Question

complete the following subtraction using significant figures.
5.55555×10^5 μg - 5.55×10^5 μg =
what is the final answer using significant figures?
1.1×10^3 μg
1×10^3 μg
6×10^2 μg
5.6×10^2 μg

Explanation:

Step1: Factor out $10^{5}\ \mu g$

$(5.55555 - 5.55)\times10^{5}\ \mu g$

Step2: Perform subtraction inside parentheses

$0.00555\times10^{5}\ \mu g$

Step3: Convert to scientific - notation and consider significant figures

$0.00555\times10^{5}=5.55\times10^{2}\ \mu g$. Rounding to one significant figure (since the least - precise number in the original subtraction has two decimal places in the decimal part of the coefficient), we get $6\times 10^{2}\ \mu g$.

Answer:

$6\times 10^{2}\ \mu g$