ACCURACY AND

PRECISION
1. let’s say you know your true height is exactly 5’9″.
You measure yourself with a yardstick and get
5’0″.
2. if you consistently measure your height as 5’0″
with a yardstick,
3. If a weather thermometer reads 75oF outside and
it really is 75oF, the thermometer is _________.
4. A refrigerator thermometer is read ten times and
registers degrees Celsius as: 39.1, 39.4, 39.1, 39.2,
39.1, 39.2, 39.1, 39.1, 39.4, and 39.1. However, the
real temperature inside the refrigerator is 37
degrees C.
 ACCURACY
It indicates how close a
measurement is to the
true or accepted value.
 PRECISION
-refers to the closeness
of measurements within
a set of data.
 PRECISION
to assess precision in a data set,
several trials are made especially
during experimentation. The
obtained data should be close to
each other regardless of the true
value for the set of data to be
considered precise.
What is the difference
between precision and
accuracy?
SCIENTIFIC NOTATION
-is a simple way to write and
keep track of very large or very
small numbers without having
to deal with a lot zeros. It
provides a convenient way of
recording results and doing
calculations.
 SCIENTIFIC NOTATION
100= (10)(10)= 1 x 102 one hundred

3
1000= (10)(10)(10) = 1 x 10 one thousand

1 1 One hundredth
= = 1 x 10−2
100 (10)(10)

1 1 −3 One
= = 1 x 10
1000 (10)(10)(10)
thousandth
 Specific guidelines
1. For numbers larger than 10, the
decimal point must be moved to the
left, and the exponent that will be
used in the notation is a positive
number. Numbers without a decimal
point is understood to have one after
its last digit.
Ex. 602, 200= 6. 022 x 105
 Specific guidelines
2. For numbers smaller than 1, the
decimal point must be moved to the
right, and the exponent to be used is
a negative number.
Ex. 0.00000014 x 10−7
 Mathematical
operations Involving
Exponential Numbers
1. Before adding or subtracting
numbers, they are first expressed in
scientific notation such that the
exponent of 10 on both numbers are
the SAME. The numbers are then
added or subtracted, and the
exponent is retained.
1. 2
(1.4 x 10 ) + (2.30 2
x 10 )=
2 3
2. (1.4 x 10 ) + (2.30 x 10 )=

−1 −1
3. (1.30 x 10 ) – (9.6 x 10 )=
−1 −2
4. (1.30 x 10 ) – (9.6 x 10 )=
2. In multiplication, the
numerical parts are simply
multiplied and the exponents
are added.
3. In division, the numerical
parts are divided and the
exponents are subtracted
algebraically.
1. (4 −1
x 10 ) x (2 x −3
10 )=

1. 4
(6 x 10 ) ÷ (3 2
x 10 )=
 Try this!
3 2
1. (8.41 x 10 ) - (5.9 x 10 )=
Answer: 7.82 x 10 2

−4 −4
2. (3.15 x 10 ) + (8.11 x 10 )=
−4
Answer: 11.26 x 10
−3
or 1.126 x 10
 Try this!
3 −2
1. (2.02 x 10 ) x (3.20 x 10 )=
Answer: 6.464 x 10 1

2 5
2. (6.0 x 10 ) ÷ (2.0 x 10 )=
−3
Answer: 3.0 x 10
1. To raise a number written in
exponential form to a
power, such as the second
power or third power, the
exponent is multiplied by
the power.
1. Examples:
3𝑥10 4 2 =
−5 3
2𝑥10 =
1. The nth root of a number
can be written as the
number raised to the 1/n
power.
𝑥=𝑥 1/2
3 1/3
𝑥=𝑥
Examples:
4𝑥 104

3
8𝑥 106
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
AND ROUNDING OFF
NUMBERS
 3 KINDS OF NUMBERS
1. Counted items- are expressed as
exact whole numbers.

2. Defined relations- are exact

numbers but are not always whole
numbers. (12in/ft, 2.54 cm in on inch)
 3 KINDS OF NUMBERS
3. Measured numbers- are those that
are obtained from reading
measuring devices, these numbers
are never exact.
*all the digits that are part of
measurement are considered
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES/SIGNIFICANT
DIGITS.
 Determining Significant Figures
1. Every nonzero digit in a reported
measurement is significant.
Examples:
791.22 m has 5 significant digits.
553 cm has 3 significant digits.
 Determining Significant Figures
2. Leftmost zeros before the first
nonzero digit are not significant; they
only act as placeholders to show the
position of the decimal point.
Examples:
0.089 g has 2 significant digits.
0.0009 has 1 significant digits.
 Determining Significant Figures
3. Zeros in between nonzero digits are
significant.
Examples:
0.005005 m has 4 significant digits.
49, 073 m has 5 significant digits.
 Determining Significant Figures
4. Zeros to the right of a nonzero digit
and to the right of the decimal point are
significant.
Examples:
36.00 m has 4 significant digits.
0.350 s has 3 significant digits.
310.009 mL has 6 significant digits
5. Zeros at the rightmost end of a
measurement that lie to the left of an
“understood decimal point” are not significant
if they serve as placeholders. If such zeros
were known measured values, then they
would be significant. These values can be
clarified as significant if they are written in
scientific notation.
Examples:
80 000 m has 1 significant digit.
43 320 m has 4 significant digits.
1000 m = 1.000 x 103 has 4 significant
digits
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES IN
MATHEMATICAL
OPERATIONS
 The answer to an addition or
subtraction problem should not
have more decimal places than the
least accurate measurement. In
other words, the number with the
least number of decimal places will
dictate the number of decimal
places in the answer.
 In multiplying or dividing
measurements, the answer
should not have more
significant digits than the
measurement having fewest
significant digits.
 Answer the following:
1. (14.7 g) + (2.028 g)=
2. (57.14 m) – (29.5 m)=
3. (1008.67 km)÷ (52.83 L)=
4. (65.02 cm) x (3.87 cm) x (0.250 cm )
 Answer the following:
1. (14.7 g) + (2.028 g)
= 16.728 g or 16.7 g
2. (57.14 m) – (29.5 m)
= 27.64 or 27.6 m
 Answer the following:
3. (1008.67 km)÷ (52.83 L)
=19.09275 km/L or 19.09 km/L
4. (65.02 cm) x (3.87 cm) x (0.250 cm )
3 3
= 62.90685 𝑐𝑚 or 62.9 𝑐𝑚
 RULES IN ROUNDING OFF NUMBERS
1. Decide first as to how many
significant digits the answer should
have. This will depend on the given
measurements and on the
mathematical operations used to obtain
the answer.
 RULES IN ROUNDING OFF NUMBERS
2. Then round off the required number
of digits, counting from the left. If the
number following the digits to be kept
for the answer is less than 5, the digits
are written and reported as is.
Ex. 3.084 rounded off to three digits is
3.08
3. If the number following the digits to
be kept for the answer is 5 or greater,
add 1 to the digit kept.
Ex. 4.899582 rounded off to four digits
is 4900.
Round off 9. 256 to three and two
significant digits.