Question

Abdullah has seen that any measurement involves an estimate and thus is uncertain to some extent. He signifies the degree of certainty for a particular measurement by the number of significant figures he record. Give the number of significant figures for each of the following measurements.

a. 0.0022 lb
b. 0.100 L
c. 1.220 x 10^4 ft
d. 0.001 kg
e. 252.40 mL

Answer 1

(a) 0.0022 lb ( 2 significant figures)

(b) 0.100 L ( 3 significant figures)

(c) 1.220 x 10⁴ ft ( 4 signifcant figures)

(d) 0.001 kg ( 1 signifcant figure)

(e) 252.40 mL ( 5 signifcant figures)

Step-by-step explanation:

(a) 0.0022 lb has 2 significant figures, the zeros before 2 are leading zeros serving as placeholders.

(b) 0.100 L has 3 significant figure, the zeros after 1 are trailing zeros and they count.

(c) 1.220 x 10⁴ ft has 4 significant figures

(d) 0.001 kg has 1 significant figure, the zeros before 1 are leading zeros serving as placeholders, they do not count

(e) 252.40 mL has 5 significant figures