Rules for Deciding Whether a Zero is Significant


There are several rules for deciding whether a zero is significant:

Any zero between digits is significant.
All the zeros in the following are significant:
102        8.07        200.007        1.001
In any number starting 0._ _ _
  1. the zero to the left of the decimal point is NOT significant
  2. any zeros immediately to the right of the decimal point are NOT significant
None of the zeros in the following are significant:
0.1        0.001        0.00000562
The zeros only show what order of magnitude the number is.
In numbers such as 12.000 and 6.00, the zeros to the right of
the decimal point ARE significant.