Notes: Significant Figures

Accuracy describes how well the results of a measurement agree with the real value; that
is, the accepted value as measured by competent experimenters.
Accuracy how close a measurement is to the objects true or correct value.

Precision the degree of exactness of a measurement.

Precision how closely repeated measurements of a quantity come to each other and to the
average.

Measurement a comparison between an unknown quantity and a standard.

RULES FOR SIGNIFICANT FIGURES:

Zeroes to the right of a decimal point are always counted as significant.

4.500 m tells us that the researcher could give us a measurement that is to the ten thousandth
of a meter precise e.g. the researcher could give us a measurement that is precise as low as a
millimeter.

Zeroes to the left of the first nonzero digit are never counted as significant.
0.00000006 means that all the zeroes in front of the 6 are not significant. They just act as
place holders to so you how precise the measurement is. Therefore, according to this rule,
only the 6 is significant.
Take 0.857 for example. The zero in front of the decimal IS NOT significant. Personally, I
like to make sure I write it because it is very very easy to lose a decimal when you are doing
long problems that require you to carry the 0.857 down many lines. Suddenly, you find you
are multiplying or dividing by 857 instead of 0.857, which will cause you to be many orders
of magnitude off. However, if you do forget to write the decimal, you will have 0857. Well,
you know you do not start a number with 0, so you must have forgot the decimal. It is a way
to keep yourself from making simple mistakes. Simple mistakes are very easy to do in
physics.
If the number was 0.8570, the 0 at the beginning (before the decimal) would not be
significant. However, the 0 on the end (following the 7) is significant according to our first
rule. So please dont confuse the two.

Zeros on the end of a number without a decimal point are assumed not to be significant.

Notes: Significant Figures

What this rule means is that a number such as 85,700 only has three significant figures. The
two zeroes on the end are not significant.
Moreover, if you have many zeroes before a number, all of those zeroes are not significant,
nor is the number at the end. For instance, if I tell you that I have 4 billion, 500 million, and
5 dollars e.g. $4,500,000,005; you will probably be wondering why I included the 5 dollars.
There are only two significant figures in it which is the 4.5.

Multiplication and Division:

For multiplication and division, the number of significant figures in the answer should not be
greater than the number of significant figures in the least precise measurement.
3.14 2.751
0.64
3.14 has three significant figures.
2.751 has four significant figures.
0.64 has two significant figures.
This rule states that for multiplication and division, it is the least number of significant
figures. Thus, the 0.64 (with only 2 significant figures) tells us how many significant figures
should be in the final answer.
When we multiply and divide, we get with the calculator:
= 13.49709376
But, we know our least precise measurement has two significant figures, so we round up.
= 13.4xxxxxxxx
All the numbers after the four does not matter. You dont round the four up to five because
of the nine and then round up to two significant figures. You look at the 13.4. Since the rule
states that your round up if the number is 5 or greater, we do not round up in the case. So our
final answer is:
= 13.
However, if our number was 13.5, we would have rounded up and our final answer would
have been 14.

Addition and Subtraction:

Notes: Significant Figures

For addition and subtraction, the answer should have the same number of decimal places as
the quantity with the fewest number of decimal places.
That is, the number with the less digits to the right of the decimal place determines how
many decimal places should be in the final answer.
3.247 + 41.36 + 125.2
3.247 has three decimal places (the .247).
41.36 has two decimal places (the .36).
125.2 has one decimal place (the .2)
Therefore, the 125.2 determines how many decimal places the final answer should have.
When you add up the numbers, you get 169.817.
The rule states that it is the number with the least amount of decimal places which is the
125.2 with only one decimal places. Therefore, our final answer should just have one
decimal place.
= 169.8

NOTE: Multiplication and division is concerned with significant figures, but adding and
subtracting is not. Adding and subtracting is only concerned with the least number of
decimal place.

Exact values have an unlimited / infinite number of significant figures. Conversions, such as
1 ft = 12 in, have an infinite number of significant figures. Exact counts, such as the number
of people in a room, have an infinite number of significant figures.
Lets do an example. Convert 42.3 inches to feet. (Conversion factor: 1 ft = 12 in)
42.3
1

12
1 ft

12
1 ft
So the conversion factor

essentially means that it is:

Notes: Significant Figures

12.00000000000000000000000000000
1.0000000000000000000000000000 ft

with all of the zeroes being significant.

42.3
1

12.00000000000000000000000000000
1.0000000000000000000000000000 ft

When you see it this way and according to the rules of significant figures for multiplication
and division which says the numbers with the least significant figures dictates how many
significant figures should be in the final answer, than we should easily see that the 42.3 with
only 3 significant figures will determine how many significant figures are in the final answer.
Since 42.3 only has three significant figures, our final answer should have three significant
figures.
Our calculator gives us the number 3.525. Our final answer should have only three
significant figures, thus:
= 3.53 in

COMBINATION PROBLEMS:
When a problem has both addition/subtraction and multiplication/division, technically you
wait until the very end to do your rounding but that can make things difficult. Take the
problem below:
1.070.8826
0.762
Well first we look at the numerator because by the laws of the order of operations, we have to
subtract before we divide.
1.07 0.8826 = 0.1874
(In our calculator)
By the rules of addition and subtraction, it is the least number of decimal places, so we see
that 1.07 has only two decimal places and 0.8826 has four decimal places. Therefore, after
we subtract, we should have only two significant figures but we are told to not round until all

Notes: Significant Figures

of the calculation is finish (meaning we still have to divide. So what we do is put an
underscore under the number of digits after the subtraction or highlight it, but we should not
round yet. That is, 0.1874.
Now divide:
0.18 74
0.762

We see that the 8 is only at the hundredth decimal place and no other numbers are in front of
the decimal places meaning that in the end, it will be two significant figures. Whereas the
0.762 has three significant figures. Thus, our final answer should have two significant
figures. Divide and we get:
0.2459317585
(In the calculator)
We have determined that my final answer should have 2 significant figures. Thus, we look at
the 0.245. Since the last uncertainly number is 5, we round up. Therefore, our final answer
is:
= 0.25

The reason we are supposed to solve combination problems the way as seen above is because
when you round, you introduce a specific amount of uncertainty in the calculation. Lets
look at the problem if we had solved it by rounding after each order of operation.
1.070.8826
0.762
We do the subtraction.
1.07 0.8826 = 0.1874
(In our calculator)
We round to the least number of decimal places per the rules of significant figures for
addition and subtraction.
= 0.19
Now we prepare to divide.

Notes: Significant Figures

0.19
0.762
= 0.249243832
(In our calculator)
The 0.19 has the least amount of significant figures so our final answer should only have two
significant figures.
= 0.249
Remember to round and we get our final answer of.
=0.25
Which is the same answer we got in the previous answer. However, if you compare
0.2459317585 in our first method with 0.249243832, you can see how it may could have
caused a rounding error. Overall, you will often times be okay after rounding when you
finish adding or subtraction and when you finish multiplying and dividing. Yet, technically it
introduces more uncertainty into the problem and you shouldnt round until the end.