Sig Figs [ENDORSED]

[leilawilliams16]

My high school chem teacher did not stress this!!!! please explain SOS

[Husnia Safi - 1K]

Ok so the rules of sig figs are:
1. Non-zero digits are always significant. (so 3.23 would have 3 sig figs)
2. Any zeros between two significant digits are significant. (202 would have 3 sig figs)
3. A final zero or trailing zeros in the decimal portion only are significant (0.00500 would have only 3 sig figs, the zeros in front count only as place holders)

[Aleisa Quach 3C]

If you're still confused about sigfigs, you should try looking at the "Everything you want to know about sigfigs" link on the Chem14A website. I was confused, and it was really helpful!

[Alex Kashou]

There is a link on his site that "everything you want to know about sig figs." However, the basics are that numbers like 40 have only 1 sig fig because there is no decimal after as compared to 40. which is 2 sig figs. Furthermore, 3.02 is 3 sig figs while 3.020 is 4 sig figs even though they are technically the same number. Now when doing actual calculations with numbers, you mainly need to know multiplication and division and occasionally some addition and subtraction. The rule for multiplication is to use the least amount of sig figs in your answer from your given values. For example (9.0)(4.00)= 36 because we only want 2 sig figs. (same would go for division). For addition and subtraction, its basically the number of decimal places in your answer are the smallest number of decimal places in your data. EX. 55.54+40.7=96.2 because the least number of decimal places is 1. That is the basics but make sure to look at his website for more info.

[Sean Kang 1F]

When will we start using sig figs for our answers?