Hey, when we solve for significant figures, why do we completely get rid of the remaining decimals even though hey have more accurate information?
Ex. 1.23*4.84=5.9532 but we would make it 5.95 based on Sig figs, even though those last two decimals are closer to the answer. Why is this? I know it’s less accurate, though it seems like we’re losing valuable accuracy (even if it’s not perfect, it should be closer)
In: Mathematics
Firstly, I would like to point out that it isn’t more accurate, it’s more precise, to use more significant figures. And the reason to not use so many depends on the application. In the real world, there is rarely a need to go to lots of significant figures, and also a lot of things can’t measure to such precision anyway.
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