How to keep track of significant figures?

$E_{cell} = E_{cell}^{\circ}-\frac{RT}{nF}\ln Q$

Kevin_Li_2F
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Jul 22, 2016 3:00 am

How to keep track of significant figures?

For example in HW Question 14.39 using the Nernst equation to solve for the concentration of a compound in a battery, how many significant figures does the final answer have? You have to keep track of the ln rules, and then there's the fact that you're subtracting one term from another, so you have to account for decimal places too. Is there any way to calculate significant figures at the end?

Palmquist_Sierra_2N
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2016 2:56 pm
Been upvoted: 1 time

Re: How to keep track of significant figures?

Well based on the numbers given in the question your final answer should have two sig figs. Look at the values given, and the one with the least number of sig figs is your reference for how many sig figs your final answer should have

Yuchien Ma 2L
Posts: 46
Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2016 2:58 pm

Re: How to keep track of significant figures?

Use the least precise number in the question. You use the least precise number to decide how many sig figs to use.

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