Final answer:
To convert 34,500 to scientific notation with three significant figures, we place the decimal point after the first non-zero digit and multiply it by 10 raised to the power of the number of places the decimal point was moved (in this case, four places to the left).
Step-by-step explanation:
To convert 34,500 to scientific notation with three significant figures, we start by counting the number of non-zero digits in the original number. In this case, there are five non-zero digits, so we will have five significant figures in the scientific notation. The decimal point is placed after the first non-zero digit, giving us 3.45. Then, we multiply that by 10 raised to the power of the number of places the decimal point was moved. Since we moved the decimal point four places to the left, the exponent will be -4. Therefore, 34,500 in scientific notation with three significant figures is 3.45 × 10-4.