What is the average of the following five numbers? Report your answer to the correct number of significant figures.
3.6, 3.51, 3.97, 3.0, 2.09
3.234
Would this answer be the correct amount of significant figures? That's the part I'm having difficulty with.
well, all of the data have 3 sf, so the answer should, too.
To find the average of a set of numbers, you need to add them all up and then divide the sum by the total number of values.
In this case, you have five numbers: 3.6, 3.51, 3.97, 3.0, and 2.09. Let's add them up:
3.6 + 3.51 + 3.97 + 3.0 + 2.09 = 16.17
Now, divide the sum by the total number of values (in this case, 5):
16.17 / 5 = 3.234
Since we need to report the answer to the correct number of significant figures, we look at the least precise number, which is 2.09 with three significant figures. Therefore, we round the average to three significant figures:
3.234 rounded to three significant figures is 3.23.
So, the average of the five given numbers is 3.23.