MEASUREMENTS AND GRAPHING

Theory

Making measurements correctly is very important in all scientific and technical disciplines. With
in this mind, the student should take great care in reading the measuring device and recording the
data. The accuracy of any group of measurements is only as good as the worst measurement.
Visual interpretation of measured data is frequently best done by graphing the data to observe
trends in the measured values. Graphing a data set shows the student when a point data is in
agreement with the rest of a set and when it is not.

Equipment Needed:
 a solid rectangular object (box) that is between 6-20 cm in length and width. A block of
wood is idea. A piece of a 2x4 or a 4x4 post. You need something rigid.
 Ruler with cm and mm divisions

Procedure

When making measurements in experiments, it is critical that the data is collected to the correct
number of significant figures. The number of significant figures is limited by the measuring
device. When making a reading with a ruler, we can read to the nearest millimeter (mm) with
certainty and then make an estimate of the first uncertain digit. In the example below, I am
measuring the width the piece of white paper with a ruler. It is critical the zero mark of the ruler
be placed exactly on the edge of the object being measured to get good data. When reading the
measurement, we read the certain digits and estimate the first uncertain digit – in our case this is
the 0.1 mm value. To make this estimate, we take the smallest division on the ruler (mm) and
mentally divide that into 10 equal divisions and then estimate the reading to the nearest 0.1 mm.
With a little practice we learn to get good measurements. Always keep the correct number of
significant figures in your measurements. In my example, I would report this data as 8.91 cm or
89.1 mm.

Identify a solid rectangular object to measure. It can be a block of wood, a metal box, or
anything similar (a jewelry box for example). You should avoid using something made of
cardboard or thin plastic because it can flex between measurements.

1. Mark the sides of the solid object you plan to measure with a piece of tape as L (length),
W (width), and H (height) so you are certain you are making repeated measurements of
the same side with each replicate. Measure the length of each dimension (L, W, and H)
 and record each measurement in the data table. For each measurement, the ruler should
be reset to zero. (Photodocument your object with the measuring device and place picture
in your report).

Replicate Length Width Height Volume

2. You will collect data from ten adults (all male or all female). Ages does not matter as long they
where an adult size shoe. Collect each individual’s height and shoe size (enter half size as .5;
e.g., 8 ½ is 8.5). Enter the data in the table below.

Height (cm) Shoe Size

3. Plot the shoe data above in a graph using Microsoft Excel. Excel is available at no
charge to every student enrolled at Southeastern. You can use the following link for
instructions on how to install Excel on your computer: https://www.se.edu/cidt/office-
365/ Use the following instructions to create the graph: open a blank page in Excel; label
two columns with Height (cell A1) and Size (cell B1); enter the data in the cells below;
next select the data by dragging the left cursor over all the cells; plot the data by
selecting “Insert”, then chose “Charts” and in the dropdown menu select scatter; next
click on one of the data points which will highlight all the data points, then right click and
choose add a trendline; under trendline options choose “linear”, that should be the
default; then choose the box for “Display Equation on chart” and “Display R2”. On the
top left of the screen, choose “Add Chart Element”; then “Chart Title” and change it to
Shoe Size versus Height. Next choose “add chart element”; and choose “Axis Titles”,
then Primary Horizontal – set it to Shoe Size; Next choose “Add Chart Element”; and
 choose axis titles, then Primary vertical – set it to Height (cm). You can simple click on
the outline of the graph, then copy, and pasted in anywhere in your lab report as needed.

An example of what your height vs. shoe size graph might look like is shown before. For
this data set, the equation “y = 6.326x + 108.33” is the relationship between the two variable,
height and shoe size. The R-squared of 0.5054 tell us that is the not a strong linear
correlation. It is however, generally predictive. Your actual graph will vary with your data
set.

An example video of how to create this graph in Excel is in the lab folder.

Height vs Shoe
190
y = 6.326x + 108.33
185
R² = 0.5054
180
Height (cm)

175

170

165

160

155
8 8.5 9 9.5 10 10.5 11 11.5 12 12.5
Shoe Size

4. The chirp rate of crickets has proven to be temperature dependent. Plot the chirp rate
versus temperature data in the table below in Excel using a same proceed as above. Put
the temperature on the x-axis and the chirps rate on the y-axis. Label the graph and the
axis using the same procedure as in step 3 above. Insert a linear trendline and have the
graph displayed as well as the R-squared value. The R-squared value tell us the goodness
of the fit. The closer the R2 to 1 then the more perfect the correlation between the two
variable. You will need to copy this graph into your report.

Temp (F) Chirps/min

Answer the questions below in your lab report.

1. Make a copy of the data table and place in your report for Q1 with your data.
2. Calculate the average volume of the solid object by multiplying the average length x
width x height. Be sure to use the report the correct significant figures based on your
data with the appropriate unit for volume. Calculate the average of each column of the
table above.
3. What is the equation of the line describing the height vs. shoe size data?
4. Place a copy of the graph for height vs. shoe size in your report.
5. Using your equation from question 3, what size shoe would you predict for a person that
is 2.00 meters in height? Does this seem reasonable?
6. What is the equation of the line describing the chirp rate vs. temperature data?
7. Place a copy of this graph in your report.
8. Using the equation from the chirp rate graph, what is the chirp rate at 63 °F?
9. Using the equation from the chirp rate graph, what is the temperature if the chirp rate is
measured to be 130 chirps per minute?
10. Compare the R-squared values for the between the cricket chirps and the shoe size data?
Why might one be a better correlation that the other?

In the Measures and Graphing lab folder, click on the Assignment link, locate and upload your
document named "Lab 1", then click Submit.