Final answer:
When dividing 318 thousand by 78.16, the quotient should be reported using 4 significant digits.
Step-by-step explanation:
When dividing 318,000 by 78.16, we need to consider significant digits. Significant digits are the digits in a number that carry meaning or contribute to its precision. To determine the number of significant digits in a quotient, we use the following rule:
Rule for division: The quotient should have the same number of significant digits as the dividend (the number being divided).
In this case, 318,000 is the dividend and has 4 significant digits. Therefore, the quotient should also have 4 significant digits.
Dividing 318,000 by 78.16 gives us an answer of approximately 4061.076, but we need to limit it to 4 significant digits. Rounding to 4 significant digits gives us the final answer as 4061.