CHEMISTRY COMMUNITY

Let's say I didn't have one long line of dimensional analysis and instead first found one number before later using it again to calculate a final answer. Is it fine to show my work as rounded, even if I keep it exact in my calculator?

I believe so. I usually do the same thing but on the test I'm going to show all my unrounded answers just in case. The most important thing is that you're not rounding before the final answer.

I think it should be fine if you leave a rounded answer for the purposes of showing your work. However, do make sure that you use the unrounded answer for your calculations this will make the answer closer to the exact answer.

Yes, that's fine.

That's fine but while showing your work at least make sure to show your calculated value (at the shortest) at the required sig figs. But again like everyone has said, continue using the expanded value throughout your work

I would personally say to write out your calculations exactly as you input them on your calculator ( unrounded) because if you do by any chance make a mistake with your sig figs in your final answer then your TA will look at your work (for partial credit) and by providing the unrounded values they will see your thought process and that you understood the concept and importance of not rounding until the very end.

When using dimensional analysis, when you round it in the end make sure you round it to the same amount of significant figures as the value with the least amount of significant figures that you used in you calculations.

Within your work, follow the sig figs, but when using your calculator, do not cut off the rest of the numbers. It will seriously skew your results.