For example, if we wish to compute 123 ' 5.35, the answer is 128 and not 128.35. If we compute the sum 1.000 1 ' 0.000 3 $ 1.000 4, the result has five significant figures, even though one of the terms in the sum, 0.000 3, has only one significant figure. Like- wise, if we perform the subtraction 1.002 " 0.998 $ 0.004, the result has only one sig- nificant figure even though one term has four significant figures and the other has three. In this book, most of the numerical examples and end-of-chapter problems will yield answers having three significant figures. When carrying out estimates we shall typically work with a single significant figure