Question

How many significant figures are in the measurement 0.0005890 g?

Select one:
a. 6
b. 8
c. 4
d. 7
e. 5

Answer 1

The measurement 0.0005890 g has four significant figures: the digits 5, 8, 9, and the trailing zero, which is significant because it comes after a decimal point and other non-zero digits.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question asks for the number of significant figures in the measurement 0.0005890 g. Significant figures are the digits that carry meaning contributing to its precision. In this case, all non-zero digits are always significant. Leading zeros, which are zeros before the first non-zero digit, are not significant. The trailing zero in this measurement is significant because it comes after a decimal point and after a non-zero digit. Thus, the measurement has four significant figures: the 5, the 8, the 9, and the final zero.

To give you more context, let's look at additional examples:

• (d) 0.00045050 has five significant figures; the final zero indicates that a measurement was made to the 0.000001 decimal point, so it is significant.
• (e) 7.210 × 10^6 has four significant figures; any zeros located in between significant figures in a number are also significant.