How many significant figures are present in the value 540?

• A. 3
• B. 1
• C. 2
• D. 4

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand that significant figures (sig figs) are the digits in a number that carry meaningful information about its precision.
2. Look at the number 540 and identify which digits are significant. Non-zero digits are always significant.
3. Consider the zeros: a zero between non-zero digits is significant, but a trailing zero without a decimal point may or may not be significant depending on context.
4. Since 540 has no decimal point, the trailing zero is ambiguous and typically not counted as significant, so only the digits '5' and '4' are significant.
5. Therefore, the number 540 has 2 significant figures.