Final answer:
Option B is correct option. The product of 123.4567 cm and 2.00 cm should be expressed using the same number of significant figures as the measurement with the fewest significant figures, which is three. Hence, the result, initially calculated as 246.9134 cm², should be rounded to 246.9 cm².
Step-by-step explanation:
The student is asked to calculate the product of two measurements (123.4567 cm and 2.00 cm) and to express the result using significant figures. In mathematics, particularly when dealing with measurements in science and engineering, it's important to adhere to the significant figures rules to ensure that the precision of the answer reflects the precision of the inputs.
When multiplying numbers, according to the significant figures rules, we must round our result to the same number of significant figures as the measurement with the fewest significant figures. In this case, 123.4567 cm has seven significant figures, and 2.00 cm has three significant figures; thus, the result should have three significant figures.
After performing the multiplication, 123.4567 cm × 2.00 cm gives an unrounded answer of 246.9134 cm². To adhere to significant figures rules, we should round to three significant figures, which gives us 247 cm² (Note that we round the 6 up to 7 because the next digit, 9, is five or higher). Therefore, the correct option, applying significant figures rules to multiplication, is B) 246.9 cm².