The length, breadth and thickness of a rectangular sheet of metal are 4.234 m, 1.005 m, and 2.01 cm respectively. Give the area and volume of the sheet to correct significant figures.
Solution and Explanation
Length of sheet, l = 4.234 m
Breadth of sheet, b = 1.005 m
Thickness of sheet, h = 2.01 cm = 0.0201 m
The given table lists the respective significant figures:
Quantity: l , Number: 4.234, Significant Figure: 4
Quantity: b , Number: 1.005, Significant Figure: 4
Quantity: h , Number: 2.01, Significant Figure : 3
Hence, area and volume both must have the least significant figures i.e., 3.
Surface area of the sheet = 2 (l × b + b × h + h × l) = 2(4.234 × 1.005 + 1.005 × 0.0201 + 0.0201 × 4.234) = 2 (4.25517 + 0.02620 + 0.08510) = 2 × 4.360 = 8.72 m2
Volume of the sheet = l × b × = 4.234 × 1.005 × 0.0201 = 0.0855 m3
This number has only 3 significant figures i.e., 8, 5, and 5.
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Concepts Used:
Significant Figures
The significant figures of a given number are those significant or important digits, which convey the meaning according to its accuracy. For example, 6.658 has four significant digits. These substantial figures provide precision to the numbers. They are also termed as significant digits.
Rules for Significant Figures:
- All non-zero digits are significant. 198745 contains six significant digits.
- All zeros that occur between any two non zero digits are significant. For example, 108.0097 contains seven significant digits.
- All zeros that are on the right of a decimal point and also to the left of a non-zero digit is never significant. For example, 0.00798 contained three significant digits.
- All zeros that are on the right of a decimal point are significant, only if, a non-zero digit does not follow them. For example, 20.00 contains four significant digits.
- All the zeros that are on the right of the last non-zero digit, after the decimal point, are significant. For example, 0.0079800 contains five significant digits.
- All the zeros that are on the right of the last non-zero digit are significant if they come from a measurement. For example, 1090 m contains four significant digits.