#physics solutions

HC Verma – Concepts of Physics Solutions

How many significant figures does each of the following numbers have? a) 310 b) 0.00310 c) 1.031 d) 3.10(10)^5

How many significant figures does each of the following numbers have? a)  310 b)  0.00310 c)  1.031 d)  Solution:

Part a

Zeroes before the decimal point merely locate the decimal point and are not significant. Thus, 310 has 2 significant figures. 

Part b

Trailing zeros after the decimal point are significant because they indicate increased precision. Therefore, 0.00310 has 3…

How many significant figures does each of the following numbers have? a)  53.2 b)  0.53 c)  5.320 d)  0.0532

How many significant figures does each of the following numbers have? a)  53.2 b)  0.53 c)  5.320 d)  0.0532 Solution:

Part a

All nonzero digits are significant, therefore, 53.2 has 3 significant figures.

Part b

 The number 0.53 can be written in scientific notation as . Therefore, 0.53 has 2 significant figures.

Part c

Trailing zeros are significant because they indicate increased…