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How do you read a ruler to the proper number of significant figures?
Wiki User
∙ 16y ago
A ruler or scale should not be read to less than the smallest graduation. In practice, in-between measurements can be estimated but they are not significant.
Wiki User
∙ 16y ago
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What are significant figures-?
When a number is written in scientific notation, the digits that do not appear are not significant. The rest are significant figures. For example, when you convert 0.0003102 to scientific notation, it is 3.102 X 10-4. Therefore the zeros before the 3 are not significant.The 3 significant figures implies to all digits around it, regardless of before and after the decimal point. 8.00 has 3 sig.figs. This is because of the 2 zeroes after the decimal point. When you have 30 zeroes after the decimal point, such as 3.000000000000000000000000000000, you have 31 significant figures. 1.23 has 3 sig.figs. This applies to all questions, if needed.The amount of figures given in an answer where you begin with approximates of numbers. The answers should not be more precise than the original measurements. This would lead to a misleading answer, and thus significant figures were created to show an accurate approximation of your answer.The idea of significant figures (sig figs or sf), also called significant digits (sig digs) is a method of expressing error in measurement.The most significant digit is the "first" digit of a number (the left-most non-zero digit). Similarly, the least significant digit is the "last" digit of a number (sometimes, but not always, the right-most digit). A number is called more significant because it carries more weight. In the decimal number system (base 10), the weight of each digit to the left increases by a multiple of 10, and conversely the weight of each digit to the right decreases by a multiple of 10. A similar thing happens in the binary (base 2) number system - see most significant bit.Sometimes the term "significant figures" is used to describe some rules-of-thumb, known as significance arithmetic, which attempt to indicate the propagation of errors in a scientific experiment or in statistics when perfect accuracy is not attainable or not required. Scientific notation is often used when expressing the significant figures in a number.The concept of significant figures originated from measuring a value and then estimating one degree below the limit of the reading; for example, if an object, measured with a ruler marked in millimeters, is known to be between six and seven millimeters and can be seen to be approximately 2/3 of the way between them, an acceptable measurement for it could be 6.6 mm or 6.7 mm, but not 6.666666... mm as a recurring decimal. This rule is based upon the principle of not implying more precision than can be justified when measurements are taken in this manner. Teachers of engineering courses have been known to deduct points when scoring papers if excessive significant figures are given in a final answer.Each of the digits of a number that are used to express it to the required degree of accuracy, starting from the first nonzero digit.Significant figures (also called significant digits) can also refer to a crude form of error representation based around significant figure rounding.Significant figures are digits that show the number of units in a measurement expressed in decimal notation.
How do you figure how many significant figures a number has?
Generally speaking, one can't have more significant figures in the answer to a mathematical equation than the least number of significant figures of all the values used to generate that equation. 6*6=40 6.0*6.0=36 For example: 1.1/2.3=0.478260869... But it doesn't make sense for the answer to have more significant figures than 2: 0.48. The point of significant figures is that the precision of the answer should reflect the precision of the factors that led to the answer. For example, suppose you were trying to measure the length of two pieces of string, with a ruler graduated down to millimeters. Lets say you wanted the sum of the length of the two strings. It would not make sense to express the sum in nanometers, because the precision of the measurements was in millimeter level. It would also be incorrect to express the sum in centimeters even if the result was a number with one or more trailing zeros, the measurements were accurate to 1 millimeter. 374mm + 626mm = 1000mm NOT 1 meter nor 100cm (but 1.000 meter, or 100.0cm)
What is 1.75 on a ruler?
A number.
What is the use of learning significant figures?
Significant figures are used often in science. The number of numbers in the answer informs us succinctly how well or how precisely we know an answer. Typically, a number with few significant figures reflects measurements made with cheap or imprecise equipment, while a larger number of significant figures indicates a more careful measurement using fancier (more precise) equipment. Measurement is always a compromise. You want the "best" numbers you can get, but you do not have infinite time nor infinite money to get that information. (An additional significant figure can cost ten times more than the previous one, and can take twice or more time to do the measurement.) The scientist's art lies in using instruments that are good enough to yield an answer that is accurate enough to decide the question (the hypothesis). You actually make decisions like this one every day. Say, for instance, you want to decide whether you can move your table from your kitchen to your bedroom. Question: is there enough space in your bedroom? First, you "eyeball" the table and the space. If there obviously is enough room, you move the table. But what if you don't know? Well, then you probably use your arms to guess the sizes. If you still can't decide, then you would go get the ruler or tape measure to decide once and for all. As you went through this process, you went from an imprecise measurement to ever more precise measurements, until you were able to decide. You did the easy measurement (eyeball) first because it takes the least time and it could have answered the question easily. The same concept applies to science. We do not automatically use the fanciest equipment we have - that would be a waste of time and money. Instead, we try to use the equipment that will give us a "good enough" answer quickly. The result of these measurements is summarized in the significant figures in our answer. For example, a beaker might be able to tell us that we have 25 mL. If that is as precise as we have to get then the beaker is OK. If, however, we need a more precise answer, we might use a graduated cylinder, which might give us 25.2 mL, or a buret, which might give us 25.18 mL, if we need to know the volume that precisely. Note the approximate volume (25 mL) is the same - the difference is that we know that volume more or less accurately, depending on our need. The beaker gave us 2 significant figures (because it is not very precise). The graduated cylinder gave us 3 significant figures, and the buret gave us 4 significant figures. (The graduated cylinder usually costs more and takes longer to read, and the buret costs still more and takes an even longer time to read.) So the answer is that we use significant figures as a shorthand way of telling each other how carefully we made the measurement. Generally 3 significant figures is a typical laboratory measurement, and 6 significant figures often reflects a research university measurement.
