Question

convert to scientific notation:
0.0004600 mg
report answer in scientific notation with correct significant digits and unit

Explanation:

Step1: Identify significant digits

The number 0.0004600 has four significant digits: 4, 6, 0, 0 (the trailing zeros after the decimal and the non - zero digits are significant).

Step2: Move the decimal point

To convert to scientific notation, we move the decimal point to the right of the first non - zero digit. For 0.0004600, we move the decimal point 4 places to the right to get 4.600.

Step3: Determine the exponent

Since we moved the decimal point 4 places to the right, the exponent of 10 is - 4 (because we started with a number less than 1). And we keep the unit mg. So the number in scientific notation is $4.600\times10^{-4}\text{ mg}$.

Answer:

$4.600\times10^{-4}\text{ mg}$