Question

A student measured the dimensions of a table and recorded the length as 103.50cm and the width as 73.75cm. according to the student’s calculator, the area is 7633.125cm2. what should the student report? explain your answer.

Answer 1

The table is usually the shape of a rectangle. The area is equal to the length times the width. To make sure, let's recalculate the solution.

Area = length × width
Area = 103.50 cm × 73.75 cm
Area = 7,633.125 cm²

So, we established that the answer is correct. Now, I'll introduce the concept of significant figures. There are rules regarding significant figures to be applied conventionally in measurements and calculations. This is to increase precision of the data. Significant figures are digits that carry meaning. When you are given data with a specific number of significant figures, the final answer should also contain the same number of significant figures. In convention, the rule says that the zero's after non-zero digits after the decimal point are significant. Also, all non-zero digits are significant. The value 103.50 has 5 significant figures, and 73.75 has 4. When it comes to multiplication, the answer should contain the least significant figures. So, we should have 4 significant figures. Therefore, the final answer to be reported should be 7,633 cm².