
Adding and subtracting significant figures | Science Toolkit | Khan Academy
Khan Academy, 10 min, 1.2K views, Jul 27, 2026
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Courses on Khan Academy are always 100% free. Start practicing—and saving your progress—now! The last digit of a measurement is estimated, so calculated answers cannot be more precise than the least precise measurement. For addition and subtraction, the final answer is rounded to the same number of decimal places as the measurement with the fewest decimal places. To precision-correct a calculation, first find the unrounded total using a calculator, identify the measurement with the fewest decimal places, and then round the total to match that number of decimal places. ------------------ Khan Academy is a nonprofit organization with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Khan Academy has been translated into dozens of languages, and 15 million people around the globe learn on Khan Academy every month. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, we would love your help! Donate or volunteer today! Donate here: https://www.khanacademy.org/donate?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=desc Volunteer here: https://www.khanacademy.org/contribute?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=desc