Calculate the answer for the following question and state the answer with the correct certainty and units.

Given the values of b and h, find A.
b=3.2 cm, h=10.1 cm
A=1/2bh

The answer is 16 cm^2, which was rounded to two significant digits from 16.16 cm^2,because 3.2 has a certainty of 2 significant digits and 10.1 has a certainty of 3 significant digits. But 1/2 is 0.5, and that has a certainty of only 1 significant digit, so shouldn't the answer have only 1 significant digit?

One half is exact. It is part of the formula, not data that is only known to some accuracy.

Oh, okay thanks!

To calculate the area (A) of a triangle given the values of the base (b) and the height (h), you can use the formula A = (1/2)bh.

In this case, b = 3.2 cm and h = 10.1 cm. Let's plug these values into the formula:

A = (1/2)(3.2 cm)(10.1 cm)
= 1.6 cm * 10.1 cm
= 16.16 cm^2

Now, let's consider the certainty and significant digits. The value of 3.2 has 2 significant digits, and the value of 10.1 has 3 significant digits. When multiplying or dividing, your answer should have the same number of significant digits as the least precise value involved in the calculation, which is 2 significant digits in this case.

However, when we look at the coefficient (1/2), it has a certainty of 0.5, which only has 1 significant digit. In cases like this, we use the rule that the digit on the rightmost side of the number is considered a significant digit, regardless of its value.

So, considering the coefficient, the result of the calculation, 16.16 cm^2, should be rounded to 2 significant digits, resulting in 16 cm^2.