Learning Centre SP2.

10

Measurements and Units

Accuracy, Precision, and Errors
Measurements and Units

A measurement is a quantitative observation that consists of two parts: a number and a

unit. Why are units important?

 45,000 has little meaning – just a number

 45,000 dollars has some meaning – money
 45,000 dollars/year has more meaning – a person’s salary

The SI System

Scientists realized long ago that standard systems of units had to be adopted if
measurements were to be useful and they were to communicate their results. For this
reason, the SI System (International System of Units - Système Internationale d’Unités)
was set up as the scientific system of measurement. These are some fundamental
quantities in the SI system:

Physical Quantity Unit Abbreviation

Length meter m
Mass kilogram kg
Time second s
Temperature kelvin K
Amount of substance mole mol
Electric amount ampere A
Luminous intensity candela cd

All other physical quantities have units that can be derived from the SI base units.
e.g. velocity = displacement / Δ time - Derived SI units: m s-1
e.g. acceleration = Δ velocity / Δ time - Derived SI units: m s-2

SI is a decimal system. Quantities differing from the base unit by powers of ten are noted
by use of prefixes. Changing the prefix alters the size of a unit. e.g. 1 kilometer = 1000
m. The most common SI prefixes can be found in any first year chemistry or physics
textbook.

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Dimensional Analysis

It is often necessary to convert a given result from one SI unit to another (e.g. km to m).
We use dimensional analysis and conversion factors to get the result in the units we want.

Conversion Factors

Consider: 1 m = 100 cm
Thus, the ratio 100cm/1 m is a conversion factor that, when multiplied by any
length in meters, converts that length to centimeters.

100 𝑐𝑚
4.2 𝑚 x = 420 𝑐𝑚
1𝑚

Essentially conversion factors are the ratio between two units.

Dimensional Analysis

To convert a quantity with one set of units to a different set of units, we set up a
conversion pathway by multiplying by one or more conversion factors.

EXAMPLE: Creatinine is a substance found in blood. In an analysis of

blood serum sample that detected 0.58 mg of creatinine, how many
micrograms were present?

1𝑔 1 𝑥 106 µ𝑔
0.580 𝑚𝑔 x x = 580 µ𝑔
1000 𝑚𝑔 1𝑔

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There are cases where the units of both the numerator and denominator must be
converted.

EXAMPLE: A nerve impulse in the body can travel as fast as 400

feet/second. What is its speed in meters/ min? Given: 1 m = 3.3 ft.

𝑚 400 𝑓𝑡 1𝑚 60 𝑠 𝑚
𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠 = x x = 7273
𝑚𝑖𝑛 1𝑠 3.3 𝑓𝑡 1 𝑚𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑖𝑛

Cancelling out units is a way of checking out that your calculation is set up
correctly!

More complicated situations when units are squared, cubed, etc. Use the same
method.

EXAMPLE: How many square feet (ft2) correspond to an area of 1.00

square meter (m2), given that 1 m = 39.37 in and 12 in = 1 ft.?

2
39.37 𝑖𝑛 2
2
1 𝑓𝑡 2
𝑓𝑡 = 1.00 𝑚 x ( ) x( ) = 10.8 𝑓𝑡 2
1𝑚 12 𝑖𝑛

Conversion factors can be raised to a power.

2 2
(39.37)2 𝑖𝑛2 1 𝑓𝑡 2
𝑓𝑡 = 1.0 𝑚 x x = 10.8 𝑓𝑡 2
1 𝑚2 (12)2 𝑖𝑛2

Measuring Properties of Matter

Basically, the properties of matter can be classified into two groups: extensive and
intensive properties.

Extensive properties depend on the quantity of sample observed, such as mass and
volume.

Mass vs. Weight

Mass (m) is the quantity of matter in an object. The SI base unit is the kilogram
(kg); however, the gram (g) is more commonly used in Chemistry. The mass of an
object is fixed and independent of where or how it is measured.

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Weight is the force of gravity on an object, directly proportional to mass: W ∝ m
and 𝑊 = 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 × 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦). The weight of an object may vary because
gravity varies slightly from one point on Earth to the other.

Volume

Volume is the amount of space than an object occupies. The more common non-
SI unit to use is the liter (L). The most common unit used in the lab is the
milliliter (mL). Recall that:
1 mL = 1 cm3 (cubic centimeter)
1 L = 1 dm3 (cubic decimeter)

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Intensive properties do not depend on the quantity of sample observed; they are
characteristics of the substance itself being measured, regardless of quantity, and can be
used to identify substances. Some examples of intensive properties are temperature,
density, melting and boiling points.

Temperature

Temperature is the measure of the thermal energy of a system. Three common

scales are used: Fahrenheit (°F), Celsius/Centigrade (°C), and Kelvin (SI
temperature scale). The Kelvin (K) scale assigns a value of zero to the lowest
conceivable temperature, 0 K unit (comes at -273.15 °C).

EXAMPLE: Converting °F to °C - If the temperature outside is 20 °F,

what is the temperature in °C?
5
𝑇 (°C) = [𝑇 (°F)] − 32 ] ×
9

5
𝑇 (°C) = [20 °F − 32 ] × = −6.7 °C
9

EXAMPLE: Converting between Kelvin and Celsius Scales - If the

temperature outside is 20.10 °C, what is the temperature in K?

