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High School Chemistry : Using Significant Figures

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for High School Chemistry

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Example Questions

Example Question #62 : Measurements

Which of the following numbers has 4 significant figures?

Possible Answers:

1001

$8.11\cdot10^4$

1340

$4\cdot 10^3$

$2\cdot 10^3$

Correct answer:

1001

Explanation:

For scientific notation, the exponent next to the ten has nothing to do with significant figures; it's the decimal number before it that determines the number of significant figures. Based on those decimal numbers, $2\cdot 10^3$ and $4\cdot 10^3$ each have one significant figure, and $8.11\cdot10^4$ has three significant figures. When dealing with non-decimal numbers, zeros only count if they are in between two non-zero numbers. That means that 1,340 only has three significant figures, and 1,001 has 4 significant figures.

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Example Question #63 : Measurements

Answer the following problem using the correct number of significant figures.

$130.5 \cdot 12 =?$

Possible Answers:

2000

1570

1566

1600

1560

Correct answer:

1600

Explanation:

Whenever multiplying, the final answer will have the same number of significant figures as the number with the least least number of significant figures in the question. 130.5 has 4 significant figures and 12 has 2 significant figures, that means that our answer must have 2 significant figures. $130.5 \cdot 12 =1566$ , but that's 4 significant figures instead of 2. So we need to round this to 2 significant figures. Our answer to the correct number of significant figures is 1600.

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Example Question #64 : Measurements

Answer the following using the correct number of significant figures.

14.1 + 12 + 5.634 =?

Possible Answers:

31.73

31.7

31.734

Correct answer:

Explanation:

When adding numbers, the answer should use the the least number of decimal places of those in the question. 14.1 has one decimal place (one number behind the decimal), 12 has no decimal places, and 5.634 has 3 decimal places; this means that the answer must have no decimal places. 14.1 + 12 + 5.634 =31.734 , this must be rounded to zero decimal places. Thus we round up to 32.

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Example Question #63 : Measurements

You are doing an experiment and are measuring how the pressure changes of a gas in a container which you are changing the volume. You have the gas in a small cylinder that has mL markings. The pressure sensor has a high precision and can display pressures of $\pm0.01\,kPa$ . You will be changing the volume by 1 mL for every data pair and recording the pressure. Your first data pair you write down is when you have a volume of $45.0\,mL$ which gives a pressure of $102.03\,kPa$ . If you write down $45.0\,mL$ for your volume, what is the appropriate number of significant figures to use for your first pressure measurement?

Possible Answers:

$100\,kPa$

$102.0\,kPa$

$102.03\,kPa$

$102\,kPa$

Correct answer:

$102\,kPa$

Explanation:

Notice that the most precise you can get with your volume measurement is $\pm0.1\,mL$ and your recorded value has 3 significant figures. You must take no more than 3 significant figures for your pressure measurement even if the device is more precise than this (which it is). Your recorded value must be

$102\,kPa$

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High School Chemistry : Using Significant Figures

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for High School Chemistry

All High School Chemistry Resources

Example Questions

Example Question #62 : Measurements

Example Question #63 : Measurements

Example Question #64 : Measurements

Example Question #63 : Measurements

All High School Chemistry Resources

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DMCA Complaint

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