Question

Significant Figures: The last page of a book is numbered 764. The book is 3.0 cm thick, not including its covers. What is the average thickness (in centimeters) of a page in the book, rounded to the proper number of significant figures?

Answer 1

0.0079 cm.

Explanation:

We have been given that the last page of a book is numbered 764. The book is 3.0 cm thick, not including its covers.

We know that each page is marked on both sides, so we will find total number of pages by dividing 764 by 2 as:

`\text{Total number of pages}=(764)/(2)`

`\text{Total number of pages}=382`

To find the average thickness of each page, we will divide thickness of book by total number of pages as:

`\text{Average thickness of each page}=(3.0)/(382)`

`\text{Average thickness of each page}=0.0078534031413613`

We can see that there are 3 significant figures in 764 and 2 significant digits in 3.0.

We know that the result of a multiplication or division is rounded to the number of significant figures equal to the smallest number of significant figures among the numbers being multiplied/divided. So we need to round our answer to 2 significant digits.

`\text{Average thickness of each page}\approx 0.0079`

Therefore, the average thickness of each page is approximately 0.0079 cm.