Significant figures in Beer's law calculation with colorimeter data

[mad]

Hello guys. I have a little problem here.. we are doing a colorimeter (sorry in advance for the english errors. I don't know if it is called like that in english I am translating from french.) experience and I have to use this formula
D = e* L * C
e= D/ LC

where L is a constant 1cm.

L= 1 cm
D= 0,783 (taken from colorimeter)
C= 0,4841 (concentration I have calculated)

Now I know I'm supposed to keep the same amount of significant numbers than the one that has the less but I know I can't keep only 1 (because of the 1cm which is only 1 number.)

So do I keep my answer with 3 or 4 ? Is D (optical density) considered a constant?

Thanks a lot

 

[Ingwe]

What does the value of L represent? Was it given to you in the experiment outline, or did you measure it?
Often if it's given to you in the experiment, they'll list the correct number of significant digits they'll want, such as 1.00cm. If you had to measure it yourself, my suggestion would be to measure it as accurately as you can to a few decimal places (ie: 1cm and 0mm = 1.0cm). If you do have to measure it yourself though, I'd suggest asking your teacher how many significant figures they want from that measurement.

 

[HallsofIvy]

From your statement "L is a constant 1cm.", I would guess that L is "given" as an exact number. If that is the case, D is the "limiting" measurement. Since it has 3 significant figures, your result should have 3 significant figures.

 

[mad]

From your statement "L is a constant 1cm.", I would guess that L is "given" as an exact number. If that is the case, D is the "limiting" measurement. Since it has 3 significant figures, your result should have 3 significant figures.

Thats what I did. Thank you for your help.