Significant

Figures in
Measurements
and
Calculations
 Learning Objective

• To identify the number of

significant figures in a
measurement
Key Understanding
• Knowledge in identifying the number of
significant figures in a measurement
and applying its rules in calculations

Key Question
• What are the significant figures?
Significant Figures
• It is important to note that when reporting a
measurement, one must be honest in doing so.
The measurement must not appear to be more
accurate than what is allowed by the equipment
used to make the measurement. This can be
achieved by controlling the number of digits
used to report the measurement.
• These digits are the significant figures, which
consist of all the digits known with certainty plus
one more digit that is uncertain or estimated.
 Rules in Evaluating Significant
Figures
Rule Examples

1. Nonzero digits – all a. 124 ml has three significant figures.

nonzero digits are b. 6453 g has four significant figures.
significant. c. 6.453 mm has four significant figures

2. Captive zeros – a. 8.09 g has three significant figures.

zeros between b. 80.9 ml has three significant figures.
nonzero c. 236.005 m has six significant figures.
digits are significant.
 Rules in Evaluating Significant
Figures
Rule Examples

3. Leading zeros – zeros to the a. 0.04 L has one significant figure.

left of the first nonzero digit are b. 0.000 071 km has two significant
not significant. They are figures.
placeholders and are used to c. 0. 00373 m has three significant
locate a decimal point. figures.

4. Trailing zeros – zeros at the a. 0.500 g has three significant figures.

end of a number and to the b. 125.00 ml has five significant
right of a decimal point are figures.
significant. c. 3.000 000 000 mm has ten
significant figures.
 Rules in Evaluating Significant
Figures
Rule Examples

5. Final zeros – zeros The zeros in numbers that do not have a

at the end of a decimal point such as 200 m, 5000 m, and
number that lies to 12,330 m may or may not be significant. The
the left of an number of significant figures in 5000 m can be
understood decimal one, two, three or four. However, if such zeros
point may or may not were known measured values, then they would
be significant. be significant. For example, if all zeros in 200
were significant, writing the number in scientific
notation as 2.00 x 102 m makes it clear that the
zeros are significant.
 Sample Problem

How many significant figures are in each

measurement?
a. 3.005 g
b. 820 m
c. 0.000 670 km
d. 0.405 021 kg
e. 22.4 L
 Solution
a. By rule 2, the two zeros are in between nonzero
digits and are, therefore, significant. There are
four significant figures.
b. By rule 5, the zero may or may not be
significant. There may be two or three significant
figures. To make the number of significant
figures clearer, write 820 m in scientific notation.
Hence, it has two significant figures when written
as 8.2 × 10² m. It has three significant figures
when written as 8.20 × 10² m.
 Solution
c. By rule 3, the four zeros to the left of the first
nonzero digit are not significant. By rule 4, the
last zero is at the end of the number, to the right
of a decimal point, and is significant. There are
three significant figures.
d. By rule 3, the first zero is used to locate a
decimal point and is not significant. By rule 2, all
the other zeros are significant because they
appear in between nonzero digits. There are six
significant figures.
e. By rule 1, all nonzero digits are significant. There
are three significant figures.
 Practice Problems
Determine the number of significant figures in each
of the following measurements.
a. 0.001 002 km
b. 20 003 m
c. 40.005 760 L
d. 8 000 ml
e. 95 764 mg
f. 0.1300 g
 Rounding
• It is important to note that when combining
measurements with different degrees of accuracy
and precision, the accuracy of the final answer
cannot be greater than that of the least accurate
measurement.
• Therefore, the calculated value must be rounded
so that it is consistent with the measurements
from which it was calculated. Its degree of
certainty must match the original measurements.
 Rounding
• In rounding a number, it is first necessary to know how
many significant figures the answer should have. This
depends on the given measurements and the
mathematical operations used to arrive at the answer.
• For instance, you want to round the measurements 4.584
meters and 5.357 meters to three significant figures. How
do you go about it?
• If the digit following the last significant digit is less than 5,
drop this digit and leave the remaining digits unchanged.
Thus, 4.584 becomes 4.58.
• If the digit is 5 or greater, drop this digit and add 1 to the
value of the preceding digit. Thus, 5.357 becomes 5.36.
 Addition and Subtraction
• When measurements are added or subtracted,
the answer cannot have more decimal places
than those in the least accurate measurement.

• This means that the answer should be rounded to

the same number of decimal places as the
measurement with the least number of decimal
places.
 Addition and Subtraction
Sample Problem:
• Calculate the sum of three masses: 120.0 g + 34.506 g +
13.15 g. Give the answer to the correct number of
significant figures.
120.0 g
+ 13.15 g
34.506 g
167.656 g
• Since the least number of decimal places among the
three given measurements is one decimal place, the sum
should be rounded to one decimal place. Hence, the final
answer is 167.7 g.
 Multiplication and Division

• When measurements are multiplied or divided, it

is the significant figures, not the number of
decimal places, in each measurement that are
counted. The answer cannot contain more
significant figures than those in the least accurate
measurement.
 Multiplication and Division
Sample Problem:
• What is the density of an object with a mass of 3.250 g and a
volume of 9.37 ml?
Solution:
3.250 g
Density = 9.37 ml = 0.346851654 g/ml

• Since 3.250 has four significant figures, and 9.37 has only
three significant figures, the calculated density should
have three significant figures. Thus, 0.346851654 g/ml
should be rounded to three significant figures, resulting in
a calculated density that is 0.347 g/ml.
 Practice Problems

1. What is the sum of 5.660 km and 0.03974 km?

2. Calculate the difference between 42.8 mL and 4.535 ml.
3. What is the area of a square crystal surface that
measures 2.89 μm by 0.3460 μm?
4. Polycarbonate plastic has a density of 1.2 g/cm3. A tray is
constructed from a sheet of polycarbonate with a
thickness of 0.75 cm and that measures 36.0 cm by
26.0 cm. What is the mass of the tray?
 Section Assessment
1. How many significant figures are there in each of the
following measured values?
a. 7.500 m
b. 0.0040 km
c. 10.0340 g
d. 50 000.00 L
e. 7000 kg

2. Round off 5.6744 to two significant figures

 Section Assessment
3. Carry out the following calculations. Express your answer
to the correct number of significant figures.
a. 3.57 g + 55.6821 g
b. 44.65 ml – 3.886 ml
c. 10.0 m × 310 m
d. 13.88 g
4.2793 ml
What is the mass of a gold sample that occupies 3.5
× 10-3 cm3? The density of gold is 19.3 g/cm3.