SigFigs.

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Part A: Accuracy vs. Precision

The terms precision and accuracy are often used in discussing measured values.
Precision is a measure of how closely individual measurements agree with one another
or is an indication of how much error can be expected in a measurement. Accuracy
refers to how closely a measurement agrees with the correct, or “true,” value. The
analogy of darts stuck in a dartboard pictured illustrates the difference between these
two concepts. In lab we can always discuss precision, but we cannot discuss accuracy
unless the true value is known.
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Part B: Significant Figures = Precision 12inch

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factors
1. Exact Numbers all conversion abe exact

These numbers have no uncertainty and are taken to be exact. Examples are one dozen,
12, 1 liter = 1000 mL, etc. We will also assume all conversion factors are exact. For
example, 1 inch = 2.54 cm exactly. As a rule, numeric definitions, conversion factors,
and whole numbers used for counting are taken to be exact.
have
2. Inexact Numbers measurements uncertainty are inexact .

All digits of a measured quantity, including the uncertain one, are called significant
figures. A measured mass reported as 2.2 g has two significant figures, whereas one
reported as 2.2405 g has five significant figures. The greater the number of significant
figures, the greater is the certainty implied for the measurement and therefore the
greater is the precision of the measurement. When multiple measurements are made of
a quantity, the results can be averaged, and the number of significant figures estimated
by using statistical methods. These measurements or averages have an uncertainty and therefore limited
precision. All experimental measurements and averages are inexact numbers and are treated
accordingly. which # ID
Sig
are important YM can only
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Rules for Counting Significant Figures in an Inexact Number f. as in inexact # 5.

1. All nonzero digits are significant.

2. All leading zeros are not significant. 000314 3.14×10-4
.
→
eliminating leading Os .

3. All trailing zeros are taken to be significant in decimal numbers. .

I 00 .
10 0 .
00 I 00

4. If the number is expressed in scientific notation, all digits in the decimal portion of the number are
-

significant. I 0

:
Practice: How many significant digits are in the following numbers? trailing not Os

a
, leading bk no decimal
–3 point
(a) 1.608 (b) 0.0910 (c) 1.30x10
.

4 3
T 3 uncertainty
trailing some
numbers
.

→ in

3. Significant Figures and the ERROR DIGIT – Rules for inexact numbers.
Every measurement made in a laboratory comes with some uncertainty. The uncertain digit in any
measurement is always the rightmost digit, the last digit written. This is called the ERROR
DIGIT. (Alternatively, you may find the error digit referred to as the inexact digit or the
estimated digit.) Unless stated otherwise, the precision (uncertainty) in a number is taken to be ±
one unit in the error digit. For example, a reported value of 95.4 mL indicates a precision of ± 0.1 mL

Foothill College Chem. 1A — Pitts i Last Modified 2/11/16

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 95.4£ 0.1
95.44£ 's .
01

Significant Figures we assume the riahtmost digit contains

uncertainty .

(95.4 ± 0.1 mL). If the precision in the value is not ±1 in the error digit then the recorder has a
responsibility to report the actual precision. For example, if the precision is ± 0.5 mL then the recorder
should report 95.4 ± 0.5 mL. The ± error in a measurement is often called the absolute error. In lab it
will become your responsibility to determine the absolute error of a measurement and record the
measured value to the proper number of significant digits. Sometimes precision is recorded as a
percentage value instead as an absolute value. For example, 50 mL ± 4% instead of 50 mL ± 2 mL
where 2 mL is 4% of 50 mL.

Practice: Give the absolute error (±x) in the following measured values: moves
decimal l .

the
L
(c) 1.30x10@
to
L
–3
(a) 1.608 mL ± 0.001 (b) 0.0910 g ± 0.0001 '

W
atm ± 0 .
0000 /
L
.
00130 atm

Significant Digits in Calculated Numbers

When we do a calculation involving inexact numbers the result of the calculation will have some error.
It is your responsibility to determine the error digit in the resultant calculation. To do this we apply
the rules below to EACH STEP in the calculation.
#
ID
the
←
1. A Multiplication or Division Step: The result of the calculation contains the same number of
siqfiqs significant digits as there are in the measurement with the fewest significant digits. Find the
of
error digit by counting significant digits from left to right in the result. Underline this digit.
the
in
.

operation 2. An Addition or Subtraction Step: The answer has an absolute error equal to the greatest
/ absolute error found in the numbers added and/or subtracted. Locate and underline the digit in
the calculation result corresponding to this absolute error. Reporting to The least # of decimal
the
ID
decimal places
of 3. Rules for Rounding the ERROR DIGIT: (this is how your calculator will do round off)
.

#
In (a) If the digit to be removed after the error digit is 5 or greater then round the error digit up.
places
operation (b) If the digit to be removed after the error digit is 4 or less then round the error digit down.
.

The (c) When a calculation involves two or more steps and you write down answers for intermediate
steps, retain at least one additional digit—past the error digit—for the intermediate answers. This
procedure ensures that small errors from rounding at each step do not combine to affect the final
result. When using a calculator, you may enter the numbers one after another, rounding only the
final answer. Accumulated rounding-off errors may account for small differences among results
you obtain and the correct value 314*3136

Practice: Round each of the following to 3 significant digits. (3136--3.1-36×103 -

=
3.14×103
3140
(a) 6.167
-
(b) 0.002245 -
(c) 2.135 (d) 3136
6.17 2.25×10-3 2.14 3140
Practice: Round the following calculations to the proper number of significant digits using the
rules above.

(a) 6.19 x 2.8 (b) 3.18/1.702

(c) (4.10 x 302 – 1100)/1.56x10–4 (d) 6.82 – 2.111

(e) 213 – 0.01 (f) 5.19x10–2 + 1.83 + 219

Foothill College Chem. 1A — Pitts ii Last Modified 9/14/14

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 Metric System and Significant Figures Exercises Name:
Lab Section: MW or TTH

1. What decimal power do the following metric system abbreviations represent:

10.1 2
'

(a) d (b) c 10 (c) f (d) μ (e) M

(f) k (g) n (i) p

2. Use appropriate metric prefixes to write the following measurements without the use of exponents:

(a) 6.35 × 10-2 L (b) 6.5 × 10-6 s

(c) 9.5 × 10-4 m (d) 4.23 × 10-9 m3

(e) 12.5 × 10-8 kg (f) 3.5 × 10-10 g

3. Indicate which of the following are exact numbers:

(a) the mass of a paper clip (b) the surface area of a dime
(c) the number of inches in a mile (d) the number of ounces in a pound
(e) the number of microseconds in a week (f) the number of pages in this worksheet

4. What is the number of significant figures in each of the following measured quantities?

(a) 358 kg (b) 0.054 s

(c) 6.3050 cm (d) 0.0105 L

5. Round each of the following numbers to four significant figures, and express the result in standard
exponential notation:

(a) 102.53070 (b) 656,980

(c) 0.008543210 (d) 0.000257870

(e) -0.0357202

6. Carry out the following operations, and express the answer with the appropriate number of
significant figures:

(a) 320.55 - (6104.5/2.3) (b) [(285.3 × 105) - (1.200 × 103)] × 2.8954

(c) (0.0045 × 20,000.0) + (2813 × 12) (d) 863 × [1255 - (3.45 × 108)]

Foothill College Chem. 1A — Pitts 1 Last Modified 9/14/14

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