Rules for Significant Figures

Determining the number of significant figures in measured quantities is essential when reporting the
precision of measured values and the precision that can be reported when measured values are used in
calculations. The rules for determining the number of significant figures are as follows:

1. All nonzero digits are significant.

o For example, the value 211.8 has four significant figures.
2. All zeros that are found between nonzero digits are significant.
o Thus, the number 20,007, with three 0s between the 2 and 7, has a total of five
significant figures.
3. Leading zeros (to the left of the first nonzero digit) are not significant.
o A value such as 0.0085, for example, has two significant figures because the 0s
before the 8 are placeholders and are not significant.
4. Trailing zeros for a whole number that ends with a decimal point are significant.
o For example, a value written as 320. shows the decimal point, which indicates
that the 0 to the right of the 2 was measured; therefore, the value has a total of
three significant figures. If the decimal point was not written, then 320 would
have only two significant figures. In general, any confusion this may cause can
be avoided by writing values such as these in scientific notation.
5. Trailing zeros to the right of the decimal place are significant.
o This means a value such as 12.000 has a total of five significant figures, since
the 0s after the decimal place have been measured to be zeros, indicating they
are as significant as any other nonzero digit.
6. Exact numbers, and irrationally defined numbers like Euler’s number (e) and pi (π), have
an infinite number of significant figures.
o In a defining expression like 1 metre = 100 centimetres, these values are
considered exact and thus have an infinite number of significant figures. While
π is usually written as 3.14 for ease of calculation, the π button on the
calculator would be used in any calculations, and thus it is considered to be a
value with infinite significant figures.
7. For any value written in scientific notation as A ×10x, the number of significant figures is
determined by applying the above rules only to the value of A; the x is considered an exact
number and thus has an infinite number of significant figures.
o For example, the value 4,500 can be written in scientific notation to reflect two,
three, and four significant digits:
o 4.5 × 103 has two significant figures
o 4.50 × 103 has three significant figures
o 4.500 × 103 has four significant figures