Q: A student records the volume of a liquid in a graduated cylinder as shown in the image. What is the correct reading, including the estimated digit, and how many significant figures does it have?

$$4.58$$\ \text{mL}$$, 3$$\ \text{significant figures}

Question 1

Which of the following numbers contains exactly three significant figures?

Accepted Answer

$$0.0540$$

Question 2

A student records the volume of a liquid in a graduated cylinder as shown in the image. What is the correct reading, including the estimated digit, and how many significant figures does it have?

Accepted Answer

$$4.58$$\ 	ext{mL}$$, 3$$\ 	ext{significant figures}

Question 3

How many significant figures are in the measurement $$1.00000$$?

Accepted Answer

$$6$$

Question 4

Which of the following best describes the difference between accuracy and precision?

Accepted Answer

Accuracy is how close a measurement is to the true value; precision is how close repeated measurements are to each other.

Question 5

Which of the following numbers has four significant figures?

Accepted Answer

$$28.03$$

Question 6

What is the correct answer to the following calculation, reported with the correct number of significant figures: $$2.345 + 0.07 + 2.9975$$?

Accepted Answer

$$5.41$$

Question 7

Which of the following statements about zeroes is correct according to the rules for significant figures?

Accepted Answer

Leading zeroes are not significant.

Question 8

A student measures the mass of a sample three times and gets values of $$10.01 g$$, $$10.02 g$$, and $$10.00 g. $$The true mass is $$10.00 g. $$Which statement is correct?

Accepted Answer

The measurements are both accurate and precise.

Question 9

What is the correct answer to $$5.9 - 0.221$$, reported with the correct number of significant figures?

Accepted Answer

$$5.7$$

Question 10

Which of the following best explains why you should not round intermediate steps in a multistep calculation?

Accepted Answer

Rounding intermediate steps can introduce rounding errors that affect the final answer.

Question 11

Which of the following numbers is ambiguous in terms of significant figures and should be reported in scientific notation?

Accepted Answer

$$5000$$

Question 12

A measurement is recorded as $$5.213. $$Which digit is estimated?

Accepted Answer

$$3$$

Question 13

Which of the following is an example of a systematic error?

Accepted Answer

A scale that always reads $$0.05 g $$too high.

Question 14

How many significant figures are in the number $$0.00090$$?

Accepted Answer

$$2$$

Question 15

Which rule applies when multiplying $$2.34 (3 $$sig figs) by $$0.071 (2 $$sig figs)?

Accepted Answer

The result should have $$2$$ significant figures.

Question 16

A student adds $$1.23 g$$, $$0.004 g$$, and $$0.56 g. $$What is the correct answer with the proper number of decimal places?

Accepted Answer

$$1.79$$\ 	ext{g}$

Question 17

Which of the following best describes random error?

Accepted Answer

An error that has equal probability of being too high or too low.

Significant Figures and Measurement Reliability in Chemistry

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