The question asks me to find the absolute error using the true value=.1025M, and the mean=.1077
The answer I got was .0052...how would I convert this to 4 significant figures? (since the values have 4 significant figures)
You can't get four s.f. but that isn't necessary. When one subtracts (or adds), the number may be as accurate as the least number of places; i.e., you have four places to the right of the decimal in 0.1025 and four to the right of the decimal in 0.1077. Therefore the answer may be four places to the right of the decimal or 0.0052 for the answer.
To convert the absolute error to four significant figures, you need to determine the first four significant figures of the absolute error value you obtained, and round it accordingly.
Given that your absolute error is 0.0052, the first four significant figures are "0.005." To round this value, you need to examine the digit in the fifth significant figure, which is "2" in this case.
Since the value in the fifth significant figure is less than 5, you can simply drop it and keep the first four significant figures unchanged. Hence, rounding 0.0052 to four significant figures results in 0.0050.
Therefore, the absolute error, rounded to four significant figures, is 0.0050.