Question

Ms. Allen has six different samples of magnesium sulfate, each labeled with its mass, as shown in the table. Sample a has a mass of 5.85 g, sample b has a mass of 10.33 g, sample c has a mass of 4.06 g, sample d has a mass of 7.125 g, sample e has a mass of 6.5 g, and sample f has a mass of 0.012 g. What is the total mass of the six samples, reported with the correct precision?

Answer 1

The total mass of the six magnesium sulfate samples is 33.88 g when rounded to the correct precision based on the least number of decimal places among the given measurements.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question asks to calculate the total mass of six samples of magnesium sulfate with differing masses. To provide an answer with the correct precision, we must look at the least number of decimal places in the measurements given in the question, which is two decimal places (0.012 g). Therefore, we add up the masses of the samples (5.85 g, 10.33 g, 4.06 g, 7.125 g, 6.5 g, and 0.012 g) and make sure our final answer is rounded to two decimal places. After performing the addition, the total mass is 33.879 g, but we will round it to 33.88 g to match the correct precision.