Significant Figures

When experiments are performed, and the resulting measurements (numbers) are gathered, these
numbers will be reliably known to a certain number of significant figures. The number of reliably
known digits in a number is called the number of significant figures.

What is a significant Figure?

• non- zero digits are always significant
• 0's placed before all other digits are never significant ie. 0.046 has 2 sig. digits.
• 0's placed between other digits are always significant ie. 4009kg has 4 sig. digits
• 0's placed after other digits but behind a decimal point are significant ie. 7.90 has 3 sig.
digits.
• 0's at the end of a number are significant only if the number contains a decimal point
E.G. 120000. has six sig figs 120000 has two sig figs – unless you are given additional
information in the problem.
• whole numbers have potentially infinite significant digits. ie. does 2 mean 2.0 or 2.0000
or...every digit is known exactly....

Effectively, the number of significant figures gives a measure of how accurate the data is. The number
18.3, for example can be said to be accurate to ± 0.1.
Be aware of the difference between significant figures and accurate measurements which just happen
to record a 0.

Measurement No of significant figures Accuracy

No. Value
1 18.3
2 18.30
3 18.300
4 18.3000

In the above table, measurements of some unknown quantity (there should be some units) have been
taken, to varying degrees of accuracy. The key point to notice is, for example, that measurement
number 3 is actually 18.300. This is not the same as writing 18.3, which is probably what you would
be familiar with up to now. In other words, if measurements are taken, then record all the accuracy
that you know of in the measurement itself.

Rules for Dealing with Significant Figures

Three rules need to be applied when dealing with significant figures.
1. Record all measurements to the correct number of significant figures
2. When several numbers are added or subtracted, the result should contain the same number of
decimal places as the number with the fewest.
3. When several numbers are multiplied or divided, the result should contain the same number of
significant figures as the number with the fewest.

2. When several numbers are added or subtracted, the result should contain the same number of
decimal places as the number with the fewest.

e.g. 18.3 + 2.04 + 0.0004 = 20.3404 = 20.3

This is because the answer has to be considered to be only as reliable as the measurement with the
smallest number of significant figures.
3. When several numbers are multiplied or divided, the result should contain the same number of
significant figures as the number with the fewest.

As an example of multiplication, where the impact of the significant figures is considered, the
following numbers are multiplied

18.3 x 2.04 x 0.004 = 0.149

Now, from the above rule, there should be only one significant figure, in this case this would give the
answer to be 0.1

The following calculation, multiplied

1.83 x 2.04 x 0.004 = 0.0149.

In this case the answer, taking the significant figures into account, is 0.01.
Notice that the significant figures, reading from the left, start at the first non-zero part of the answer.

It will be necessary to combine rules 1, 2 and 3 for significant figures when analysing the results of
experiments.

2.2 Rounding
Rounding is used in conjunction with the above rules for dealing with significant figures.
In order to round a result, such as the one below, to the required number of significant figures, in this
case 1, start at the right, and if the number is between 0 and 4, delete the number, if it is between 5
and 9, delete the number and add 1 the number to the left of the one you are just deleting. The
following example does this showing each step, but you should rapidly learn to do this in your head.
Rounding Example
18.3 x 2.045 x 0.004 = 0.149694
1 significant figure required
Step a) 0.14969
Step b) 0.1497
Step c) 0.150
Step d) 0.15
Step e) 0.2
The answer is 0.2

2.3 Applying The Significant Figure Rules

Example

The three orthogonal sides of a rectangular metal block are measured using a Vernier Calipers, and
these are found to be
L1 = 0.1m, L2 = 0.334m, L3 = 0.45m.

Answer
Now, for a rectangular metal block, the volume is length x breadth x height, in this case L1 x L2 x
L3.
The volume of the cube is 0.1 x 0.334 x 0.45 = 0.01503 m3.
However, the lowest number of significant figures is 1, and taking this into account, and using the
rounding approach, the answer is in fact 0.02 m3.