How many significant figures does the number 0.054901 have?

• A. 5
• B. 3
• C. 2
• D. 4

Answer: (A)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Identify the significant figures in the number 0.054901 by understanding that leading zeros are not significant; they only indicate the position of the decimal point.
2. Ignore the leading zeros (the zeros before the first nonzero digit), so in 0.054901, the zeros before 5 are not counted as significant figures.
3. Count all the digits starting from the first nonzero digit to the end of the number, including any zeros that come after nonzero digits, as these are significant.
4. In 0.054901, the digits 5, 4, 9, 0, and 1 are all significant, so count these digits to determine the total number of significant figures.
5. Conclude that the number of significant figures in 0.054901 is the total count of these digits, which leads to the correct number of significant figures.