Just tell me about the importance of significant figures and what are they ?
Question is related to chemistry.
2006-08-27 03:57:08 · 5 answers · asked by moments 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
A significant figure is the numeral representation of a measurement or a data set that defines the precision of your value.
Lets say you were using a thermometer that was precise to +/-0.01 C. Then you had to take a series of temperature measurements, averaged them together and got 72.563451 C as an average. The digits 3451 are insignificant because they are less than the precision of the thermometer.
Your actual answer would be 72.56 +/- 0.01 C. In this answer there are 4 significant figures. Significant figures (sig figs) are counted up to the first digit in the precision statement. (if you ever see data represented with more than one precision digit, it is incorrect, for example 72.563 +/- 0.013 is not correct)
For the same thermometer, if you measured 203.07 +/- 0.01 you would have 5 significant figures.
If you have a data set that you do not know the sig figs, then as a rule of thumb, the value with the fewest sig figs determines the value.
say you added 23.45 + 45.1 + 15.2341 = 83.7841 Then because 45.1 has only 3 sig figs, your answer would only contain 3 sig figs.
83.8 (remember to round!)
There are more mathematically precise ways of determining sig figs, but this should be a good start.
remember, scientists like to know the value of a measurement and how precise the measurement is. Thus sig figs were born!
2006-08-27 04:55:05 · answer #1 · answered by DrSean 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
When doing an experiment, all measurements are made as accurately as possible. With computers an answer can be derived that has many decimal places. The rule says that the answer can not have more significant figures than its least accurate measurement. Example: If you are finding the density of a substance and the mass is 2.7 grams and the volume is 1 ml the density should not be expressed as 2.7g/ml but 3g/ml because the volume was measured only to one significant figure.
2006-08-27 06:02:52 · answer #2 · answered by science teacher 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
significant figures are the least no of figures which makes a particular figure significant
2006-08-27 04:29:26 · answer #3 · answered by ifureadthisur2close 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Anna Nicole Smith has a significant figure.
2006-08-27 06:40:26 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
these are numbers that are used to determine the most accurate answer of the experiment. These are numbers that matter when making calculations and depending if you apply the set of rules, your answer sometimes can deviate from the "correct" answer.
2006-08-27 04:30:16 · answer #5 · answered by Natasha B 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