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JamesJames
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Homework Statement
Solve the following to the proper number of significant figures:
a) A loaded truck has mass (2.12 X 10^4 +/- 6 X 10^2) kg and when empty, it has a mass of (1.72 X 10^4 +/- 5 X 10^2) kg. What is the relative uncertainty of the mass of the gravel dumped from the truck?
The Attempt at a Solution
Ok, so I go through the math and get
Relative Uncertainty = (5 X 10^2 + 6 X 10^2) kg / 4000 = 0.275
My qwuestion is in regards to significant digits. According to me, the # of sig. figs. Here is 1……there is 1 sig. fig. in 5 X 10^2 or 6 X 10^2, whichever you look at, so the answer should be rounded off to one significant figure.
This means that the FINAL answer should be 0.3.
b) v(initial) = 10.5 m/s
v(final) = -7.3 m/s
t = 0.0115 s
Calculate a.
The Attempt at a Solution
I used v(final ) = v(initial) + at and got a = 1533 m/s^2.
Should the correct answer (rounded off to proper number of significant figures) be a = 1.53 X 10^3 m/s^2?
What about 1533 m/s^2 or 1530 m/s^2….would either of these be acceptable OR is the only answer 1.53 X 10^3 m/s^2?