A computer uses 8 digit mantissa and 2 digit exponent. If a = 0.052 and b =…

Floating-point arithmetic uses a fixed number of digits for the mantissa (8 in this case). When adding numbers with vastly different magnitudes, alignment shifts the smaller mantissa. Here, b (28E + 11) is significantly larger than a (0.052), creating an exponent difference of roughly 13 orders of magnitude. Since the precision (8 digits) is insufficient to represent a when aligned with b, adding them results in no change due to rounding (absorption). Therefore, subtracting b subsequently yields exactly zero.