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Arithmetic Calculations in Significant Figures & Scientific Notation PDF

1. The document discusses rules for significant figures in arithmetic calculations. For addition and subtraction, the answer has the same number of decimal places as the measurement with the fewest decimal places. For multiplication and division, the number of significant figures in the final product or quotient is determined by the original number that has the smallest number of significant figures. 2. The document also discusses scientific notation for writing extremely large or small numbers more concisely. All numbers can be expressed as N × 10n, where N is 1-9 and n is an integer exponent. This allows easy handling of numbers that would otherwise be difficult to write out or perform calculations with. 3. Examples are provided to demonstrate converting numbers between standard

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Mark Christian Dimson Galang
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839 views8 pages

Arithmetic Calculations in Significant Figures & Scientific Notation PDF

1. The document discusses rules for significant figures in arithmetic calculations. For addition and subtraction, the answer has the same number of decimal places as the measurement with the fewest decimal places. For multiplication and division, the number of significant figures in the final product or quotient is determined by the original number that has the smallest number of significant figures. 2. The document also discusses scientific notation for writing extremely large or small numbers more concisely. All numbers can be expressed as N × 10n, where N is 1-9 and n is an integer exponent. This allows easy handling of numbers that would otherwise be difficult to write out or perform calculations with. 3. Examples are provided to demonstrate converting numbers between standard

Uploaded by

Mark Christian Dimson Galang
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SIGNIFICANT FIGURES

& SCIENTIFIC NOTATION


Rules for Significant Figures in Arithmetic Calculations

1. For addition and subtraction. The answer has the same number
of decimal places as there are in the measurement with the fewest
decimal places.
Example: adding two volumes 83.5 mL
+ 23.28 mL
106.78 mL = 106.8 mL

Example: subtracting two volumes 865.9 mL


- 2.8121 mL
863.0879 mL = 863.1 mL
Rules for Significant Figures in Arithmetic Calculations

2. For multiplication and division. The number of significant


figures in the final product or quotient is determined by the
original number that has the smallest number of significant
figures.

Multiply the following numbers:

9.2 cm x 6.8 cm x 0.3744 cm = 23.4225 cm3 = 23 cm3

Divide the following numbers:

Density= 3.250 g = 0.346851654 g/mL


9.37 mL
= 0.347 g/mL
Rules for Significant Figures in Arithmetic Calculations

3. Keep in mind that exact numbers obtained from definitions or


by counting numbers of objects can be considered an infinite
number of significant figures.

Example:

1 in = 2.54 cm (“1” & “2.54” we treat these numbers as infinite


numbers)

(number 9 is an exact number, infinite number)


5.0 g X 9 = 45 g
EXERCISE: Carry out the following arithmetic
operations to the correct number of significant figures.

1. 11,254.1g + 0.1983g =
2. 66.59 L – 3.113 =
3. 8.16 m X 5.1355 m =
4. 0.0154 kg / 88.3 mL =
5. 85.0 cm – 12.35 cm =

* Try to solve the given arithmetic operations.


Scientific Notation
Chemists often deal with numbers
that either extremely large or
extremely small. For example, in 1
g of the element hydrogen (H)
there are roughly
602,200,000,000,000,000,000,000

hydrogen atoms. Each hydrogen


atom has a mass of only.
0.00000000000000000000000166g

These numbers are difficult to handle


and easy for making mistakes when
using arithmetic computations.
Scientific Notation

0.0000000056 x 0.00000000048 = 0.000000000000000002688

So, in dealing with very large and very small numbers, we use a system
called scientific notation. All numbers can be expressed in the form
N is a numbers from 1 to 9 N x 10 n n is a positive or negative integer (whole number)

EXAMPLE:
(1) Express 568.762 in scientific notation
5.68762 x 10² (if the decimal point moved from right
to left the exponent will be POSITIVE)
(2) Express 0.00000772 in scientific notation
-6
7.72 x 10 (If the decimal point moved from left to
right the exponent will be NEGATIVE)
EXAMPLE: Conversion of scientific notation to decimal
(1) 4.6580 x 10 -6 = 0.0000046580
(2) 5.00 x 10 2 = 500
EXERCISE: Express the following numbers in scientific notation and
vice versa
1. 0.00000027
2. 356
3. 1.52 x 10 -2
8
4. 7.78 x 10
5. 0.096

* Try to solve the given exercise.

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