Certainly! Let's express the numbers 3.612 and 29.87 correct to 2 significant figures step-by-step:
### Step-by-Step Solution:
1. Expressing 3.612 to 2 significant figures:
- First, we identify the first two significant digits of the number, which are '3' and '6'.
- We then look at the next digit to see if we need to round. The third digit in 3.612 is '1'. According to the rules of rounding, if the digit is less than 5, we do not round up the last significant digit.
- Therefore, 3.612 rounded to 2 significant figures is 3.6.
2. Expressing 29.87 to 2 significant figures:
- First, we identify the first two significant digits of the number, which are '2' and '9'.
- Next, we check the third digit to determine if we need to round up the second significant digit. The third digit in 29.87 is '8'. Since '8' is greater than or equal to 5, we round up '9' to '10', which affects the tens place.
- Thus, rounding '9' to '10' results in the number becoming 30. The tens digit changes while the units digit becomes zero.
- Therefore, 29.87 rounded to 2 significant figures is 30 (which we write as 30.0 to maintain the correct number of significant figures).
### Final Answers:
- 3.612 rounded to 2 significant figures: 3.6
- 29.87 rounded to 2 significant figures: 30 (or 30.0 to reflect significant figures explicitly)
So, the numbers 3.612 and 29.87 expressed to 2 significant figures are 3.6 and 30 (30.0), respectively.
