Significant Figures (S.F.)

The word ‘significant’ means ‘vital’ or ‘important’ and it is another way of approximating numbers. A figure’s position in a number shows what the figure is worth.

Example:

The number 28 065 has five figures or digits.

Note that s.f is a short way of writing significant figure.

Also, the number  5  0  0  9  0  0  0    has  4 significant figures. 

Notice that zeros in the middle of a whole number are significant while zeros at the end are not significant (insignificant).