Final answer:
To evaluate the numerical expression 6+3.4, you add the two numbers to get 9.4, taking into account the significant figures. The answer should be expressed with the same number of decimal places as the term with the fewest decimal places.
Step-by-step explanation:
Evaluating Numerical Expressions with Significant Figures
To evaluate the expression 6+3.4, we simply add the two numbers. However, when dealing with significant figures, we need to take into account the number of decimal places in each term. Since the number 3.4 has one decimal place and 6 is a whole number, our final answer should be expressed to one decimal place as well. Thus, 6+3.4 equals 9.4. It's also important to consider the significant figures when performing operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division to ensure that the final answers reflect the precision of the original numbers.
Here are some examples of how to perform these operations with the proper significant figures:
In the case of 0.00665 + 1.004, the sum is 1.01065, but the final answer should be rounded to 1.011 as the least number of significant figures after the decimal in any of the numbers being added is three.
For the difference 45.99 - 32.8, the result is 13.19. The final answer should be 13.2 since the term with the least number of decimal places (32.8) has one.