Numbers in Science

Multiply 365.25 and 1440. (days per year by minutes per day). Write the result in both regular and scientific notation. How many of the digits are significant.

Regular notation:   526000   
Scientific notation  5.260 x 10⁵
There are 4 significant digits.

Solution Steps for Problem 3

The key: Remember the definition of significant digits.

Since the fewest number of significant digits in a multiplication determines the number of significant digits in the result, there are 4 significant digits since 1440. only has 4 sig figs. While the exact multiplication of 365.25 and 1440. is 525960, rounding to 4 significant figures means that the 6 rounds the 9 up, which carries over to round up the 5.

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Developed by

Shodor
in cooperation with the Department of Chemistry,
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill