Significant 0’s [ENDORSED]

[Samantha Burmester 3H]

What are the rules for when a 0 is significant regarding the decimal point?
For example, how many significant figures are in the number 0.0850?

[Megan Wong 4E]

Zeroes between 2 nonzero numbers are significant
Ex) 202 has 3 sig figs
Final zeroes or trailing zeroes in the decimal portion are also significant.
Ex) 0.0850 only has 3 significant digits.

[mbaker4E]

You can tell significant 0's by whether or not they contribute to the number's specificity. For example, 0.0850 is more specific than 0.085 because the latter is rounded, but 0.0085 is not a more specific version of 0.0850, it is just an entirely different number.

[Mikka Hoffman 1C]

If you're still having trouble with significant figures, this has been a really helpful resource: https://lavelle.chem.ucla.edu/wp-conten ... OUT_SF.pdf

[Nada AbouHaiba 1I]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnP5vavICZw
this is a different way to remember significant figures
it's helpful if you get confused between decimal present and no decimal

[Jocelyn Thorp 1A]

if it helps, think about how it would be written in scientific notation.

for example .085 would be 8.5*10^-2(meaning the 0 after the decimal is not significant) while .850 would be written as 8.50*10^-1 (so the zero is significant :). for a number like 100 or 200 the zeros aren't considered signifcant unless written as 100. or 2000. signalling that the scientific notation should be 1.00*10² and 2.00*10³ (for 100. and 2000.) while it would be 1*10² and 2*10³ (for 100 and 2000).

It's rough but I hope this helps :)

[Natalie Nartz 4F]

0.0850 would have 3 sig figs, as the two zeros before the 8 are not significant. However the trailing zero following the 5 would be significant

[Luyan Zhang - 2D]

1. Leading zeroes are not significant
eg. 0.00007 only has one sf

2. Trailing zeros in decimals are significant
eg. 0.0000700 has 3 sig figs

3. Trailing zeroes in whole numbers are not significant
eg 7000 only has one sf
(If there is a decimal points after 7000, like 7000., then there are 4 sf)

4. The "in-between" zeroes are always significant
eg. 0.00707 has 3 sf

[Chantel_2I]

Zeroes are also significant when they come after a decimal point and after another significant figure. For example, the zero in 86.0 would be considered a significant figure because it is to the right of 8 and 6, and it is after the decimal point. In cases like this, the zero specifies the degree of accuracy more.