Table of Contents
What Are Significant Figures?
A significant figure is a number that is meaningful and can be accurately measured. All of the digits that are known with certainty are significant, while the rest are estimated. For example, the number 123 has three significant figures, while the number 1.23 has four.
Significant Figure Rules
In scientific notation, the number of significant figures is the number of digits that are meaningful in the number. The number of significant figures in a number is equal to the number of digits in the number, plus the number of digits in the decimal place. For example, the number 123 has three significant figures, because it has three digits, 0, 1, and 2. The number 1.23 has four significant figures, because it has four digits, 1, 2, 3, and 4. The number 1.000 has five significant figures, because it has five digits, 1, 0, 0, 0, and 5. The number 0.0000 has six significant figures, because it has six digits, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, and 6.
A Few Other Rules
1. Only one entry per person.
2. The contest is open to residents of the United States only.
3. The contest begins on February 1, 2019, and ends on February 28, 2019.
4. By entering the contest, you agree to be bound by these rules.
Significant Figure Examples
A significant figure is a number that is accurate to a given degree of precision. For example, the number 123 has three significant figures, because the first digit is 1, the second digit is 2, and the third digit is 3. The number 1.23 has four significant figures, because the first digit is 1, the second digit is 2, the third digit is 2, and the fourth digit is 3. The number 0.00123 has six significant figures, because the first digit is 1, the second digit is 2, the third digit is 2, the fourth digit is 3, the fifth digit is 0, and the sixth digit is 1.
In general, the number of significant figures in a number is equal to the number of digits in the number, plus one. This is because the number one is always significant. For example, the number 12.345 has five significant figures, because the first digit is 1, the second digit is 2, the third digit is 3, the fourth digit is 4, and the fifth digit is 5. The number 123.456 has six significant figures, because the first digit is 1, the second digit is 2, the third digit is 3, the fourth digit is 4, the fifth digit is 5, and the sixth digit is 6.
There are a number of rules that can be used to determine the number of significant figures in a number. One rule is that all non-zero digits are significant. Another
Some Measurement Parameters Related to Significant Figures
The number of significant figures in a measurement is determined by the uncertainty of the measurement. The following are some common measurement parameters that can be used to determine the uncertainty of a measurement and, thus, the number of significant figures in the measurement.
1. The precision of the measuring device. The more precise the measuring device, the more significant figures the measurement will have.
2. The accuracy of the measuring device. The more accurate the measuring device, the more significant figures the measurement will have.
3. The number of measurements that are averaged. The more measurements that are averaged, the more significant figures the measurement will have.
4. The rounding of the measurement. The more decimal places that are rounded off, the fewer significant figures the measurement will have.
