LESSON 4

Accuracy vs. Precision

1. Accuracy measures how close a measured value is to the true value or accepted value.
Since a true or accepted value for a physical quantity may be unknown, it is sometimes not
possible to determine the accuracy of a measurement.

2. Precision measures how closely two or more measurements agree with others.

SIGNIFICANT FIGURES:

 The digits that carry meaning in a number and contribute to its precision.

* Significant figures of a number are digits which contribute to the precision of that
number.

Numbers that do not contribute any precision and should not be counted as a
significant number are:

 leading or trailing zeros (those are place holders)

 digits that are introduced by calculations that give the number more precision than
the original data allows.
Rules For Determining If a Number Is Significant or Not
 All non-zero digits are considered significant.
 For example, 91 has two significant figures (9 and 1), while
123.45 has five significant figures (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5).
 Zeros appearing between two non-zero digits (trapped zeros) are significant.
Example: 101.12 has five significant figures: 1, 0, 1, 1, and 2.
 Leading zeros (zeros before non-zero numbers) are not significant.

 Trailing zeros (zeros after non-zero numbers) in a number without a decimal are
generally not significant (see below for more details).

For example, 400 has only one significant figure (4). The
trailing zeros do not count as significant.
 Trailing zeros in a number containing a decimal point are
significant. For example, 12.2300 has six significant
figures: 1, 2, 2, 3, 0, and 0. The number 0.000122300 still has
only six significant figures (the zeros before the 1 are not
significant).
 The number 0 has one significant figure. Therefore, any zeros after the decimal
point are also significant.
 Example: 0.00 has three significant figures.
 Any numbers in scientific notation are considered significant.
 For example, 4.300 x 10-4 has 4 significant figures.

ROUNDING
Rounding means making a number simpler but keeping its value close to what it was.

The result is less accurate, but easier to use.

Example:

73 rounded to the nearest ten is 70, because 73 is closer to 70 than to 80.

But 76 goes up to 80.

 Leave it the same if the next digit is less than 5 (this is called rounding down)
 But increase it by 1 if the next digit is 5 or more (this is called rounding up)
 Example: Round 74 to the nearest 10

 We want to keep the "7" (it is in the 10s position)

 The next digit is "4" which is less than 5, so no change is needed to "7"

Answer: 70

(74 gets "rounded down")

Example: Round 86 to the nearest 10

 We want to keep the "8"

 The next digit is "6" which is 5 or more, so increase the "8" by 1 to "9"

Answer: 90

(86 gets "rounded up")

ADDITION and SUBTRACTION

Addition and Subtraction In mathematical operations involving significant figures, the

answer is reported in such a way that it reflects the reliability of the least precise operation

1) Count the number of significant figures in the decimal portion of each number in the
problem. (The digits to the left of the decimal place are not used to determine the number
of decimal places in the final answer.)

2) Add or subtract in the normal fashion.

3) Round the answer to the LEAST number of places in the decimal portion of any number
in the problem.

1.2

+ 1.135

--------

2.335

1.2 is our least precise number, and the tenths place is its last significant digit. Therefore
the tenths place of our sum (that's the first three) is the last significant digit. This means
that everything after that place needs to go away. So we look at the decimal place to the
right of our last sig fig, and we round. 2.335 rounds to 2.3 meters.
Multiplication and Division

The LEAST number of significant figures in any number of the problem determines the
number of significant figures in the answer. This means you MUST know how to recognize
significant figures in order to use this rule.

Example #1: 2.5 x 3.42.

The answer to this problem would be 8.6 (which was rounded from the calculator reading
of 8.55). Why? 2.5 has two significant figures while 3.42 has three.

Two significant figures is less precise than three, so the answer has two significant
figures.

When you add or subtract, you assign significant figures in the answer based on the
number of decimal places in each original measurement. When you multiply or divide,
you assign significant figures in the answer based on the smallest number of significant
figures from your original set of measurements.

WARNING: the rules for add/subtract are different from multiply/divide. A very
common student error is to swap the two sets of rules. Another common error is to use
just one rule for both types of operations.

REFERENCE:

General Chemistry 1 = Ilao, Luciana V.: Lontoc, Betty M.; Paderna-Gayon, Edwehna Elinore S.
Accuracy vs. Presicion=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnU7hoxPEs8
Significant Figures= Moomoomath and Science Channel
Rounding Off= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNfz-JU2cKE&t=71s
Adding and Subtracting SF= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eXC6s9X6Wc&t=49s
Multiplication and Division of SF= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5BmoMDJLRY