Suppose you are asked to determine the perimeter of a seven-sided irregular figure. You make the following measurements:
Side 1 = 3.2 m
Side 2 = 4.8 m
Side 3 = 2.000 m
Side 4 = 8.94 m
Side 5 = 11 m
Side 6 = 7.566 m
Side 7 = 4.0 m
How many significant figures should there be in your calculation for the perimeter?
To determine the perimeter of the irregular figure, you need to add up the lengths of all the sides. Let's go through each side measurement and count the number of significant figures.
1. Side 1 = 3.2 m: This measurement has two significant figures.
2. Side 2 = 4.8 m: This measurement also has two significant figures.
3. Side 3 = 2.000 m: This measurement has four significant figures because zeroes between nonzero digits are considered significant.
4. Side 4 = 8.94 m: This measurement has three significant figures.
5. Side 5 = 11 m: This measurement has two significant figures.
6. Side 6 = 7.566 m: This measurement has four significant figures.
7. Side 7 = 4.0 m: This measurement has two significant figures.
Next, let's calculate the perimeter by summing up all the side lengths:
Perimeter = 3.2 m + 4.8 m + 2.000 m + 8.94 m + 11 m + 7.566 m + 4.0 m
Adding these values gives us:
Perimeter ≈ 41.506 m
Now, let's determine the number of significant figures in the final calculated perimeter. Since we're adding the lengths of the sides, the result should have the same number of decimal places as the measurement with the least decimal places, which is the second significant figure. Therefore, the final perimeter should have only two significant figures.
Therefore, the answer for the number of significant figures in the calculation of the perimeter is two.