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Sig Digs and Sci Not

Scientific notation is a method for writing very large or small numbers as a product of a number between 1 and 10 and an exponent of 10. To write numbers in scientific notation, the decimal is moved to place it between 1 and 10, and the exponent tracks the number of places the decimal was moved. Significant digits refer to the meaningful digits in a measurement and following the rules for significant digits ensures accurate calculations and reporting of results.

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60 views

Sig Digs and Sci Not

Scientific notation is a method for writing very large or small numbers as a product of a number between 1 and 10 and an exponent of 10. To write numbers in scientific notation, the decimal is moved to place it between 1 and 10, and the exponent tracks the number of places the decimal was moved. Significant digits refer to the meaningful digits in a measurement and following the rules for significant digits ensures accurate calculations and reporting of results.

Uploaded by

api-449002661
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Significant Digits and

Scientific Notation
Scientific Notation
When we write very large or very small numbers, we
often use scientific notation

Ex: 602 000 000 000 000 000 000 000


Written as 6.02 x 1023

Scientific notation is a method of writing numbers as a


number between 1 and 10
Large numbers
1.Put the decimal after the first digit

Ex. 123 000 000 = 1.23 000 000

2.Find the exponent by counting the number of places from


the decimal to the end of the number

Ex. 1.23 000 000 = 10 8

3.Drop any zeros that are to the right

Ex. 1.23 x 10 8
Small numbers
1.Place the decimal after the first significant digit
Ex. 0.000137 = 00001.37

2.Find the exponent by counting the number of times you moved


the decimal place

Ex. 00001.37 = 10-5

3.Drop any zeros that are to the left

Ex. 1.37 x 10-5


Rules for moving the decimal point

A shift of the decimal point to the LEFT requires the use of a


positive exponent (number is greater than 1)

Ex: 1794 =

A shift of the decimal point to the RIGHT requires the use of a


negative exponent (number is less than 1)

Ex: 0.0001794 =

Examples
1. The mass of the earth is about 6 000 000 000 000 000
000 000 000 kg.

In scientific notation this is ___________________kg

2.The mass of a tiny insect could be 0.000 000 0045 kg.

In scientific notation this is ______________________kg

Practice : Question 1 (chart) on Worksheet #1


What are significant digits?

 In science, we can describe a given value as


having a defined number of “significant digits”, or
digits that “matter”
 The number of digits that are appropriate to
report varies depending on the situation (varying
accuracy)
 Rules must be followed to ensure that the correct
number of “certain” digits are reported
Watch this video of Michael Phelps…
does time matter?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNKrQBGdYW0
Who would have won the Olympics this year if they only measured time to one
decimal place for swimming? Did having more digits matter in this case? Does it
always matter?

 In sports like swimming and sprinting, decimal places really matter.


 In sports like hockey and football, decimal places do not matter.
 Which place value is deemed important or significant depends on the
situation.
Rules for determining significant digits
1. All digits from 1 to 9 are always considered to be
significant. (E.g. 1.23 has three sig digs)

2. Zeros placed between two non-zero digits are


always significant (E.g. 1.003 has four sig digs)

3. Zeros to the left of non-zero digits are not


significant (E.g. 0.00123 has three sig digs)

4. Any zero to the right of a non-zero digit is


significant (E.g. 2.0, 20, and 0.020 all have two sig
digs)
Examples

Value 2.83 36.77 14.0 5.44x105 4500

# Sig. digs

Practice – Question 1 of Worksheet 1


Rules for adding and subtracting

When adding or subtracting, the number of


significant digits is determined by the value
whose sig. dig. is furthest to the left when
numbers are aligned according to their decimal
place.

E.g. 13.64 + 0.075 + 67


Examples
83.25 - 0.1075 =

4.02 + 0.001=

0.2983 + 1.52=
Rules for multiplication and division

When multiplying or dividing, answers should


have the same number of significant digits as the
value with the fewest sig. digs. in the ORIGINAL
question

EXAMPLES
The answer to 608.3 x 3.45 should be recorded to three sig digs

The answer to 4.8/392 should be recorded to two sig digs


Examples

7.255 x 100 =

120.0 / 0.0205 =

1.04 x 225.0 =

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