Why do we use significant figures?

Question

It seems like you are just losing information when rounding and leaving people to guess your uncertainty rather than to put (number)±(uncertainty)

People! Saying ±(uncertainty) conveys the unvertainty better than sig. figs.!

Answer 1

Significant figures are a way for scientists to convey how much precision a measurement or other value has. For example, if I measured my textbook, I could not say with certainty that it is 22.37090000 centimeters across beacuse I simply cannot measure that precisely. More appropriately, I’d say the textbook measured 22.4 centimeters across.

Answer 2

With some measurements the uncertantity comes from somewhere else. Such as inaccuracies in the measuring device.
But I see what you mean. In a lot of things very small numbers and very large numbers are rounded because when these numbers are applied more exact numbers don't make a large difference.
Also, irrational numbers. Nuff said.

But, in some fields, like when you're dealing with chaotic things, tiny changes and infintesimal changes in rounding caqn completely screw up later calculations.

Answer 3

sig-figs don't have any excess, unnecessary numbers and show exactly how accurate one measured something...