Editing Significant figures (section)

=== Ways to denote significant figures in an integer with trailing zeros ===
The significance of trailing zeros in a number not containing a decimal point can be ambiguous. For example, it may not always be clear if the number 1300 is precise to the nearest unit (just happens coincidentally to be an exact multiple of a hundred) or if it is only shown to the nearest hundreds due to rounding or uncertainty. Many conventions exist to address this issue. However, these are not universally used and would only be effective if the reader is familiar with the convention:

*An [[overline]], sometimes also called an overbar, or less accurately, a [[Vinculum (symbol)|vinculum]], may be placed over the last significant figure; any trailing zeros following this are insignificant. For example, 13{{overline|0}}0 has three significant figures (and hence indicates that the number is precise to the nearest ten).
*Less often, using a closely related convention, the last significant figure of a number may be [[underline]]d; for example, "1<span style="text-decoration: underline;">3</span>00" has two significant figures.
*A decimal point may be placed after the number; for example "1300." indicates specifically that trailing zeros are meant to be significant.<ref name="Chemistry Significant Figures">{{cite book |last1= Myers |first1= R. Thomas |last2= Oldham |first2= Keith B. |last3= Tocci |first3= Salvatore |title= Chemistry |year= 2000 |publisher= Holt Rinehart Winston |location= Austin, Texas |isbn= 0-03-052002-9 |page= [https://archive.org/details/holtchemistryvis00myer/page/59 59] |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/holtchemistryvis00myer/page/59}}</ref>

As the conventions above are not in general use, the following more widely recognized options are available for indicating the significance of number with trailing zeros:

*Eliminate ambiguous or non-significant zeros by changing the [[unit prefix]] in a number with a [[unit of measurement]]. For example, the precision of measurement specified as 1300&nbsp;g is ambiguous, while if stated as 1.30&nbsp;kg it is not. Likewise 0.0123&nbsp;L can be rewritten as 12.3&nbsp;mL.
*Eliminate ambiguous or non-significant zeros by using Scientific Notation: For example, 1300 with three significant figures becomes {{val|1.30|e=3}}. Likewise 0.0123 can be rewritten as {{val|1.23|e=-2}}. The part of the representation that contains the significant figures (1.30 or 1.23) is known as the [[significand]] or mantissa. The digits in the base and exponent ({{val||e=3}} or {{val||e=-2}}) are considered exact numbers so for these digits, significant figures are irrelevant.
*Explicitly state the number of significant figures (the abbreviation s.f. is sometimes used): For example "20&nbsp;000 to 2&nbsp;s.f." or "20&nbsp;000 (2&nbsp;sf)".
*State the expected variability (precision) explicitly with a [[plus–minus sign]], as in 20&nbsp;000&nbsp;±&nbsp;1%. This also allows specifying a range of precision in-between powers of ten.