear to be more accurate than the equipment used to make the measurement allows. To achieve this, we can control the number of significant figures used to report the measurement.

When we look at a number, its first significant figure is the first digit from the left, other than 0.
E.g. - in the number 539 the first significant figure is 5
- in the number 0.06189 the first significant figure is 6

The number of significant figures is the number of digits …show more content…

fig. 1 sig. fig. 14.991 5 sig. fig. 5 sig. fig = 0.000734 = 0.0007 (1 s.f.)
Example 6: = 0.0007 i.e. 1 sig. fig.

Example 7: = 1.999 i.e. 4 sig. fig. Explanation for Example 7 (14.991 + 14.98) 2 decimal places 4 sig. fig. 4 sig. fig. 14.991 5 sig. fig. 5 sig. fig = 1.999266226 = 1.999

Example 8: = 19 i.e. 2 sig. fig. Explanation for Example 8 0.7761 X 22.1 3 sig. fig. 3 sig. fig. 2 sig. fig. 49.89 – 49.01 2 decimal places 2 sig. fig = 19.49069318 = 19

Example 9: = 6 i.e. 0 decimal place Explanation for Example 9 In this situation, we do not add first before multiplication/ division. It is taken as 2 separate calculations. 1 sig. fig. (0.06) 2 decimal place 1 sig. fig (6) 0 decimal place
0 decimal place

~ Exact Number Not all values used in a calculation involved some

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