Final answer:
The scientific notation "4.800 x 10^-4 g" in standard notation is 0.00048 with all digits being significant. Significant figures represent the precision of measurements, and zeros can be significant based on their position within a number.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question involves expressing a given scientific notation in standard notation and identifying significant digits. The scientific notation provided is "4.800 x 10^-4 g." When converting this to standard notation, we move the decimal point 4 places to the left because the exponent on the 10 is -4.
This gives us 0.00048 as the value in standard notation. It's important to note that each non-zero digit in a number is considered significant, as well as zeros that are between non-zero digits or at the end of a decimal. Hence, all the zeros in the given scientific notation are significant. The correct choice is therefore a. 0.00048 and all digits are significant.
Significant figures are critical in scientific measurements because they convey the precision of the measurement. For example, the number 421.25 rounded to four significant figures would be 421.3.
The number 450 expressed in scientific notation as 4.5 x 10² with two significant digits conveys that only the '4' and '5' are significant, whereas 450.0 with four significant figures would be written as 4.500 x 10², indicating the zero after the decimal point is also significant.