Final answer:
In multiplication and division, the final answer must match the number of significant figures in the number with the fewest significant figures. For addition and subtraction, the result is limited to the fewest decimal places in any term.
Step-by-step explanation:
In division and multiplication, the correct number of significant figures in the answer is determined by the number in the calculation with the fewest significant figures. The final result should be rounded to match the precision of the least precise number used in the calculation.
This ensures that the answer does not imply a higher level of precision than the input values. In contrast, for addition and subtraction, the final answer should be given the same number of decimal places as the term with the fewest decimal places.
For instance, when calculating the area of a circle (A = πr²), if the radius (r) is given as 1.2 meters with two significant figures, then the area calculated should also be reported with two significant figures. As a practical example, if we were to divide 23 by 448, with two and three significant figures respectively, we would report our final answer with just two significant figures, being the lesser of the two.