Editing Significant figures (section)

=== Significant figures in writing uncertainty ===
It is recommended for a measurement result to include the measurement uncertainty such as <math>x_\text{best}\pm\sigma_{x}</math>, where ''x''<sub>best</sub> and ''σ<sub>x</sub>'' are the best estimate and uncertainty in the measurement respectively.<ref>{{cite web |last=Luna |first=Eduardo |title=Uncertainties and Significant Figures |url=https://www.deanza.edu/faculty/lunaeduardo/documents/UncertaintyandSignificantFig.pdf |website=DeAnza College }}</ref> ''x''<sub>best</sub> can be the average of measured values and ''σ<sub>x</sub>'' can be the standard deviation or a multiple of the measurement deviation. The rules to write <math>x_\text{best}\pm\sigma_{x}</math> are:<ref>{{Cite web|title=Significant Figures|url=https://web.ics.purdue.edu/~lewicki/physics218/significant|website=Purdue University – Department of Physics and Astronomy}}</ref>
* ''σ<sub>x</sub>'' should usually be quoted to only one or two significant figures, as more precision is unlikely to be reliable or meaningful:
** 1.79 ± 0.06 (correct), 1.79&nbsp;±&nbsp;0.96 (correct), 1.79&nbsp;±&nbsp;1.96 (incorrect).
* The digit positions of the last significant figures in ''x''<sub>best</sub> and ''σ<sub>x</sub>'' are the same, otherwise the consistency is lost. For example, "1.79&nbsp;± 0.067" is incorrect, as it does not make sense to have more accurate uncertainty than the best estimate.
** 1.79 ± 0.06 (correct), 1.79&nbsp;±&nbsp;0.96 (correct), 1.79&nbsp;±&nbsp;0.067 (incorrect).