They tell you what level of precision you can expect from measurements that are made using that instrument.
Estimated
The greater the number of significant figures, the greater the precision. Each significant figure increases the precision by a factor of ten. For example pi = 3.14 is accurate to 3 significant figures, while pi = 3.14159 with 6 significant figures is a more accurate representation.
The degree of accuracy of the measuring instrument.
estimated
There are two significant figures in 0.025.
There are 2 significant figures in this number.
Estimated
The greater the number of significant figures, the greater the precision. Each significant figure increases the precision by a factor of ten. For example pi = 3.14 is accurate to 3 significant figures, while pi = 3.14159 with 6 significant figures is a more accurate representation.
The degree of accuracy of the measuring instrument.
4 significant figures.
estimated
There are 3 significant figures in 94.2.
There are 4 significant figures in 0.0032. Seems to be only 2 significant figures in this number.
There are four significant figures in 0.1111.
20.2 has three significant figures.
There are two significant figures in 0.025.
5 significant figures.