A student measures the sides of a rectangular plate as and
PHYSICS · Single correct · CBSE · Physics · Units and Measurements · Units and Measurements
Problem
A student measures the sides of a rectangular plate as 12.8cm and 6.34cm. Before finding the area, she rounds each measurement to two significant figures. Which statement best describes the effect of this early rounding on the reported area?
(a) It increases the rounding error because significant digits are lost before multiplication.
(b) It decreases the rounding error since fewer digits are multiplied and small discrepancies do not propagate.
(c) It makes virtually no difference; the same digits would have been dropped after finding the area anyway.
(d) It causes the individual rounding errors to cancel out, so the reported area is actually more accurate.