You measure the radius of a wheel to be 4.16 cm. If you multiply by 2 to get the diameter, should you write the result as 8 cm or as 8.32 cm? Justify your answer.
2 is an exact constant and is not data accurate to some number of significant figures.
so
8.32
To determine whether you should write the result as 8 cm or 8.32 cm, let's first understand the relationship between the radius and the diameter of a circle.
The radius of a circle is the distance from its center to any point on its circumference. The diameter, on the other hand, is the distance across the circle, passing through its center and connecting two points on the circumference. The diameter is always twice the length of the radius.
Given that you measured the radius of the wheel to be 4.16 cm, we can multiply this value by 2 to find the diameter.
2 × 4.16 cm = 8.32 cm
Therefore, the correct answer is to write the result as 8.32 cm.
By multiplying the radius by 2, you are effectively finding the length of the diameter. It's important to include the full value, including the decimal, to maintain the precision of the measurement. Rounding the result to 8 cm would result in a loss of accuracy, as it would discard the additional information provided by the decimal portion of the measurement.
To find the diameter of a circle, you multiply the radius by 2. Given that the radius is 4.16 cm, multiplying by 2 would give a result of 8.32 cm.
Therefore, you should write the result as 8.32 cm to accurately represent the diameter. It is important to include the decimal point and the correct number of decimal places when performing calculations and reporting measurements to ensure precision.