1 / 21

Significant Figures

Significant Figures. Not all numbers matter…. Significant Figures. Definition: Digits of a number that are relevant when doing mathematical calculation. Significant figures are useful so we know when to “cut off” the amount of digits used in answering a problem.

wiley
Download Presentation

Significant Figures

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Significant Figures Not all numbers matter…

  2. Significant Figures • Definition: Digits of a number that are relevant when doing mathematical calculation. • Significant figures are useful so we know when to “cut off” the amount of digits used in answering a problem. • Just because it’s on the calculator, doesn’t mean it has to be part of the written answer…

  3. Rules for Significant Figures • Most figures are significant • There are 2 basic rules for when a digit, or “figure” in a number isn’t significant. • Rule #1: If a “0” is: a) at the end of a number AND b) THERE’S NO DECIMAL POINT then those 0’s aren’t significant.

  4. Rule #1- Examples Some of the digits here are significant and some are not: 240,000 5024 200.300 significant NOT significant Significant Significant

  5. Rules for Significant Figures • Rule #2: If a “0” is at the BEGINNING of a number, it is NOT significant

  6. Rule #2- Examples Some of the digits here are significant and some are not: 0245.08 0.000005024 NOT significant significant NOT Significant significant

  7. Practice • On your white board, write down the number of significant digits for each number, then hold your board up facing the teacher.

  8. Practice 23061

  9. Practice 26,000

  10. Practice 26,000.0

  11. Practice 26,000.030

  12. Practice 03.14

  13. Practice 0.00314

  14. Using Significant Figures • We use significant figures in math to know how “much answer” to use. • For Example: • The number goes on forever, you need to know how many decimal places to use.

  15. Addition and Subtraction • The answer has the least amount of numbers after the decimal as the numbers you are adding together.

  16. Example Consider the problem: 100.37 2.356 + 6000.652274 Two places after the decimal Three places after the decimal Six places after the decimal

  17. Example Consider the problem: 100.37 2.356 + 6000.652274 6103.37 Two places after the decimal Three places after the decimal Six places after the decimal Two places after the decimal in the answer.

  18. Multiplication and Division • The answer matches the smallest number of significant digits as the numbers you are multiplying or dividing together.

  19. Example • Consider the problem: 120 x 2.28 273.6 Two significant digits Three significant digits Needs Two significant digits

  20. Example • Consider the problem: 120 x 2.28 270 Two significant digits Three significant digits Two significant digits This number gets rounded off and the last digit becomes a 0

  21. Practice • Complete the worksheet on Significant Figures for your classwork today.

More Related