if the zeroes of 0.000005 is not significant then might as well throw em all in the trash and put it as 5
So, 0.000005 is = 5 which is obviously wrong
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Can someone explain to me what perspective I need to understand them? And also why my mindset is wrong
In: Mathematics
significant figures/digits just tell you how many digits are significant in say gauging the error in measurement. Essentially you cannot tell what digit follows after the significant digit.
that does not mean 0.000005 = 5. It just means both 0.000005 and 5 have 1 significant digit, i.e., 5. The 0.000005 can be 0.0000051 or it can be 0.0000056 (your instrument/measurement procedure is not good enough to tell you that, but it is sure up to the 5).
Take another example. Your precise body weight is say 154.5197403 lbs. But when you get on a scale, it shows 154.5, i.e., 4 significant digits, because it is not sensitive enough to go beyond that.
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