262/0.00492; 3 significant digits

Question

What is the 3 significant digits if this probl 

 

Answer 1

I'm assuming you are asking about the answer?  For the 262, those are your 3 significant digits.  Fo the 0.00492, it's the 492.  The 0's are just place holders.  So your answer (for a multiplication or division problem) has to be just 3 significant digits as well.

 

If we outright do this division, we get 53,252.03252 which has way too many digits.  We can only use the first 3.  Your best bet is to report the number in scientific notation, as 5.33x10⁴.  This clearly shows the 3 sig digits as the 533.  Without scientific notation, you would be forced to list this as 53,300  

 

(Note that the first 2 in the original problem rounds up to a 3, due to the 5 that comes after it.)