Answer to Question #127091 in General Chemistry for jjjak

Question

Which zero – in one’s place or in 1,000’s-place, is significant in the number 50,540? Why is the other zero not significant?

Answer 1

In the number 50,540 the first zero in the 50 is considered to be a significant number, while the second (in the 540) is not. The second zero is a called a placeholder zero and can be removed by converting the number into scientific notation