Sig Digits Flashcards
Sig Digits
Digits are grouped in three using a space instead of commas; e.g. 1 674.14.
Leave a space between the last digit and the SI unit: e.g. 12.5 m
Do not use a period after the SI unit.
Units are not pluralized.
Use product dots between different SI units; e.g. kPa·L/mol·K
Do not mix words & symbols; meter/s should be m/s or meter per second
Use symbols instead of full names for units, with numerals; e.g. 458 cm
Use prefixes so that numerals lie between 0.1 and 1000; e.g. 55 000 g should be 55 kg
Sig Fig Rules
All nonzero digits are significant. 28.03 0.0540
Interior zeros are significant. 408 7.0301
Leading zeros are not significant. 0.0032 0.00006
Trailing zeros are sometimes significant:
after a decimal point are significant 45.000 3.5600
before a decimal point are significant 140.00 2500.55
before an implied decimal point are ambiguous and scientific notation should be used.
