These problems will help you practice the fundamental rules for identifying and counting significant figures, as well as applying them in basic calculations.

Practice Problems

Solve these problems. Check your answers using the Answer Key at the bottom of the page.

Problem 1: Counting Non-zero Digits

How many significant figures are in the measurement 34.567 centimeters?

Problem 2: Counting Sandwich Zeros

A digital scale reads the mass of a rock as 1.002 kilograms. How many significant figures are in this measurement?

Problem 3: Counting Leading Zeros

A lab instrument measures a time interval of 0.0075 seconds. How many significant figures are in this measurement?

Problem 4: Counting Trailing Zeros (with decimal)

How many significant figures are in the number 20.00?

Problem 5: Counting Trailing Zeros (without decimal)

A car travels a distance of 800 meters. Assuming this is a whole number measurement without a decimal, how many significant figures does it have?

Show Answer Key

Problem 1: 5 significant figures

Problem 2: 4 significant figures

Problem 3: 2 significant figures

Problem 4: 4 significant figures

Problem 5: 1 significant figure

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