Final answer:
The surface area of the base of a cone with a radius of 1.2 meters is 4.5238934 m² when calculated, but it should be rounded to 4.5 m² due to significant figures. The full surface area of the cone including its lateral surface cannot be determined without the cone's height.
Step-by-step explanation:
The surface area of a cone can be found using the formula A = πr(r + √(h² + r²)), where A denotes the surface area, r is the radius of the base, and h is the height of the cone. Unfortunately, the original question does not provide the height needed to calculate the total surface area, which includes the base and the lateral surface. Therefore, with only the radius given, we can calculate the area of the base of the cone using the formula A = πr², where r is the radius of the base. If the radius of the cone is 1.2 meters, then the area of the base of the cone, expressed in terms of π, is simply π(1.2 m)². When calculated using pi as 3.1415927..., we obtain an initial value of 4.5238934 m² from the calculator.
However, one must consider significant figures in scientific calculations. Here, since the radius is only provided to two significant figures, the calculated surface area should also be rounded to two significant figures. Thus, the area should be reported as 4.5 m² in terms of significant figures.