Reference library107 entries

Tag: significant figures

Practical explanations, worked examples, and reference notes for reporting numbers correctly.

Oct 2026

Significant Figures in Engineering Drawings: How to Read and Apply Tolerance Rounding

Engineering drawings use significant figures and decimal places to encode precision and tolerance. Learn the standards, rounding rules, worked examples, and pitfalls for reading…

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Oct 2026

Significant Figures

How to Round a Number in Scientific Notation to a Given Number of Significant Figures

Round the coefficient to the required number of significant figures, apply the correct tie convention, and renormalize if the coefficient reaches 10.

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Sep 2026

Chemistry

Percent Error in Chemistry: AP, IB, and High School Grading Conventions

Percent error in chemistry is |experimental − accepted| ÷ |accepted| × 100%, but AP, IB, and high-school grading differ on sign, sig figs, and…

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Sep 2026

SQL and databases

Significant Figures in SQL: How to Round and Store Numeric Data in Databases

SQL databases separate exact DECIMAL/NUMERIC storage from approximate FLOAT/REAL storage. Significant-figure rounding is usually a presentation or conformance step, not a storage default.

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Aug 2026

Tools & code

Significant Figures in Excel, Sheets, Python, R, and Calculators: A Precision Reference

Learn how different software tools handle significant figures and rounding, with standards citations, worked examples, and common pitfalls to avoid.

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Aug 2026

ASTM E29

Rounding Standards Compared: ASTM E29, ISO 80000-1, NIST, and Classroom Rules

A comprehensive comparison of rounding conventions across major standards—ASTM E29, ISO 80000-1, NIST, and typical classroom rules—with worked examples, common pitfalls, and practical guidance…

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Aug 2026

Physics

Significant Figures in Physics Lab Reports: A Complete Working Guide

A comprehensive guide to applying significant figures in physics lab reports, covering rules, standards, common pitfalls, and worked examples to ensure precision and correct…

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Aug 2026

Chemistry

Significant Figures in Chemistry: Stoichiometry, pH, and Molar Mass

Master significant figures in chemistry with a focus on stoichiometry, pH calculations, and molar mass. Learn rules, standards, and common pitfalls.

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Aug 2026

Error Propagation

Error Propagation: How Uncertainty Moves Through a Calculation

Learn the rules for propagating uncertainty through addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and powers, with worked examples, common pitfalls, and standards citations from GUM, ISO,…

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Aug 2026

Accuracy vs Precision

Accuracy, Precision, and Uncertainty: What Each One Actually Measures

Understand the distinct meanings of accuracy, precision, and uncertainty in measurement, with standards-based definitions, worked examples, and common pitfalls.

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