i looked up the marking scheme. it was given like this:
(answer 2.69 ± 0.09 g cm-3 scores 4 marks).
Can anyone teach me about the use of significant figures while solving the problems like the above one.
Hmm.....this question carries 5 marks.
Ok........the values given to you and which you used in your calculations were 580g and 6.0cm.
In both cases the values were correct to 2 significant figures.
NOTE : The 0 in 580 is not considered as a significant figure but the one in 6.0 is considered as one. In decimals a zero in front of the other numbers is not considers as a significant figure (Example 2) but a zero after the decimal point which has a number in front is a significant figure.(Example 3)
Examples :
1. Express 5.89 correct to 2 sf ---> 5.9
2. Express 0.00875 correct to 2sf ---> 0.0086
3. Express 1.99 correct to 2 sf ---> 2.0
Hope it helps