Understanding Significant Figures - High School Physics

There are two categories that count as significant figures: non-zero numbers before the decimal point and everything after the decimal point.

When performing any operation between two numbers with different significant figures, always base it off the smallest number of significant figures. In this case, has only one significant figure; therefore our answer should also have only one significant figure.

Always keep the least number of significant figures. Two types of figures can be significant: non-zero numbers and zeroes that come after the demical place.

has 3 significant figures while also has 3.

Therefore, your answer should also have 3 significant figures.

Your answer should have the same number of significant figures as the term with the fewest significant figures. There are only two categories that qualify as significant figures: any terms after the decimal point and non-zero digits before the decimal.

In this problem, has the fewest number of significant figures: only one. has three significant figures, but its precision is diminished by multiplying by a less precise term.

When multiplying or dividing, the answer must have the same number of significant figures as the term with the fewest significant figures in the problem. In this question, the one term () has two significant figures, and the other term () has three. Our final answer must match the term with the fewest significant figures: two.

Round to the tens place to get an answer with only two significant figures.

When multiplying or dividing, the answer must have the same number of significant figures as the term with the fewest significant figures in the problem. In this question, the one term () has only significant figure, and the other term () has four. Our final answer must match the term with the fewest significant figures: one. It is important to remember that zeroes after a decimal are significant figures, and determine the precision of a value. Zeroes before a decimal, such as in , simply serve as place holders, and are no considered significant unless there is a decimal or scientific notation to clarify the term.

Round to the ones place to get an answer with only one significant figure.

Leading and trailing zeroes are not considered significant. To make this problem simpler, we may want to re-write the equation in scientific notation.

The first term still has three digits, all of which are significant. The second term, however, has been reduced to only one digit. Our term with the fewest significant figures determines how many significant figures should be in the solution. In this case, there would only be one significant figure in the solution.

Significant figures are used to round scientific calculations in order to preserve precision. Every initial measurement will carry some degree of uncertainty or variation. It is important to carry that uncertainty to the final calculation, instead of unintentionally assigning greater certainty to the given values.

When determining significant figures, any zeroes that precede the first non-zero digit are considered insignificant and any zeroes that follow the final non-zero digit are considered insignificant. Any and all non-zero digits are significant. Sometimes it can help to write a number in scientific notation to identify significant figures.

Significant figures are used to round scientific calculations in order to preserve precision. Every initial measurement will carry some degree of uncertainty or variation. It is important to carry that uncertainty to the final calculation, instead of unintentionally assigning greater certainty to the given values.

When determining significant figures, any zeroes that precede the first non-zero digit are considered insignificant and any zeroes that follow the final non-zero digit are considered insignificant. Any and all non-zero digits are significant. Sometimes it can help to write a number in scientific notation to identify significant figures.

Significant figures are used to round scientific calculations in order to preserve precision. Every initial measurement will carry some degree of uncertainty or variation. It is important to carry that uncertainty to the final calculation, instead of unintentionally assigning greater certainty to the given values.

When determining significant figures, any zeroes that precede the first non-zero digit are considered insignificant and any zeroes that follow the final non-zero digit are considered insignificant. Any and all non-zero digits are significant. Sometimes it can help to write a number in scientific notation to identify significant figures.

When deciding how many significant figures your answer should have, base it off the given value with the fewest significant figures. In this case, the velocity has two significant figures and the time has three; therefore, our answer should have only two significant figures in order to match the least precise given value (velocity).

We can calculate our answer using the formula for velocity.

Rounded to two significant figures, we can say that the car travels .