Determining Sig Fig's

[Erik Buetow 1F]

It's been a while since I've taken chem, so just a quick reminder... how do we determine how many sig fig's to round to in any given problem?

[Andrew Liang 1I]

To determine how many sig fig you should write in an answer really depends on the problems. So the general rule is that the number of sig fig of your answer should have the same number of the lowest sig fig number in the problem.

Ex: 2.1 x 3.54 = 7.434 but you will need to round the answer to 7.4 because in the problem 2.1 only has 2 sig fig and 3.54 has 3 sig fig. Therefore, your answer should only have 2 sig fig.

[April Pazos 3D]

Whether you are adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing, the ground rule is to have the same amount of sig figs as the value with the lowest amount of sig figs.

[Michelle Shin 4B]

Also make sure to only round for sig figs at the end of your calculations to ensure that you get the most accurate answer possible.

[KeyaV1C]

https://lavelle.chem.ucla.edu/wp-conten ... OUT_SF.pdf

^ link has everything in detail you need to know about sig figs. It’s also on the Chem 14A class website.

[Pipiena Malafu 3J]

Here are the basic rules listed below:

1. Non-zero digits are always significant.
2. Any zeros between two significant digits are significant.
3. A final zero or trailing zeros in the decimal portion ONLY are significant.

Just remember that multiplication and addition are different processes.