Final answer:
The correct answer is option a. The correct result of the calculation 6.02 + 5.119 + 0.04218 has three significant figures because the final rounded answer is 11.18, matching the smallest number of decimal places in the numbers added.
Step-by-step explanation:
When performing addition, the number of decimal places in the result should match the smallest number of decimal places of any number in the sum. In this calculation, 6.02 has the fewest decimal places, which is two. Therefore, the answer should be rounded to two decimal places. The calculation is as follows:
- Add 6.02 + 5.119 + 0.04218 to get 11.18118.
- Round to the smallest number of decimal places that is two decimal places, yielding 11.18.
Thus, there are three significant figures in the final answer because in the number 11.18, '1', '1', and '8' are all significant.
To determine the number of significant figures in the sum of 6.02, 5.119, and 0.04218, we need to consider the rule for addition and subtraction: the result should have the same number of decimal places as the measurement with the fewest decimal places.
Among the given measurements, 0.04218 has the fewest decimal places (2 decimal places), so the sum should be rounded to 2 decimal places. Therefore, the answer has four significant figures.