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Rules of Significant Figures

Rules of Significant Figures

Significant figures of a number are all of the digits that carry meaning to the final representation of a measurement. They represent how precise the measurement is.

The rules to find which digits of a number are significant figures:

  • All non-zero digits are significant
  • All zeros between non-sero digits are significant: 202, 2002, 20002
  • Leading zeros aren't significant
  • In a decimal number, all trailing zeros represent precision, and thusly are significant
  • In a non-decimal number, if there is a "." at the end, all figures to the left are significant (except leading zeros)

Examples:

  • 0.05400 has [4] sig figs: 5, 4, 0 and 0
  • 0.0054090 has [5] sig figs: 5, 4, 0, 9, and 0
  • 100 has [1] sig fig: 1
  • 100.0 has [3] sig figs: 1, 0, and 0
  • More Information:

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