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Quiz yourself on Place Value & OrderingGet your flashcardsBuild my revision planTrack my progressIntroduction to Significant Figures
Significant figures tell us about the precision of a measurement. This is an introduction - we'll cover it properly in the rounding topic.
What counts as significant?
- Non-zero digits: Always significant (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
- Zeros between non-zero digits: Always significant (101 has 3 sf)
- Leading zeros: NOT significant (0.05 has 1 sf, the 5)
- Trailing zeros after decimal point: Significant (2.50 has 3 sf)
Examples:
- 123 has 3 significant figures
- 1.05 has 3 significant figures (the zero counts)
- 0.0067 has 2 significant figures (6 and 7)
- 4500 could have 2, 3, or 4 sf (depends on context)
This connects to scientific notation (standard form) which we'll study later.
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