Round to 4 significant figures.
$0.00238866$
Answer (2)
Identify the first non-zero digit: 2.
Count four digits from the first non-zero digit: 2, 3, 8, 8.
Check the fifth digit: 6 (which is ≥ 5 ).
Round the fourth digit up: 0.002389 .
0.002389
Explanation
Understanding Significant Figures We are asked to round the number 0.00238866 to 4 significant figures. Significant figures are the digits that carry meaning contributing to its precision.
Identifying the First Non-Zero Digit First, we identify the first non-zero digit in the number. In 0.00238866 , the first non-zero digit is 2.
Counting Four Significant Digits Next, we count four digits starting from the first non-zero digit. So, we have 2, 3, 8, and 8. The fourth significant digit is 8.
Applying the Rounding Rule Now, we look at the digit immediately to the right of the fourth significant digit, which is 6. Since 6 is greater than or equal to 5, we round up the fourth significant digit (8) by 1.
Final Result Rounding 8 up by 1 gives us 9. Therefore, the number rounded to 4 significant figures is 0.002389 .
Examples
In scientific measurements, it's often necessary to round numbers to a certain number of significant figures to reflect the precision of the measurement. For example, if you measure the length of an object to be 0.00238866 meters, but your measuring tool only allows you to be precise to 4 significant figures, you would round the measurement to 0.002389 meters. This ensures that you are not implying a level of precision that your measurement does not actually have. Rounding to significant figures is also important in engineering and finance, where precision can have significant impacts on calculations and decisions.
To round 0.00238866 to 4 significant figures, we identify the first non-zero digit and count four digits from there. The fourth digit is rounded up due to the next digit being 6, resulting in 0.002389 .
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