Significantdigits

Whenyoudoamathematicalcalculationandyourcalculator
displaysa16digitanswer,howmanyofthosedigitsshould
youwritedown?Inscience,thenumbersyoureworking
withareusuallybasedonmeasurements,andthenumberof
digitstokeepinyouranswerdependsonhowmanydigits
youhaveinyourmeasurements.

Significantdigitsaredigitsthatcomefromthe
measurement.Sometimesacalculationcanresultinextra
zeroesbeingaddedtotheendofalargenumber(like
36,000),orextrazeroesbeingaddedtothebeginningofa
smalldecimalnumber(like0.075).Thosezeroesarenot
significant.

Heresanexample.SupposeyoumeasurethewidthofaTV
screentobe1.2meters.Thatmeasurementismadeupof2
digits,soyouhave2significantdigitsinthat
measurement.IfyouconvertthewidthoftheTVto
centimeters,youget120cm.Butonlytwoofthosedigits,
the1andthe2,arefromthemeasurement. Thezeroatthe
endisnotasignificantdigit.

IfyouconvertthewidthoftheTVscreenintokilometers,
youget0.0012km.Thatnumberalsohastwosignificant
digits,becausetheleadingdigitsdidnotcomefromthe
measurement,andarenotsignificant.

Thegeneralrulesfordetermininghowmanysignificant
digitsthereareinanumberare:

1)Trailingzeroesattheendofanumberthatdoesnot
haveadecimalpointarenotsignificant(likethose
in36,000).

2)Leadingzeroesatthebeginningofadecimalthatis
lessthan1arenotsignificant(likethosein0.075).

3)Allotherdigitsaresignificant,includingcaptive
zeroes(likethosetrappedbetweenthe4sin4004),
trailingzeroesafteradecimalpoint(likein3.200),
andallnonzerodigits.
 Calculationsusingsignificantdigits

Therearetwodifferentrulesforhowmanysignificant
digitstokeepinyouranswerwhenyoudoacalculation,
dependingonwhetheryouaredoingaddition/subtractionor
multiplication/division.

AddingandSubtracting:

Lookforthenumberwhosefinalsignificantdigitendsin
thefarthestdecimalplacetotheleft,andthenroundyour
answertothatsamedecimalplace.Forexample,howmany
digitsshouldwekeepinthiscalculation?
2
720.0+5.410 1170.064=1142.936

Itseasierifwewritetheadditionandsubtraction
vertically,liningupthedecimalpoints.Thelast
significantdigitineachvalueisinbolditalics.

720.0
+540
117
0.064
1142.936

Since540hasitslastsignificantdigitinthe10splace,
youranswershouldberoundedtothe10splace:1140

Multiplyinganddividing:

Whenmultiplyinganddividing,allyoudoisseewhich
numberhasthefewestsignificantdigits,andthenround
youranswertothatsamenumberofdigits.

Inthisproblem

834 52
0. .
48
=183.5534
0
.095 2
.51

The0.095inthedenominatorhasonlytwosignificant
digits,andthatlimitsyouranswertotwosignificant
digits:180

2
 Mixedoperations

Thingsgetalittletrickierwhenyouhaveaproblemthat
mixesadditionorsubtractionwithmultiplicationor
division.Lookatthismonster:
-4
2516
.32 1 13 10
. 2
+8.710 6.8420.0030=1.9182093
6
.00

Howmanyofthosedigitsshouldbereportedinthefinal
answer?

Orderofoperationssaystodoallthemultiplicationand
divisionfirst,andthendotheadditionandsubtraction.

Thefractionatthebeginningoftheequationcalculates
outtobe0.0473907.Sincethisfractionismadeupof
onlymultiplicationanddivision,allyouhavetodois
countthenumberofdigitsineachnumbertoseehowmany
4
tokeep. 1.1310 and6.00eachhavethreesignificant
digits,andthatswhatlimitsthenumberofsignificant
digitsinyouranswer. 0.0473907.Butdonotroundyet!
Allroundingisdoneattheendofthecalculation.Keep
allthedigitsfornow,butrememberwherethelast
significantdigitfalls.

Nextdotheothermultiplication: 6.8420.0030=2.0526
Since0.0030hasonlytwosignificantdigits,youranswer
herehasonlytwosignificantdigits.Butkeepthemall
fornow.

Withallthemultiplicationanddivisiondone,wereonto
additionandsubtraction,sowelldothisjustlikethe
firstone.

Thesignificantdigitsineachnumberareinbolditalics.
Sincewereaddingandsubtractinghere,thefinalanswer
hastoendinthesamedecimalplaceastheleastprecise
ofthenumberswereworkingwith.Since2.0526is
significantonlytothetenthsplace,ourfinalanswerhas
toberoundedtothetenthsplace.

0.0473907
+0.087
2.0526
1.9182093

3
Keepallthedigitsduringthecalculation,butremember
howmanyofthemaresignificant.Doallyourroundingat
theendofthecalculation. Ifyourounded2.0526to2.1
inthemiddleofthecalculation,youwouldgetadifferent
(andincorrect)answerforyourfinalresult.

Afewfinalcomments

Significantdigitsapplyonlytomeasurements,estimates,
androundedvalues.Ifthereare24studentsinyour
classroom,thatisanexactnumberwithnoerror,andhas
aninfinitenumberofsignificantdigits,notjust2.
Countingdoesnotlimityoursignificantdigits,but
estimatingdoes.Fractionssuchasandarealsoexact
(unlesstheyareestimates).

Sometimesameasurementcanbemadetoawholenumberthat
endswithazero. Sincethezerowaspartofthemeasured
value,itissignificant.Forexample,ifagiantTV
screenwasmeasuredtobe180cmacross,the0ispartof
themeasurementandissignificant,butunlessyoumarkit
somehow,peoplewillassumethatthenumberhasbeen
roundedtothe10splace.

Tolabelthefinal0inanumberassignificant,youcan
eitherputadecimalpointafteritwithnothingfollowing
thedecimalpoint,orelseunderlinethelastsignificant
zero:

TheTVscreenis180.cmwide. 180cmwide.

Ifanelephantwasweighedthenearest100lbsandcameout
tobe12,000lbs,youwouldreportitas12,000lbsto
indicatethatthezerointhehundredsplacewaspartof
themeasurementandissignificant.

Beawarethatyoucangainorlosesignificantdigitswhen
addingandsubtracting:

9.52s.d. 11.83s.d.
+2.3 2s.d. 11.0 3s.d.
11.83s.d. 0.81s.d.