Question

6. Assume you measured the root length of several plants and your measurements were 3.26 cm, 6.71 cm, etc. An Excel printout shows that the mean and SE for your plant roots are mean 4.157749 and SE 0.02944201. Write the mean and SE below using the proper level of precision. (1/2 pt) Mean: SE:

Answer 1

Answer

Proper level of precision means we have to round off mean and SE value to correct number of significant figures, i.e. least number of significant figures which are used in the calculation

Least number of significant figures is 3, i.e. we have three significant figures in the given data values

For example, 3.26 has three significant figures and 6.71 also has three significant figures.

So, we have to round off Mean and SE value to 3 significant figures

given mean = 4.157749 and SE = 0.02944201

So,mean becomes 4.16 and SE becomes 0.0294

Mean is rounded to 2 decimals because 4 on the left side of decimal point is significant value, which makes a total of 3 significant figures

whereas SE is rounded to 3 decimals because 0 on the left side and right of decimal point is insignificant value, which makes it out of count, So we count only 294 as significant values.

Required answer is mean = 4.16 cm and SE = 0.0294 cm