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Rules for Numbers WITH a Decimal Point
- START counting for sig. figs. On the FIRST non-zero digit.
- STOP counting for sig. figs.
- Non-zero digits are ALWAYS significant.
- Any zero AFTER the first non-zero digit is STILL significant. The zeroes BEFORE the first non-zero digit are insignificant.??
Moreover, how many sig figs does this number have?
Suppose we have the number 0.004562 and want 2 significant figures. The trailing zeros are placeholders, so we do not count them. Next we round 4562 to 2 digits, leaving us with 0.0046 .
Keeping this in view, what are the 5 Rules for significant figures?
Significant Figures
- Annotation category:
- RULES FOR SIGNIFICANT FIGURES.
- All non-zero numbers ARE significant.
- Zeros between two non-zero digits ARE significant.
- Leading zeros are NOT significant.
- Trailing zeros to the right of the decimal ARE significant.
- Trailing zeros in a whole number with the decimal shown ARE significant.
two