Question

If you measure the mass of a liquid is 11.50 g and its volume as 9.03 ml how many significant figures should its density value have

Answer 1

Three(3) significant figures.

Step-by-step explanation:

Okay, we are given the following values from the question; mass of the liquid = 11.50 grams(g) = four significant figures and the volume of the liquid= 9.03 millitres (mL) = three significant figures. And then we are to find how many significant figures our answer is going to be. Is it three significant figures, four significant figures or even more?. Before deciding what number of significant figures we are going to use for our answer let us find the value for the density first.

The formula for density is; mass/ volume.

==> 11.50 grams/ 9.03 ml. (Since we are not concerned about the units; the question did not specify us to use any unit, so we will let it be).

=> 1.27353266888 (grams/mL).

So, the rule for rounding off says that: (1). If you are operating on addition and subtraction, you should round off based on decimal numbers from your data that has the least and,

(2). If you are operating on multiplication and division, then you should go for your data value that has the least significant figures.

So, the second rule applies here, and from the question the value with the least significant figures is 9.03 which has three(3) significant figures.

Answer 2

To get a result with the best degree of precision, the number of significant figures should be equal to the smallest number of significant figures of the given numbers. In this case, the smallest is 3 as given by the number 9.03 mL.

Therefore density is:

11.50 g / 9.03 mL = 1.27 g/mL