AppendixA:SignificantFigures

Calculators make itpossible togetananswer withahugenumberoffigures. Unfortunately manyofthemaremeaningless!Forinstanceif youneededtosplit$1.00amongthreepeople, you could never give them each exactly $0.333333 The same is true for measurements. If you use ameter stick with millimetermarkingstomeasurethelengthofa key, as in figure B1, you could not measure morepreciselythanaquarterorhalforathird ofamm. Reporting anumber like 5.8132712 cmwouldnotonlybemeaningless,itwouldbe misleading. youmightusethoseestimatestodeterminethe uncertaintiesinyourmeasurements. Whataresignificantfigures? The number of significant figures tells the readertheprecisionofameasurement. Table A1 gives some examples. One of the things thatthistableillustratesisthatnotallzerosare significant. For example, the zero in front of 0.45isnotsignificant,whilethe0in1.50is.

FigureA1

TableA1 Length (centimeters) 12.74 11.5 1.50 1.5 12.25345 0.8 0.05

In your measurement, you can precisely determine the distance down to the nearest millimeterandthenimproveyourprecisionby estimating the next figure. It is always assumed that the last figure in the number recordedisuncertain.So,youwouldreportthe length of the key as 5.81 cm. Since you estimatedthe1,itistheuncertainfigure.Ifyou don'tlikeestimating,youmightbetemptedto just give the number that you know best, namely5.8cm,butitisclearthat5.81cmisa betterreportofthemeasurement.Anestimate isalwaysnecessarytoreportthemost precise measurement. When you quote a measurement, the reader will always assume thatthelastfigureisanestimate.Quantifying that estimate is known as estimating uncertainties. Appendix B will illustrate how

Numberof Significant Figures 4 3 3 2 7 1 1

Agoodruleistoalwaysexpressyourvaluesin scientificnotation. Ifyousaythatyourfriend lives143mfromyou,youaresayingthatyou aresureofthatdistancetowithinafewmeters (3significantfigures). Whatifyoureallyonly know the distance to a few tens of meters (2 significantfigures)? Thenyouneedtoexpress thedistanceinscientificnotation1.4x102m. Isitalwaysbettertohavemorefigures? Considerthemeasurementofthelengthofthe key Figure A1 if we used a scale with ten etchings to every millimeter. Then we could useamicroscopetomeasurethespacingtothe nearest tenthofamillimeter andguessatthe

A-1

one hundredth millimeter. Our measurement couldbe 5.174cmwiththeuncertainty inthe last figure, four significant figures instead of three. This is because our improved scale allowedourestimatetobemoreprecise. This added precision is shown by more significant figures.Themoresignificantfiguresanumber has,themorepreciseitis.

The examples above illustrate some rules of working with numbers. First, do all calculationswithasmanysignificantfiguresas youhave.Then,attheendofthecalculations, roundthenumberofftothecorrectnumberof significantfiguresfortheanswer. Noticethat wehadtoroundtheuncertainfigure.

How do I use significant figures in calculations? Whenusing significant figuresincalculations, youneedtokeeptrackofhowtheuncertainty propagates. There are mathematical proceduresfordoingthisestimateinthemost precisemanner.Thistypeofestimatedepends onknowingthestatisticaldistributionofyour measurements. Withalotlesseffort,youcan do acruder estimate ofthe uncertainties in a calculatedresult. Thiscrudemethodgivesan overestimateoftheuncertaintybutitisagood place to start. For this course this simplified uncertaintyestimate(describedinAppendixB andbelow)willbegoodenough. Additionandsubtraction Doing addition and subtraction is straightforward. Your result should have the number of significant figures as the least precisemeasurement.Someexamplesaregiven below.Theuncertainfigureineachnumberis showninboldfacedtype.

Multiplicationanddivision Multiplicationanddivisionaremorecomplicated than addition. The common rule, keeping the same number of significant figures in your answer asinthe starting number withtheleast significant figures, may not always work. As shown in the examples. However, this is the quickest and best rule to use. When in doubt, youcankeeptrackofthesignificantfiguresinthe calculationasisdoneintheexamples.

multiplication 15.84 17.27 x 2.5 x 4.0 7920 69.080 3168 39.600 69. 40 division 117 25 23)2691 75)1875 23 150 39 375 23 375 161 161 2.5x101 1.2 x 102

addition
6.242 +4.23 +0.01 3 10.485 10.49

subtraction
5.875 4 3.3 2.535

2.54

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PRACTICEEXERCISES 1.
Determinethenumberofsignificantfiguresinthefollowingtable.

Length (centimeters) 17.87 0.4730 17.9 0.473 18 0.47 1.34x102 2.567x105 2.0x1010 1.001 1.000 1 1000 1001
2.

Numberof Significant Figures

Add:121.3to6.7x102: Answer:121.3+6.7x102=7.9x102

3.

Multiply:34.2and1.5x104 Answers:34.2x1.5x104=5.1x105

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