SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
Definition
In any measurement, the accurately known digit
and the first doubtful digit are called significant
figures.
The significant figures are all the digits that are
known accurately and the one estimated digit.
A significant is a number that is believed to be
correct with some uncertainty only in last digit.
More significant figure means greater precision.
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SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
The value of a physical quantity is expressed by
a number followed by some suitable unit.
Every measurement of a quantity is an attempt
to find its true value.
The accuracy in measuring a physical quantity
depends upon various factors:
the quality of the measuring instrument
the skill of the observer
the number of observations made
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SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
For example, a student measures the length of a
book as 18 cm using a measuring tape. The
numbers of significant figures in his/her measured
value are two. The left digit 1 is the accurately
known digit. While the digit 8 is the doubtful digit
for which the student may not be sure.
Another student measures the same book using a
ruler and claims its length to be 18.4 cm. In this
case all the three figures are significant. The two
left digits 1 and 8 are accurately known digits.
Next digit 4 is the doubtful digit for which the
student may not be sure. 5
RULES TO WRIGHT SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
Following rules are helpful in identifying significant figure:
(i) All digits reported as a direct result of a measurement
are significant.
(ii) Non-zero digits (all digits from 1 to 9) are always
significant. For example, 27 has 2 significant digits while 275
has 3 significant digits.
(iii) Zeros between two significant figures are also
significant. Such as, 2705 has 4 significant digits.
(iv) Final or ending zeros on the right in decimal fraction
are significant. For example, 275.00 has 5 significant digits.
(v) Zeros written on the left side of the decimal point for
the purpose of spacing the decimal point are not significant.
For example, 0.03 has one significant digit and 0.027 has
two significant digits. 6
RULES TO WRIGHT SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
(vi) In whole numbers that end in one or more zeros
without a decimal point. These zeros may or may not be
significant. In such cases, it is not clear which zeros serve to
locate the position value and which are actually parts of the
measurement. In such a situation, express the quantity using
Scientific Notation to find the significant zero. For example,
29,000 spectators watched a match. The digits 2 & 9 are
significant but the zeros are not. In this situation, the 29 is
measured part of the figure, and three zeros tell you an
estimate tell you an estimate of how many watched the match.
It is written in scientific notation with exact number of
significant figures as in measurement e.g 2.90 x 104 showing
three significant figures or 2.900 x 104 showing four significant
figures and 2.9000 x 104 showing five significant figures. 7
RULES TO WRIGHT SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
(vii) For a number in scientific notation: N x 10m, all digits
comprising N ARE significant; "10" and “m" are NOT
significant. For example, 5.02 x 104 has THREE significant
figures: "10" and "4" are not significant.
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SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
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ROUNDING OFF NUMBERS AND
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
Rounding Rules for Whole Numbers
(1) Always choose the smaller place value for an accurate
final result. Find the next smaller place to the right of the
number being round off.
For example, if rounding off a digit from the tens
place, look at the digit in the ones place.
(2) If the digit in the smallest place is less than 5, leave it
as it is. Any digit after that become zero, which is called
rounding down.
(3) If the digit in smallest place is greater than or equal to
5, add +1 to that digit. Any digit after that become zero, which
is called rounding up.
ROUNDING OFF NUMBERS AND
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
Rounding Rules for Decimal Numbers
(1) Find the digit you want to round and look at the digit
to its right.
(2) If the digits to the right are less than 5, treat them as
zero.
(3) If the digits to the right are greater or equal to 5, add
1 to that digit and treat all other digits as zero.
Thanks
RULES TO WRIGHT
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
(v) Trailing zeros in a whole number with the decimal
shown are significant. Placing a decimal at the end of a
number is usually not done. By convention, however, this
decimal indicates a significant zero. For example, "540."
indicates that the trailing zero is significant; there are three
significant figures in this value.
(vi) Trailing zeros in a whole number with no decimal
shown are NOT significant. Writing just "540" indicates that
the zero is NOT significant, and there are only TWO
significant figures in this value.
(v) Zeros written on the left side of the decimal point for
the purpose of spacing the decimal point are not
significant. For example, 0.03 has one significant digit and16
RULES TO WRIGHT
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
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