Morsy
CHEM 101-Chapter 1
12
Rules for Counting Significant Figures:
Nonzero integers are countable
as SF.
Zeros:
- "Leading zeros
are not significant. e.g. 0.0025 (2
SF)
- "Captive zeros Count as
s.f. e.g.: 1.008 (4 SF)
- "Trailing zeros count as s.f. eg. : 100 = 1.00
X 102 (3 SF)
Exact numbers have an infinite number of SF
e.g. 10 experiment, 5 apples, 8 books
so on. ..
Exponential notation:
it is used to express large or small numbers in the
correct SF
e.g.
0.000060 ΰconvenient ΰ 6.0 x 10-5
1.5
Significant Figures (SF) and Calculations