Question

Perform the following calculations to the correct number of significant figures

1.73 x 0.03010 x 0.90

Answer 1

.047 would have the correct number of significant figures. When multiplying numbers, the final answer is limited to the number of significant figures in the least precise measurement. In this case, the number with the least amount of significant figures is 0.90 which only has two significant figures. The zero before the number does not count but the zero after the 9 does count. The answer .047 can be rewritten as 4.7 * 10^-2 which demonstrates that only two of the digits are significant.