CM-UY 1004 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Significant Figures
20 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
When making calculations, significant figures become very important. You must always be careful to remember how many significant figures your separate values have. The rules governing addition and subtraction, and those gocerning multiplication and division are a little different: addition and subtraction of significant figures. Addition and subtraction of significant figures follow a sumple rule: the final value must have only as many decimals as the original value with the least number of decimal places. For example, lets say you have to add the number 1. 121 and. But, because 1. 121 has only three decimal places, the answer must actually be 55. 473, since it is at the third decimal place that uncertainty begins to enter the picture: significant figures in multiplication and division. The rule governing multiplication and division of significant figures is slightly different than that for addition and subtraction, but just as simple:
