Lecture 1

ERRORS, ITS TYPES AND CALCULATIONS

measurement = (best estimate ± uncertainty) units
SOME IMPORTANT TERMS:
Observed/calculated value:
A value, either observed or calculated from observations. e.g., the value obtained using a ruler to
measure length, or the electronic balance to measure mass, or a calculation of the density based
upon these.
True value:
The true value is a philosophically obscure term. According to one view of the world, there exists
a true value for any measurable quantity and any attempt to measure the true value will give an
observed value that includes inherent, and even unsuspected errors. More practically, an average
of many repeated independent measurements is used to replace true value in the following
definition.
Accuracy:
A measure of how close the observed value is to the true value. A numerical value of accuracy is
given by: Accuracy = 1 – {(observed value -true value) / true value)} × 100%
Precision:
A measure of the detail of the value. This is often taken as the number of meaningful significant
figures in the value.
Absolute error
The error expressed in the same dimensions as the value. e.g., 43 ± 5 cm
Percentage error
The error expressed as a fraction of the value. The fraction is usually presented as a percentage.
e.g., 43 cm ± 12%
Relative Uncertainty = (uncertainty / measured quantity)
Relative Error = {(measured value − expected value) / expected value}

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 ERROR AND TYPES OF ERRORS
ERROR:
Errors are a measure of the lack of certainty in a value.
TYPES OF ERRORS:
Systematic and random errors:
A systematic error is one that is reproduced on every simple repeat of the measurement. The error
may be due to a calibration error, a zero error, a technique error due to the experimenter, or due to
some other cause.
A random error changes on every repeat of the measurement. Random errors are due to some
fluctuation or instability in the observed phenomenon, the apparatus, the measuring instrument or
the experimenter.
Independent and dependent errors:
the diameter of a solid spherical object is 18.0 ± 0.2 mm. The volume, calculated from the usual
formula, is 3.1 ± 0.1 cm3. These errors are dependent: each depends on the other. If I overestimate
the diameter, I shall calculate a large value of the volume. If I measured a small volume, I would
calculate a small diameter. Any measurements made with the same piece of equipment are
dependent.
Suppose If we measure the mass and find 13.0 ± 0.1 g. This is an independent error, because it
comes from a different measurement, made with a different piece of equipment.

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 ESTIMATING UNCERTAINTY IN REPEATED MEASUREMENTS

AVERAGE/MEAN:
𝑥1 + 𝑥2 + ⋯ + 𝑥𝑁
𝑥̅ =
𝑁

AVERAGE DEVIATION:
This statistic tells us on average, how much the individual measurements vary from the mean.

STANDARD DEVIATION:
The standard deviation is the most common way to characterize the spread of a data set. The
standard deviation is always slightly greater than the average deviation.
To calculate the standard deviation for a sample of N measurements
1. Sum all the measurements and divide by N to get the average, or mean.
2. Now, subtract this average from each of the N measurements to obtain N “deviations”.
3. Square each of these N deviations and add them all up.
4. Divide this result by (N − 1) and take the square root.

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We can write out the formula for the standard deviation as follows. Let the N measurements be
called x 1, x 2, ..., xN. Let the average of the N values be called x. Then each deviation is given by
δxi = xi − x, for i = 1, 2, . . ., N. The standard deviation is:

STANDARD DEVIATION OF THE MEAN (STANDARD ERROR):

When we report the average value of N measurements, the uncertainty we should associate with
this average value is the standard deviation of the mean, often called the standard error (SE).

The standard error is smaller than the standard deviation by a factor of 1/ √ N. This reflects the
fact that we expect the uncertainty of the average value to get smaller when we use a larger number
of measurements, N.
PROBABLE ERROR:
Probable error (e), such that it is an even chance whether true value of quantity measured differs
from the mean value by an amount greater or less than e.
𝑒 = ± 0.6745(𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟)

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PRACTICE QUESTIONS:
1. If mass m = 75.5 ± 0.5 g has expected value of 80 gm, find relative error and relative
uncertainty?
2. If 𝑑1 ± 𝛥𝑑1 = 101.41 ± 0.05𝑚𝑚 represents the internal diameter of metal pipe and 𝑑2 ±
𝛥𝑑2 = 102.79 ± 0.05𝑚𝑚 represents the external diameter of metal pipe, then find
thickness of the metal part of pipe including uncertainty in it.
3. The length and width of a rectangular room are measured to be 𝑙 = 𝑙 ± 𝛥𝑙 = 3.955 ±
0.05𝑚 and 𝑤 = 𝑤 ± 𝛥𝑤 = 3.050 ± 0.05𝑚. Calculate the area of the room and its
uncertainty.
4. The voltage 𝑉 = 𝑉 ± 𝛥𝑉 = 7.3 ± 0.1𝑉 and the current 𝐼 = 𝐼 ± 𝛥𝐼 = 2.73 ± 0.5A.
Calculate the resistance R.
5. The capacitor has capacitance of 𝐶 = 𝐶 ± 𝛥𝐶 = 2 ± 0.1, whereas applied voltage is 𝑉 =
𝑉 ± 𝛥𝑉 = 25 ± 0.5A. Find the charge on capacitor and error in it.
6. Find uncertainty in v, where v = at with a = 9.8 ± 0.1 m/s2, t = 1.2 ± 0.1 s
7. Find average, average deviation, standard deviation, standard error and probable error for
given data.

a.
Observations Width
1 31.33
2 31.15
3 31.26
4 31.02
5 31.20
6 31.18
b.
Observations Radius of curvature
1 15.25
2 15.42
3 15.30
4 15.20
5 15.35
6 15.40

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