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Significant figures are a way of maintaining the precision of a measured value throughout a calculation. It can be a confusing concept, so I'll use an example to explain. Say you have glass filled with soda and you want to know how much the soda weighs but you don't have a scale. However you do know that you have 355mL of soda and that it has a density of 1.23g/mL (why you would know this, I have no idea but just go with it anway). The calculation to determine the weight is: 355mL x 1.23g/mL Now if you type this into a calculator, it would tell you that you have 436.65g of soda. However using proper significant figures, you would round that number to 437g of soda. Why? Because you knew both the volume and the density of the soda to only 3 significant figures (3 digits). In reality there may have been 355.102mL or 354.981564mL of soda but based on the measurement "355mL" we can only say that we know the volume of the soda to the nearest milliliter. The same argument can be said for the density. There are many rules to what counts as a significant figure and how they should be used. If you are curious, the websites below should help you out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Significant_figures http://science.widener.edu/svb/tutorial/sigfigures.html
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Wiki User
∙ 8y agoA significant digit(also known as sig figs) are digits in a number that contribute to the accuracy of a number.
What classifies as significant digit is listed below:
-All non-zero numbers are significant.
- zeroes can only be significant if they are sandwiched between two non-zero numbers, or if they trail in a decimal.
Minor amendment:
Trailing zeroes, in a decimal may not be significant if they are present for conventional reasons rather than for accuracy. For example, if an item costs 1.49, I might say it costs 1.50 (to the nearest ten pennies/cents/whatever). The last significant digit is actually the 5, but I give 2 decimal places because that is the conventional form for representing money.
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Define significant figures?
In any measurments the accuratly know digits and the first doubtfull digit are called significant figures
How many significant figures are in 3001?
300 only has one significant digit.
How many significant figures are in 2804?
4 significant figures in 4400. A digit within a number is considered significant if: 1. it is a non-zero OR 2. It is a zero that is between two significant figures OR 3. It is a zero at the end of the number To express four thousand four hundred with two significant figures use scientific notation: 4.4 * 103
How many molecules in 2.0 moles?
Twice Avogadro's Number, or 1.20 X 1024, where the depressed last digit indicates that it may not be significant.
Significant figures of 808.57?
Four. The number of significant figures in any number is found by counting the number of digits starting with the first non - zero digit (eg 0.12 has 2 sig figures, 304 has 3 sig figures.)
How do you round up or down when the last digit of significant digit is 5?
When the last digit of a significant digit is 5, you always round up.
How many significant figures in 1.3000?
All digits are significant in this case. Any digit after a decimal point is a significant digit.
What is the position of the first significant digit of 0.00058?
The first significant digit is the 5, which is in the ten-thousandth's position.
Is considered a significant digit when it is to the left or the right of the decimal point and it follows a non-zero digit or when it is betwee two digits?
Zero is considered a significant digit when it is to the left or the right of the decimal point. It is also a significant digit when it follows a non-zero digit or when it is between two digits.
What is the significant digit for 1056?
Four - zeros in-between significant digits are significant.
How many significant digit are in 192.0?
4 significant digits.
What is the significant digit of 5789?
All four digits are significant.
What numbers are important in Significant figures?
All digit are significant except: leading zeros,in the case of integers, trailing zeros.All digit are significant except: leading zeros,in the case of integers, trailing zeros.All digit are significant except: leading zeros,in the case of integers, trailing zeros.All digit are significant except: leading zeros,in the case of integers, trailing zeros.
What is the significant digit for this number 3.008?
Four - zeros between significant digits are significant.
What is the least significant digit of 9200?
There aren't varying degrees of significance - either it's a significant digit or it's not. Nine and two are significant and the two zeros aren't.
What is 37.19 to one significant figure?
To one significant digit, 37.19 is 4x101. Writing it as 40 makes it unclear as to whether you have 1 significant digit or 2.
How many significant digit are in 1000.000?
All of the digits are significant:Any digit after the decimal point is significant.A zero is significant if it comes between other significant digits.
