Question

When multiplying 2.3mm by 8.00mm to find area, how would you report your answer

Answer 1

Here first we will identify the number of significant figures in the given two dimensions

2.3mm : there are two significant numbers

8.00mm: there are three significant numbers

so we will report the answer to minimum number of significant number , which is two

the answer is 18.4

We will report it to be 18 mm^2

Answer 2

Answer : The correct answer will be, $1.8\times 10^1mm^2$

Explanation :

Significant figures : The figures in a number which express the value -the magnitude of a quantity to a specific degree of accuracy is known as significant digits.

The rule apply for the multiplication and division is :

The least number of significant figures in any number of the problem determines the number of significant figures in the answer.

The given expression is:

$Area=(2.3mm)\times (8.00mm)$

$Area=18.4mm^2$

In the given expression, 2.3 has 2 significant figures and 8.00 has 3 significant figures. From this we conclude that 2 is the least significant figures in this problem. So, the answer should be in 2 significant figures.

Thus, the answer will be $1.8\times 10^1mm^2$