To count the number of significant figures in a given number, start with the first non-zero digit from the left and, moving to the right, count all the digits thereafter, counting final zeros if they are to the right of the decimal point. For example, 1.2048, 1.2040, 0.012048, 0.0012040 and 1204.0 all have 5 significant figures. In rounding or truncation of a number to n significant figures, the original is replaced by a number with n significant figures.
Note that final zeros to the left of the decimal point may or may not be significant: the number 1,204,000 has at least 4 significant figures, but without more information there is no way of knowing whether or not any more figures are significant. When 1,203,960 is rounded to 5 significant figures to give 1,204,000, an explanation that this has 5 significant figures is required. This could be made clear by writing it in scientific notation: 1.2040×106.
To say that a = 1.2048 to 5 significant figures means that 1.20475≤a< 1.20485.