Is a ruler a number line?
yes.
How many significant figures is the measurement 124.0 cm taken using a RULER?
There are 3 significant figures
How many significant figures can you read a meter ruler to?
3. ab.c centimetres or abc millimetres
How many significant figures are in your measurements of length and of width?
It depends on the precision of your ruler. It's usually recommended that you guess one digit after the precision of your ruler. So if you have a meter stick with millimeters as the smallest measurement, try to guess to 10ths of a millimeter. The number of significant figures depends on the size of your measurement. If it is less than 1 millimeter, you would only have one significant figure. For every order of magnitude greater, you would have one more significant figure.
What is the shortest length that could be measured with a cm ruler that would contain four significant figures?
1 cm is the 1st significant digit on this cm ruler.0.1 cm (= 1 mm) is the 2nd, 0.01 cm is the 3rd and finally0.001 cm (= 0.010 mm =10 mu) gives you the shortest measurable distance in FOUR significant figures, this means it is accurate to measure difference between 0.001 and 0.002 cm
How many significant figures are justified in a measurement of a length that is between 9 and 10 centimeters if the measuring device ruler has smallest divisions of 0.1 cm?
You would need to record to the 0.1 cm, then estimate the next significant figure. So you should have a measurement to the 0.01 cm.
What are significant figures-?
When a number is written in scientific notation, the digits that do not appear are not significant. The rest are significant figures. For example, when you convert 0.0003102 to scientific notation, it is 3.102 X 10-4. Therefore the zeros before the 3 are not significant.The 3 significant figures implies to all digits around it, regardless of before and after the decimal point. 8.00 has 3 sig.figs. This is because of the 2 zeroes after the decimal point. When you have 30 zeroes after the decimal point, such as 3.000000000000000000000000000000, you have 31 significant figures. 1.23 has 3 sig.figs. This applies to all questions, if needed.The amount of figures given in an answer where you begin with approximates of numbers. The answers should not be more precise than the original measurements. This would lead to a misleading answer, and thus significant figures were created to show an accurate approximation of your answer.The idea of significant figures (sig figs or sf), also called significant digits (sig digs) is a method of expressing error in measurement.The most significant digit is the "first" digit of a number (the left-most non-zero digit). Similarly, the least significant digit is the "last" digit of a number (sometimes, but not always, the right-most digit). A number is called more significant because it carries more weight. In the decimal number system (base 10), the weight of each digit to the left increases by a multiple of 10, and conversely the weight of each digit to the right decreases by a multiple of 10. A similar thing happens in the binary (base 2) number system - see most significant bit.Sometimes the term "significant figures" is used to describe some rules-of-thumb, known as significance arithmetic, which attempt to indicate the propagation of errors in a scientific experiment or in statistics when perfect accuracy is not attainable or not required. Scientific notation is often used when expressing the significant figures in a number.The concept of significant figures originated from measuring a value and then estimating one degree below the limit of the reading; for example, if an object, measured with a ruler marked in millimeters, is known to be between six and seven millimeters and can be seen to be approximately 2/3 of the way between them, an acceptable measurement for it could be 6.6 mm or 6.7 mm, but not 6.666666... mm as a recurring decimal. This rule is based upon the principle of not implying more precision than can be justified when measurements are taken in this manner. Teachers of engineering courses have been known to deduct points when scoring papers if excessive significant figures are given in a final answer.Each of the digits of a number that are used to express it to the required degree of accuracy, starting from the first nonzero digit.Significant figures (also called significant digits) can also refer to a crude form of error representation based around significant figure rounding.Significant figures are digits that show the number of units in a measurement expressed in decimal notation.
How do you figure how many significant figures a number has?
Generally speaking, one can't have more significant figures in the answer to a mathematical equation than the least number of significant figures of all the values used to generate that equation. 6*6=40 6.0*6.0=36 For example: 1.1/2.3=0.478260869... But it doesn't make sense for the answer to have more significant figures than 2: 0.48. The point of significant figures is that the precision of the answer should reflect the precision of the factors that led to the answer. For example, suppose you were trying to measure the length of two pieces of string, with a ruler graduated down to millimeters. Lets say you wanted the sum of the length of the two strings. It would not make sense to express the sum in nanometers, because the precision of the measurements was in millimeter level. It would also be incorrect to express the sum in centimeters even if the result was a number with one or more trailing zeros, the measurements were accurate to 1 millimeter. 374mm + 626mm = 1000mm NOT 1 meter nor 100cm (but 1.000 meter, or 100.0cm)
How do significant figures tell the certainty of a measurment?
For example, if you were to measure something with a normal ruler and you wrote the measurement like this. 34.123684978 meters That numbers suggests that you know the length right down to the number of nanometers. But you didn't. If you only know the answer down to a tenth of a mm then you write the answer like this.. 34.1237 That way you are not giving a false impression.
Who was the most significant ruler the roman empire?
Julius Giaus Caesar
Why is it significant that Octavian did not take the title of dictator?
because he was the first actual ruler
Why is is significant that Octavian did not take the title of dictator?
because he was the first actual ruler
What is 1.75 on a ruler?
A number.
