High School Physics : Understanding Significant Figures

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for High School Physics

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Example Questions

Example Question #11 : Understanding Significant Figures

A car travels at a rate of  for . How far does the car travel?

Your answer must include the appropriate number of significant figure.

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

When deciding how many significant figures your answer should have, base it off the given value with the fewest significant figures. In this case, the velocity has two significant figures and the time has three; therefore, our answer should have only two significant figures in order to match the least precise given value (velocity).

We can calculate our answer using the formula for velocity.

Rounded to two significant figures, we can say that the car travels .

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