𝑇 (K) = 𝑇 (°C) + 273.15

𝑇 (°C) = 𝑇 (K) − 273.15

𝑇 (K) = 20.10 °𝐶 + 273.15 = 293.25 𝐾 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡

Note some common temperatures:

 0 °C = 273.15 K (often rounded off to 273 K)
 0 K = -273.15 °C (often rounded off to -273 °C )
 25 °C = 298.15 K (often rounded off to 298 K)

Density

Density (d) is an intensive property of a substance based on two extensive

properties: mass and volume.

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 (𝑚)
𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑑) =
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 (𝑉)

SI derived unit: kg/m3. More common units used in the lab are g/cm3 and g/mL

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Dependence of density on temperature: Density is a function of temperature
because volume varies with temperature, whereas mass remains constant.
e.g.
d(H2O) = 1.000 g/mL at 4 °C
d(H2O) = 0.9982 g/mL at 20 °C

EXAMPLE: What is the density of 5.00 mL of a fluid if it has a mass of

5.23 g?
𝑚
𝑑=
𝑣

5.23 𝑔 𝑔
𝑑= = 1.05
5.00 𝑚𝐿 𝑚𝐿

EXAMPLE: What would be the mass of 1.00 L of this sample?

𝑚= 𝑉𝑥𝑑

𝑚𝐿 𝑔
𝑚 = 1.00 𝐿 x 1000 x 1.05 = 1.05 𝑋 103 𝑔
𝐿 𝑚𝐿

Accuracy vs. Precision

Accuracy and precision are terms often used to describe the reliability of measurements.
However, they must be clearly differentiated. Accuracy refers to how close a measured
value is to the real or “true” value. Precision refers to the degree of reproducibility of a
measured quantity–the closeness of agreement when the same quantity is measured
several times–how close the measurements are to each other. This difference is
demonstrated in the following illustration:

1www.extremetech.com/

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Systematic Errors vs. Random Errors

Systematic error (determinate error): Built-in, inherent error. It always occurs in

the same direction each time; it is always high or always low. A systematic error
can be corrected by proper calibration or running controls or blanks. E.g. a
thermometer consistently gives readings that are 2 °C too low. Large systematic
errors lower the accuracy of a measurement.

Random error (indeterminate error): A measurement has an equal probability of

being too high or too low. It is due to limitations in an experimenter’s skills or
ability to read scientific measurements. It cannot be corrected. Large random
errors lower the precision of the measurements (e.g., the temperature in room
varies “wildly”).

EXAMPLE 1: Weigh a piece of brass five times on the analytical balance and
obtain the following results:

Weighing Result
1 2.486 g
2 2.487 g
3 2.485 g
4 2.484 g
5 2.488 g

Average = (2.486 g + 2.487 g + 2.485 g + 2.484 g + 2.488 g) / 5 = 2.486 g

Normally, we would assume that the true mass of the piece of brass is very
close to 2.486 g, the average of the five results.

However, if the analytical balance has a defect causing it to be

consistently 1.000 g too high (a systematic error of +1.000 g), then the
measured value of 2.486 g would be seriously in error.

The point: high precision among several measurements is an indication of

accuracy only if systematic errors are absent.

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EXAMPLE 2: To check the accuracy of a graduated cylinder, fill the cylinder to

the 25 mL mark using water delivered from a burette and then read the volume
delivered.

Trial Volume Shown by Volume Shown by Burette

Cylinder Graduated (mL) (mL)
1 25 26.54
2 25 26.51
3 25 26.60
4 25 26.49
5 25 26.57
Average 25 26.54

The results show good precision (for a graduated cylinder) – the student
has good technique.

However, the average value measured using the burette is significantly

different from 25 mL.

Thus, this graduated cylinder is not very accurate. It produces a systematic

error (in this case, the result is low for each measurement).

Ways of Comparing Experimental Values

Percent Error: used to compare an unknown value with a theoretical value. It is

a measure of the degree of accuracy.

| 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 − 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒|

%𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = × 100%
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒

Percent Difference: used to compare two experimental values which are

expected to be the same. It is a measure of the degree of precision. It is also used
to compare two values which are not necessarily expected to be the same.
(Particularly useful to determine which are the best runs to use for calculations in
titration experiments)

| 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 1 − 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 2|
% 𝐷𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 = × 100%
𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 1 + 𝑉𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 2
( )
2

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EXAMPLE: A % different calculation between other combinations of runs must

be done and only the best two runs (e.g the ones with the smallest % difference)
that are < 1% are used in further calculations.

Runs % Difference
1&2 1.79 %
1&3 0.97 %
2&3 0.82 %

The best runs to use would be 2 & 3 since their % difference is smallest of
those < 1%.

Percent Change (or Percent Recovery): used to compare two values which are
different due to an imposed stress on a system. It is a measure of the degree of the
effect caused by the stress.

|𝑂𝑙𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 − 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒|

% 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 = 𝑥 100%
𝑂𝑙𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒

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