significant figures and decimal places
Post on 17-Jan-2018
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SIGNIFICANT FIGURES AND DECIMAL PLACES
Decimal places
1. Count along the digits to the required number of decimal places.2. Look at the next digit
• If it is less than 5, leave the digit before it as it is.• If it is 5 or more, you must round up the digit before it.
It is often useful to give an answer to a number of decimal places.
If you are asked to round a number to 2 decimal places you must have exactly 2 digits after the decimal point.
The following rules are used:
Examples
1 Write 5.3472 correct to 2 decimal places.
5.3472 the next digit is 7 so you must round up
5.3472 = 5.35 to 2 d.p.
Examples
2 Write 36.4319 correct to 2 decimal places.
36.4319 the next digit is 1 so the digit before it will not change
36.4319 = 36.43 to 2 d.p.
Examples
3 Write 0.0088 correct to 2 decimal places.
0.0088 the next digit is 8 so you must round up
0.0088 = 0.01 to 2 d.p.
Examples
4 Write 126.2043 correct to 2 decimal places.
126.2043 the next digit is 4 so the digit before it will not change
126.2043 = 126.20 to 2 d.p. note: you must keep the 0 in your answer
Examples
5 Write 27.998 correct to 2 decimal places.
27.998 the next digit is 8 so you must round up
27.998 = 28.00 to 2 d.p.
Examples
6 Write 49.3254 correct to 3 decimal places.
49.3254 the next digit is 4 so the digit before it will not change
49.3254 = 49.325 to 3 d.p.
Examples
7 Write 7.8798 correct to 3 decimal places.
7.8798 the next digit is 8 so you must round up
7.8798 = 7.880 to 3 d.p.
Significant figures
1. Count along the digits to the required number of significant figures. (The most significant figure is the first non-zero figure.)2. Look at the next digit
• If it is less than 5, leave the digit before it as it is.• If it is 5 or more, you must round up the digit before it.
You may also be asked to round to a number of significant figures.
To round a number to a given number of significant figures use the following rules:
Examples
1 Write 53872 correct to 2 significant figures.
53872 the next digit is 8 so you must round up
53872 = 54000 to 2 s.f.
Examples
2 Write 76408 correct to 1 significant figure.
76408 the next digit is 6 so the digit before it will not change
76408 = 80000 to 1 s.f.
Examples
3 Write 6.439 correct to 3 significant figures.
6.439 the next digit is 9 so you must round up
6.439 = 6.44 to 3 s.f.
Examples
4 Write 0.00342 correct to 2 significant figures.
0.00342 the next digit is 2 so the digit before it will not change
0.00342 = 0.0034 to 2 s.f.
Examples
5 Write 0.00899 correct to 2 significant figures.
0.00899 the next digit is 9 so you must round up
0.00899 = 0.0090 to 2 s.f.
Estimating
1. Round each of the numbers to 1 significant figure.2. Do the calculation using your rounded numbers.
It is important that you know how to check if your answer to a calculation is a sensible answer.
To estimate the answer to a calculation use the following steps:
Examples
1 Estimate the answer to 5.78 2.14
5.78 6 2.14 2
5.78 2.14 6 2 12
2 Estimate the answer to 28.217 2.97
28.217 30 2.97 3
28.217 2.97 30 3 10
Examples
3 Estimate the answer to 42.8 4.113.22 5.96
42.8 40 4.114
3.22 3 5.96 6
42.8 4.113.22 5.96
40 43 6
3618
2
Examples
4 Estimate the answer to
389 813.7(40.6)2
389 400 813.7 800 40.6 40
389 813.7(40.6)2
400 80040 40
200
10 20
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