A marine scienestudent weighed out the components of a synthetic seawater solution using 3.02g of NaC1, 0.0512g of MgSO4, 0.023g CaC12 and 50.3 of h2O. What was the final mass of the solution (in g), stated to the correct number of significant figures.

53.3

53.39

53.4

53.3942

How do I do this problem step by step?
:confused:

3.02+0.0512+0.023+50.3 = 53.3942

Now you have to work out what degree of accuracy.

This (in general) means you have to look at the accuracy of your raw data.

You can see that one of your pieces of raw data is to 1 decimal place, this is the least accurate piece of information.

This means that this piece od information (50.3) could be anywhere from 50.25 to 50.35, you just don't know (unless it is stated as 50.30, then it is accurate to 2dp.)

So this means your answer can only be accurate to 1 dp.

Now you have 2 answers that are 1dp, 53.3 and 53.4

Which one is closer to the answer I gave at the top? That is the answer you want.