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how many significant figures are in each of the following numbers? a) 12.202 5 b) 205 3 c) 1.05 3 d) 0.0001040 4 e) 0.01 1 f) 0.010 2 g) 1230 4 h) -40.0

User Janechii
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1 Answer

2 votes

Answer:

A) 5

B) 3

C) 3

D) 4

E) 1

F) 2

G) 3

H) 3

Explanation:

The rule of significant figures is kind of confusing however I will try to explain this in the best way I know:

A) 12.202 since the 0 is sandwiched between two other numbers that are not zeros, this one has 5 sig figs

B) 205 again since the 0 is sandwiched between two other numbers that are not zeros, this one has 3 sig figs.

C) 1.05 again with the previous rules, this also has 3 sig figs

D) 0.0001040 This is is where the rule changes. The first sig fig is the 1, because it is not a 0, however all the zeros before it are not significant. The next zero is significant because of the rule stated previously, this number has 4 sig figs.

E) 0.01 Like explained in the previous step, since the zeros before the one do not have a non zero on both sides they are not significant so this number has 1 sig fig

F) 0.010, Again with E, the significant numbers start at 1, however it ends with a zero and because there is a decimal in this number, that zero is also significant so it has 2 sig figs

G) 1230 So the 1, 2 and 3 are significant, this number ends in 0, however since it does NOT have a decimal, this number is not significant. This number has 3 sig figs

H) -40.0. This number kind of combines all the rules. Because of the decimal both of these zeros are considered significant, so this number has 3 sig figs

User Nakeer
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