Significant figures help?

Question

Would the zeros in 331500 count as significant figures?

And would the zeros in 6000.3 be significant also? I'm a little confused.

Answer 1

Always write the numbers in standard form / scientific notation first.

331500 = 3.315 * 10^5. So the zeros are not significant.

6000.3 = 6.0003 * 10^3. So the zeros are significant.

I hope that helps. :)

me07.

Answer 2

in 331500 the zeros would not be significant, in 6000.3 they would be.  Significant figures are all about accuracy.  You don't know how accurate the 331500 is, it could just be rounded, so unless they were to put a decimal point and something after it, you don't know.  In the 6000.3, you know how accurate the number is because you know it's accuracy down to a tenth, so everything in between is accurate.