Significant figures are used to establish the number which is presented in the form of digits.
These
digits carry a meaningful representation of numbers. The term significant digits are also used
often instead of figures. We can identify the number of significant digits by counting all the
values starting from the 1st non-zero digit located on the left. For example, 12.45 has four
significant digits.
The significant figures of a given number are those significant or important digits, which convey
the meaning according to its accuracy. For example, 6.658 has four significant digits. These
substantial figures provide precision to the numbers. They are also termed as significant digits.
RULES FOR SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
• All non-zero digits are significant. 198745 contains six significant digits.
• All zeros that occur between any two non-zero digits are significant. For example, 108.0097
contains seven significant digits.
• All zeros that are on the right of a decimal point and also to the left of a non-zero digit is
never significant. For example, 0.00798 contained three significant digits.
• All zeros that are on the right of a decimal point are significant, only if, a non-zero digit
does not follow them. For example, 20.00 contains four significant digits.
• All the zeros that are on the right of the last non-zero digit, after the decimal point, are
significant. For example, 0.0079800 contains five significant digits.
• All the zeros that are on the right of the last non-zero digit are significant if they come from
a measurement. For example, 1090 m contains four significant digits.
Rounding Significant Figures
A number is rounded off to the required number of significant digits by leaving one or more digits
from the right. When the first digit in left is less than 5, the last digit held should remain constant.
When the first digit is greater than 5, the last digit is rounded up. When the digit left is exactly 5,
the number held is rounded up or down to receive an even number. When more than one digit is
left, rounding off should be done as a whole instead of one digit at a time.
There are two rules to round off the significant numbers:
1. First, we have to check, up to which digit the rounding off should be performed. If the
number after the rounding off digit is less than 5, then we have to exclude all the numbers
present on the right side.
2. But if the digit next to the rounding off digit is greater than 5, then we have to add 1 to the
rounding off digit and exclude the other numbers on the right side.
Examples:
45 – two significant figures
0.00352 – three significant figures
7.4520 – five significant figures
DETERMINING SIGNIFICANT FIGURES USING PACIFIC AND ATLANTIC RULE: PACIFIC
OCEAN
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
PACIFIC RULE (P)
If a number has decimal Present, start counting from the left side the number starting at the first
non-zero number up to the last digit.
Example: 0.00352
The first non-zero starting from the left is 3 then count up to the last digit which is 2 hence it has
three significant figures (3,5,2)
ATLANTIC RULE (A)
If a decimal is Absent in a number, start counting from the right side of the number starting at the
first non-zero digit up to the last digit.
Example: 4500
The first non-zero digit of the number starting at the right side is 5 then counting up to the last digit
which is 4 hence it has two significant figures (4,5)
OTHERS CONVENTIONS ADDRESSING SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
A bar placed at a number states that any number preceding that number is insignificant
Example: 130̅ 0 has three significant figures (1,3,0)
The last significant figure may be underlined
Example: 2000 has two significant figures (2,0)
A decimal point at the end of a number
Example: 500. has three significant figures (5,0,0)
