Final answer:
To round numbers to the correct number of significant figures, locate the last required significant digit and then look at the digit immediately after it to decide whether to round up or remain the same. The numbers 426,912, 0.00275, and 92,631 round to 426,910, 0.0028, and 92,630, respectively, without altering any non-significant digits.
Step-by-step explanation:
To address the student's homework question regarding significant figures, we need to round each number to the specified number of significant digits:
- Round 426,912 to 5 significant figures. The fifth digit is '9', and the next digit is '1', which is less than 5, so it doesn't affect the rounding. Therefore, the number rounded to five significant figures is 426,910.
- Round 0.00275 to 2 significant figures. The first non-zero digit is '2', and the second significant digit is '7', with the next digit being '5', which would round the '7' up to '8'. Thus the number rounded to two significant figures is 0.0028.
- Round 92,631 to 4 significant figures. The fourth digit is '6', and the next digit is '3', which is less than 5, so it doesn't affect rounding. Therefore, the number rounded to four significant figures is 92,630.