10
QuizLong Text

Scientific Measurement

Question 10 • (Rogowski)WCA 4321 Environmental Science 1st 9 weeks 26-27

Explain why significant figures represent the precision of a measurement and not its accuracy.

Answer

Answer:

Significant figures indicate how finely a measurement was recorded: they include its certain digits and the final estimated digit. This describes the measurement's precision or resolution. A measurement can have many significant figures and still be inaccurate if it is far from the true value; accuracy depends on closeness to that value.