Question

How many significant figures does each value contain? 5.6803 kg has significant figures. 0.00047 seconds has significant figures. 0.240 miles has significant figures.

Answer 1

5.6803 has five significant figures.

0.00047 has two significant figures.

0.240 has three significant figures.

What are Significant Figures?

Significant figures are numbers that are necessary to express a true value.

Place the values in scientific notation.

`5.6803 * 10^(0) = 5.6803\\\\4.7 * 10^(-4) = 0.00047\\\\2.4 * 10^(-1)=0.240`

Step-by-step explanation

5.6803

The zero that is within 5.6803 is "trapped," meaning it is in between two nonzero digits. Therefore, all five digits are significant figures.

This answer is also already in scientific notation because 5.6803 satisfies the inequality
`1 < x < 10`, which decides if a number is correctly written in scientific notation or not.

0.00047

The zeroes that precede the 4 and the 7 are not significant because they are dropped in scientific notation and are not trapped by other nonzero digits. Therefore, only two digits of this value are significant.

0.240

Since the zero at the end of 0.240 is a trailing zero, it is significant along with the 2 and the 4. The zero that precedes these digits and the decimal point is not significant. Therefore, only three digits of this value are significant.

Therefore:

5.6803 has five significant figures.

0.00047 has two significant figures.

0.240 has three significant figures.