Question

Iosefa multiplies 8.64 g by 2.0 mL to find the density of the liquid that he has collected in an experiment. How should he report his answer with the correct number of significant figures?

17.3
17
17.28
17.2

Answer 1

The correct number of significant figures : 17

Further explanation

Given

mass = 8.64 g

volume = 2 ml

Required

The density of liquid

Solution

Density is a quantity derived from the mass and volume

Density is the ratio of mass per unit volume

Density formula:

`\large {\boxed {\bold {\rho ~ = ~ \frac {m} {V}}}}`

The density :

ρ = 8.64 : 2

ρ = 4.32 g/ml

If we want to find density, then the steps should be as above

But if we ignore the density and just want to find the multiplication value to clarify the significant figure, then we must pay attention to the rule of multiplication, that is, the end result of the multiplication has the least significant number of the numbers involved in multiplying.

8.64 = 3 sig fig

2.0 = 2 sig fig

then the product contains 2 sig fig

8.64 x 2.0 = 17.28 rounded to 2 sig fig ⇒ 17