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Let usdiscussthisimportantandoverlookedtopic.Itisquiteimportantyou
understandsignificantfiguresasyougoaboutwritingyourlabreports.

IvanAbraham,TA

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Iwilltalkabouttheobjectivesforthissessionwithme,Iwillintroduce
theconceptofsignificantfigures,Iwillgiveyousomerulesfor
identifyingthenumberofsignificantfiguresinameasuredquantityand
somemorerulesforkeepingsignificantfiguresincalculationsinvolving
measuredquantitiesandIwillconcludewithwhyitisimportanttokeep
significantfiguresinmindwhenyouwriteyourlabreports.Sobytheend
ofthissessionyoushouldbeabletodoallthreethingslistedonthis
slide.

IvanAbraham,TA

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Significantfiguresisatermusedtorefertothefiguresordigitswithinthe
numericalrepresentationofameasurementthatholdstruemeaning.Okaythatis
quiteamouthful.WhatdoesthatmeaninEnglish?Wellinengineering,wedoalot
ofmeasurements.Wemeasurelengths,velocities,massesandsoonandon.Itis
partofourjobsasengineerstomakemeasurementsatsomepointortheother.
Witheverymeasurementwemake,thereisacertainuncertaintyassociatedwithit.
Forexample,ifIgaveoneofyouatapemeasureandaskedyoutomeasurethe
widthofthetableyouaresittingat.Wellisitprecisely12.464inches?Isntthere
roomformeasurementerroronyourpart?Alsothetapemeasureisntgraduated
tothethousandsofaninch.Ithasgotafiniteprecision.Correct?Sotherewill
alwaysbeanuncertaintyassociatedwiththevalueyoureport.Insciencewereport
thisuncertaintyalongwithourmeasurementas12.45 0.05inchesormaybeas
12.45 5%.Inmathematicsthereisanentirefieldonhowthisuncertaintyis

IvanAbraham,TA

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carriedalongincalculationsandformulaeyouusetodeterminevariousvalueslike
areaorvolumeforexample.Thisfieldofengineeringmathematicsiscalled
propagationofuncertainty.Nowthisisacomplexfieldwhichendsupinvolving
partialdifferentialcalculusandwewillnotbedelvingintothat.Whatwecovertoday
isasimplerversionofpropagationofuncertainty.
LikeImentionedbefore,ameasurement12.45 0.05inchesimpliestheuncertainty
isinthelastdigit.Whereasameasurementof12.450 0.005impliestheuncertainty
isinthirddigitafterthedecimalpoint.Itiscommonpracticetodropthe partand
justreportthenumbersas12.45and12.450whereitisimpliedthattheuncertainty
isintheseconddigitafterthedecimalpointinthefirstcaseandinthethirddigit
afterthedecimalpointinthesecondcase.Hence,thefirstmeasurement12.45has
foursignificantfigures.Allthefourdigitsholdmeaning.Inthecaseof12.450we
havefivesignificantdigits.Sohowdoweknowhowmanysignificantfiguresare
thereinameasurement?Wellwehaveafewsimplerules.

IvanAbraham,TA

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Therulesareasfollows.Sointheexamplegiventhere0101.12030wehave5non
zerodigits:1,1,1,2,3.Allaresignificant.
Wehavetwozerosbetweennonzerodigits:0101.12030.Sointotalnowwehave7
significantdigits.
Theleadingzeroisignored.
Andthisnumberhasadecimalpointsothelastzeroissignificant.0101.12030That
givesatotalof8significantdigits.Constantslikepiandeareassumedtohavean
infinitenumberofsignificantdigits.

IvanAbraham,TA

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Can youmakesenseoftheseexamples?Letslookatthefourthexampleandthethenthe
last3examples.
0.0052has2significantdigits.Not fourorfive.ALLleadingzerosareALWAYSinsignificant.
Whythisissowillbecomeclearwhenyoudosomecalculationswithanumberlike0.0052.
1000.hasfoursignificantfigures.Theperiodattheendtellsyouthatallfourdigitsare
significant.1000ontheotherhandwellwejustdontknowhowaccurateyour
measurementtoolthatreported1000was.IfyouDIDknowthatitisaccuratetothetens
placethenyoucouldunderlinethesecondzeroandthenthatvaluewouldhave3
significantfigures.

IvanAbraham,TA

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Nowhowdoyoumaintainthissenseofsignificantfiguresasyouperformedcalculations?
Wellthroughthesetwosimplerules.
Forexampleifyoutookoutyourcalculatoranddid8.02times8.02itwouldreportthe
quantityas64.3204.HoweverYOUknowthatyourmeasurementwasonlyaccuratetothe
1/100thsplacesoyourcalculatedareacannotbeaccuratetothe1/10th thousandthplace.
Youmaysayitis64.32becausethatswhatroundingtothe100th placegives,butinfactit
is64.3.Why?Becauseeachoriginaloperandhadonly3significantfigures(in8.02)andso
yourresultcanalsohaveonly3.Inawaybecauseyoumultipliedtwoquantitieswith
uncertaintyinthem,andtherebyyourresulthasgreateruncertaintythaneitherofthe
originalmeasurement.Makessense?
Inadditionandsubtraction,youkeepasmanydigitsafterthedecimalpointasthemost
uncertainofyouroperandsasintheexampleshownabove.

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Finally,whenitcomestorounding,ifthelastdigitisabove5,roundup,ifitsbelow5round
down.Ifitis5,thenyouhaveacoupleofoptions.Ifollowtheconventionthatifthe
precedingnumber(without5)isevenIrounddown,ifitsoddIroundup.Example1234.65is
1234.6(because1234.6isevenyourounddown)while1234.35becomes1234.4(because
1234.3isodd,youroundup).

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Canyouwork yourwaythroughtheseexamples?
Thelasttwosetsofaveragesareinteresting.Youneedtoremembertoapplyfirst the
additionruleandthenthemultiplicationrule.

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Sobynowyoushouldunderstandwhat itmeanswhenwetalkaboutsigfigsinameasured
value,youshouldbeabletocountsigfigsinameasuredvalueandyoushouldknowhow
toretaintheconceptofuncertaintyasyouinvolvedmeasuredquantitiesincalculations.
Andwhydowecare?Becauseashonestengineers,wedontwanttoimplyalevelof
accuracyorprecisionforourequipmentthatwedonthave.
ExampleyoutookhardnessvaluesonHRBscaletobe78.2,73.5,75.5andthenyoureport
theaveragehardnessvaluetobe75.73333.WRONG.Itshouldonlybe75.7.

IvanAbraham,TA