Uncertainties and significant figures

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2 replies · 2K views
Benjamin Irwin
If I have a result that can only be quoted to 2s.f., let's say 20, and I calculate an uncertainty of 0.2, then how do I quote this?
 

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Is this the result of taking the mean of data where each data point is only good to 2 significant figures and the standard deviation is 0.2?
If so, I would allow more significant figures for the mean.
If not, you may need to describe how you got these numbers in more detail.
 

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