Question

What is the difference between the following?

(i) $2.5\times {10}^{3}g$ and $2.50\times {10}^{3}g$
(ii) $160cm$ and $160.0cm$.

Answer 1

(i) $2.5\times {10}^{3}g$ has two significant figures while $2.50\times {10}^{3}g$ has three significant figures. Hence $2.50\times {10}^{3}g$ represents greater accuracy than $2.50\times {10}^{3}g$.

(ii) 160 has three significant figures while 160.0 has four significant figures. Hence 160.0 represents greater accuracy.