Question

Express 96,342 m using 2 significant figures.

1) 9.60 × 10⁴ m
2) 9.6 × 10⁴ m
3) 9.60 × 10⁻⁴ m
4) 9.6 × 10⁻⁴ m
5) 96,000 m

Answer 1

To express the number 96,342 m using 2 significant figures, you round it to two significant digits and then express it in scientific notation as 9.6 × 10⁴ m.

Step-by-step explanation:

To express 96,342 m using 2 significant figures, we need to round the number to the nearest place that leaves only two non-zero digits. The first two non-zero digits in 96,342 are '9' and '6'. When we round the number to two significant figures, the '3' in the hundreds place will round the '6' in the thousands place up to '7', and all subsequent digits become zero. So, the number 96,342 becomes 97,000 when rounded to two significant figures. However, we want to express this in scientific notation, which would be 9.7 × 104 m. So the correct answer from the provided options is 2) 9.6 × 104 m.