What is the total of these measurements?

a picture showing 4 measurements that are to be added together: 28 l, 42 l, 6 l and 931 l.

Your answer should be rounded to the correct number of significant figures.

1,007 L
1,000 L
1,007.0 L
1,010 L

1 answer

To find the total of the measurements 28 L, 42 L, 6 L, and 931 L, we first add them together:

\[ 28 , \text{L} + 42 , \text{L} + 6 , \text{L} + 931 , \text{L} = 1,007 , \text{L} \]

Next, we must determine the correct number of significant figures in the total.

  • The number 28 L has 2 significant figures.
  • The number 42 L has 2 significant figures.
  • The number 6 L has 1 significant figure.
  • The number 931 L has 3 significant figures.

The result should be rounded to the least number of decimal places present in the measurements being added, which in this case is 0 decimal places (the measurement with the lowest number of significant figures is 6 L, which has 1 significant figure).

Since our total is 1,007 L, it has 4 significant figures. However, rounding it to the appropriate number of significant figures, we express it as:

\[ 1,000 , \text{L} \]

Thus, the correct total rounded to the appropriate significant figures is 1,000 L.