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Dealing with Significant figures is one of the most confusing things in chemistry, or
science in general. This video will show you how to identify the
number of significant figures in any measurement. For starters, all non-zero digits are significant
meaning any number 1 through 9. For example, in the number 1,743,216, all
7 digits are significant. And in 4.57, all 3 digits are significant.
But what do you do if a measurement contains zeros like in these examples?
An easy way to approach this is to think about the United States of America.
The Pacific ocean lies off of the west coast while the Atlantic ocean lies off of the east
coast. What does this have to do with significant
figures? Well, if a decimal point is Present like in
this first example, read the number from the Pacific side or from left to right until you
hit the first non zero digit. From that point on, all other digits will be significant,
so 4 in this case. If the decimal point is absent like in this
next example, read the number from the Atlantic side or from right to left until you hit the
first non zero digit. From that point on, all other digits will be significant, so 2
in this case. So, how many significant figures will there
be in this last example? Before I give away the answer, make sure to
subscribe to my channel because I have so many more time-saving, helpful videos soon
to be released. Since the decimal point is present, read it
from pacific to Atlantic or from left to right and start counting from the first non-zero
digit for a total of 5. If you feel that you now understand how to
identify significant figures, please like this video.
Ready to try a few on your own? I've included all of the rules here to help you practice.
When you are finished, click the link below to check your answers. Thank you for watching!