Question

Which of the following numbers has 4 significant figures?

Options

• 125000

• 165.02

• 0.01500

• 178.43

Answer 1

0.01500

Explanation: 

Trailing zeros to the right of the last non-zero digit are significant when a decimal point is present. So 0.01500 has 4 significant figures: 1, 5, 0, 0. In contrast, 125000 without a decimal point has only 3 significant figures, and 165.02 and 178.43 each have 5.