CE-SCI 2 – PHYSICS FOR ENGINEERS

BSCE1 (SUMMER)
ENGR. KARL LOUIS C. ALMONGUERRA

ENGR. ALMONGUERRA
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
3 UNITS LECTURE, 1 UNIT LABORATORY
MONDAY (9 AM – 12 PM, 1 PM – 4 PM), WEDNESDAY (9 AM – 12 PM, 1 PM – 4 PM), FRIDAY (9 AM – 12 PM, 1 PM – 3 PM)

ENGR. ALMONGUERRA
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
 SIGNIFICANT FIGURES (ALSO KNOWN AS SIGNIFICANT DIGITS) OF A NUMBER
IN POSITIONAL NOTATION ARE DIGITS IN THE NUMBER THAT ARE RELIABLE
AND NECESSARY TO INDICATE THE QUANTITY OF SOMETHING.
 THERE ARE RULES TO FOLLOW TO IDENTIFY SIGNIFICANT FIGURES IN A
NUMBER.

ENGR. ALMONGUERRA
RULES TO IDENTIFY SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
➢ NONZERO DIGITS WITHIN THE GIVEN MEASUREMENT OR REPORTING
RESOLUTION ARE SIGNIFICANT.

𝟗𝟏
▪ 91 HAS TWO SIGNIFICANT FIGURES.

𝟏𝟐𝟑. 𝟒𝟓
▪ 123.45 HAS TWO SIGNIFICANT FIGURES.

ENGR. ALMONGUERRA
RULES TO IDENTIFY SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
➢ ZEROES BETWEEN TWO SIGNIFICANT NON-ZERO DIGITS ARE SIGNIFICANT.

𝟏𝟎𝟏. 𝟏𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟑
▪ 101.12003 CONSISTS OF EIGHT SIGNIFICANT FIGURES.

𝟏𝟐𝟑. 𝟑𝟒𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟔
▪ 123.3400006 HAS TEN SIGNIFICANT FIGURES.

ENGR. ALMONGUERRA
RULES TO IDENTIFY SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
➢ ZEROES TO THE LEFT OF THE FIRST NON-ZERO DIGIT ARE NOT SIGNIFICANT

𝟎. 𝟎𝟓𝟐
▪ 0.052 HAS TWO SIGNIFICANT FIGURES. THE NUMBERS 5, AND 2 ARE ONLY SIGNIFICANT.

𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎𝟑𝟒𝟓
▪ 0.000345 HAS THREE SIGNIFICANT FIGURES. THE NUMBERS 3, 4, AND 5 ARE ONLY SIGNIFICANT.

ENGR. ALMONGUERRA
RULES TO IDENTIFY SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
➢ ZEROES TO THE RIGHT OF THE LAST NON-ZERO IN A NUMBER WITH THE
DECIMAL POINT ARE SIGNIFICANT.

𝟏. 𝟐𝟎𝟎
▪ 1.200 HAS FOUR SIGNIFICANT FIGURES. THE NUMBERS 1, 2, AND 0 ARE SIGNIFICANT.

𝟎. 𝟎𝟗𝟖𝟐𝟎
▪ 0.09820 HAS FOUR SIGNIFICANT FIGURES. THE NUMBERS 9, 8, 2, AND 0 (AFTER THE NUMBER 2)
ARE SIGNIFICANT.

ENGR. ALMONGUERRA
RULES TO IDENTIFY SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
➢ ZEROES TO THE RIGHT OF THE LAST NON-ZERO IN A NUMBER WITH THE
DECIMAL POINT ARE SIGNIFICANT.

𝟏𝟐𝟎. 𝟎𝟎𝟎
▪ 120.000 HAS SIX SIGNIFICANT FIGURES. THE NUMBERS 1, 2, AND 0 ARE SIGNIFICANT.

ENGR. ALMONGUERRA
RULES TO IDENTIFY SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
➢ AN EXACT NUMBER HAS AN INFINITE NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT FIGURES.

𝑨 𝑩𝑨𝑮 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑻𝑨𝑰𝑵𝑺 𝟒 𝑨𝑷𝑷𝑳𝑬𝑺.

▪ THE NUMBER 4 IS AN EXACT NUMBER BASED ON THE CONSTRUCTED IDEA.THIS IDEA CAN
BE INTERPRETED AS X = 4.0, X = 4.00, X = 4.000, X = 4.0000, AND SO ON. EVEN THOUGH IT CAN
BE INTERPRETED AS A NUMBER WITH INFINITE TRAILING ZEROES IT DOESN’T IMPACT THE
NUMBER OF ITS SIGNIFICANT FIGURES SINCE TO BEGIN WITH IT IS CONSIDERED TO HAVE AN
INFINITE NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT FIGURES.

ENGR. ALMONGUERRA
RULES TO IDENTIFY SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
➢ A MATHEMATICAL OR PHYSICAL CONSTANT HAS SIGNIFICANT FIGURES TO ITS
KNOWN DIGITS.

𝝅
▪ PI IS A SPECIFIC REAL NUMBER WITH SEVERAL EQUIVALENT DEFINITIONS. ALL OF THE DIGITS
IN THEIR EXACT DECIMAL EXPANSION ARE SIGNIFICANT.

𝒈
▪ GRAVITATIONAL CONSTANT IS ALSO A SPECIFIC REAL NUMBER WITH SEVERAL EQUIVALENT
DEFINITIONS. ALL OF THE DIGITS IN THEIR EXACT DECIMAL EXPANSION ARE SIGNIFICANT.

ENGR. ALMONGUERRA