i dont get it how do they work?

>>15394492 (OP)

1

+

20

+

300

+

4000

+

50000

54321



Numbers can be broken up into parts and usually the largest number is called the most significant figure. In the above example 5e4 is the most significant figure.

never understood why stem guys do 4*10e3 instead of 4*1e4

>>15394492 (OP)

Here ill show you.



>6,000,000 Jews died in the Holocaust

>when we remove the significant figures we realize only 6 Jews actually died in the Holocaust - but wait!

>when we take the first derivative of 6, we find that 0 Jews actually died in the Holocaust

Say I want to round 1.1059545 to 5 digits

>1.10595

>1.10596

Which is correct? I'm always tempted to do the second because I'm mentally rounding 45 to 50 which then gives me a 5 after 5.

>>15394492 (OP)

It's the power of 10 with the least amount of accuracy.



If you do two experiments, and the first experiment gives you a value of 17 (accuracy of 1) and the second experiment gives you an accuracy of 500 (accuracy of 100), and you need to sum them, the sum is 517 but 5 is the only significant figure, so the result of your experiment is 500.

1 to 4 is still just 1 

10 to 3 is 1000

If you have a rectangle that is 5 metres by 3 metres, then because each measurement has one significant figure, your result should also have one.

Meaning that, rounding, 3x5=20, even though 3.5x5.5=19.25, which would still round down to 19, so there's no way to get two numbers which round to 3 and 5 to have a product that rounds to 20.

That's the magic of sig figs for you

>>15394492 (OP)

it’s just supposed to represent a margin of error in your numbers. If you use a measuring tape to measure you might measure something at 1.25 inches. A better device might give you a more precise measurement of 1.249 inches or 1.250 inches.



The rules become more complicated when you start adding and multiplying numbers like this together, but the goal is still just to express a margin of error

Did you just deny the 6e6?

that seems like a lot of e's

>>15394492 (OP)

if I have something with 3 sig figs, ex 3.25 and add something with 4 sig figs, ex 3.162 then the result is 6.412 right? Wrong. You can only measure up to the most accurate measurement, so your result should be 3 significant figures, 6.41 (you round)

>>15394492 (OP)

They don't work, soientists just decide based on their political masters agenda that they can stop the decimals after some number

NONE OF THESE EXPLANATIONS EVEN MAKE SENSE

>500+17=500

>3x5=20

>3.25+3.162=6.41

please just stop torturing me
