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Significant figures

Significant figures

by Tanvi Mehta -
Number of replies: 2
The thickness of a plate is measured to be 2.17 mm,2.17 mm and 2.18 mm at three different places.Find the avg thickness of the plate from this data.
In reply to Tanvi Mehta

Re: Significant figures

by Sinjan Jana -
According to the question all three readings have 3 significant nos each. so the average of the tree readings should also have 3 significant figures.

so we carry on the computation like this:

average reading = \(\frac{2.17~+~2.18~+~2.17}{3}~\)

= \(2.173333333....\)

= 2.17 {correct no of significant nos}

NOTE that 3 is a sure no and has infinite significant nos.