Is physics about giving many significant digits?
No! Physics is not about calculating many digits per se, but it is about analyzing the essential features of a problem, applying the underlying concepts, and obtaining quantitative results. The result in numerical form must be given only to the precision warranted by the input data. However, the CHIP exercises are providing a hypothetical environment where all input data are treated as if they were exact – primarily because the original sources of many of the CHIP problems do not consistently specify the accuracies of the input numbers and also because of the need to produce randomized input numbers. In light of this situation, we decided that CHIP exercises will mainly test your understanding of which concepts are relevant and how they apply quantitatively – rather than the specific relationships between the precision of the input data and that of the resulting predictions.
