CHEM 103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Significant Figures, Decimal Mark
25 Apr 2019
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
To determine the number of significant figures in a number use the following 3 rules: Any zeros between two significant digits are significant. A final zero or trailing zeros in the decimal portion only are significant. Example: . 500 or . 632000 the zeros are significant. 006 or . 000968 the zeros are not significant. For addition and subtraction use the following rules: Count the number of significant figures in the decimal portion only of each number in the problem. Add or subtract in the normal fashion. Your final answer may have no more significant figures to the right of the decimal than the least number of significant figures in any number in the problem. For multiplication and division use the following rule: The least number of significant figures in any number of the problem determines the number of significant figures in the answer. (you are now looking at the entire number, not just the decimal portion)
