Chemical Forums
Chemistry Forums for Students => High School Chemistry Forum => Topic started by: ght67 on August 31, 2013, 05:55:32 PM
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If I know that a balance gives an uncertainty of +- 0.005g, how many significant figures would I need to report on a reading when the counterweights lie exactly on the 8g mark?
Some websites say to have the reading match the uncertainty's decimal places, so it would be 8.000g +- 0.005g. But other websites say to match the uncertainty's number of sig figs, so it would be 8 +- 0.005g. Which should it be?
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8.000g ± 0.005 is the correct way to display uncertainty.
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your answer should be reported to three decimal places with ±0.005 (uncertainity)