Lesson 3

Uncertainty and Error Analysis

DEFINITION curvature of space-time dictates the trajectory
-The branch of science concerned with the of matter and light
nature and properties of matter and energy. -Deals with phenomena associated when an
-Deals with concepts such as energy, force, object moves with speed approaching the
mass, and charge. speed of light in a vacuum
-The words “physics” comes from Ancient 3. Particle Physics- deals with the building
Greek Romanized “physike” meaning blocks of matter
“knowledge of nature” or “nature”. 4. Quantum Mechanics- deals with the
-Considered as the pioneer science in terms nature and behavior of matter and energy on
of history. atomic and sub-atomic level
-Experimental science were physicists
perform experiments to test hypothesis and ROLE OF PHYSICS IN SOCIETY
the conclusions in the experiments are -Physics is considered the backbone of any
derived from measurements. daily life
Physicist- career or job related to Physics; -Society has benefited from chemistry in so
they use numbers to describe measurements many ways, such as:
-Traditionally divided into Classical and Use of Appliances- we use appliances by
Modern Physics electricity
-TV uses electromagnetic to direct electrons
CLASSICAL PHYSICS on a screen to produce pictures or videos
Classical Physics- all discoveries, principles, -Refrigerator uses thermodynamic principle
and inventions prior to 1900 Gadgets- uses electricity
Main branches of Classical Physics: Transportation- built on mechanical
1. Mechanics- deals with motion, force, principles
work, energy, and fluids Modern Houses- use electricity to power up
2. Heat and Thermodynamics- deals with appliances
the effects of heat when added to or removed Future Problems- necessity on solving
from a system, the methods of heat transfer, future problems
and the transformation of heat energy to
mechanical energy or work and vice versa
3. Optics- deals with the study of light and
its properties MEASUREMENT
4. Electricity and Magnetism- deals with -The process of comparing something with a
phenomena associated with electrical standard.
charges, magnetism and relationship between -To carry out measurements, a system of
electricity and magnetism standards and a system of units should be
5. Wave, Motion and Sound- deals with defined
properties, transmission and perception of
different types of waves 2 Systems of Unit
MODERN PHYSICS 1. Metric System
Modern Physics- started in 1900 with Max The metric systems has two variations
Planck’s discovery of blackbody radiation -mks (meter, kilogram and second) system
Main branches of Modern Physics: -cgs (centimeter, gram and second) system
1. Nuclear Physics- deal with the properties 2. English System
of and the reactions within the atomic -Known as the fps system (foot, pound and
nucleus second)
2. General and Special Relativity- tells how -The fps system considers pound-force as a
matter curves space-time and how the fundamental quantity
Lesson 3
Uncertainty and Error Analysis
INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM OF UNIT second
-Also called “SI” metre/
Acceleration a m/s
-The system of units that the General second
conference on Weights and Measures has N= kg
Force F Newton
m/s
agreed upon and is legally enforced in almost
Energy E joule J=N m
all parts of the world
-The modern form of the metric system

Physical Symbo Unit Symb

Quantity l for ol Of
Quanti Unit
ty
Length l Meter m
Mass m Kilogram kg
Time t Second s
Electric current I Ampere A Derived Quantity SI Unit
Temperature T Kelvin K Symbo Symbo
Luminous
Name Name
Iv Candela cd l l
Intensity Kilogra
Amount of n Mole mol Density P m/metre kg/m
Substance
cubed
Newton
Moment T Nm
metre
W= N
Power P Watt
m/s
Work W Joule J= N m
FUNDAMENTAL QUANTITIES Kilogra
kg
Fundamental SI Unit Symbol m
Momentum P m/s= N
Quantities metre/se
s
cond
Length meter m
Pa=
Mass kilogram kg Pressure P pascal
N/m
Time second s
Electric current Ampere A Length- 1m is defined as the distance
Temperature Kelvin K travelled by light in a vacuum in
Amount of mol mol 1/299,792,458 second. Based on the
substance definition that the speed of light is exactly
Luminous candela cd 299,792,458 m/s
Intensity
Time- 1 second is defined as 9,192,631,770
DERIVED QUANTITIES cycles of the microwave radiation due to the
Derived Quantity SI Unit transition between the two lowest energy
Symbo Symbo states of the Cesium atom. This is measured
Name Name
l l from an atomic clock using this transition
Displacement d metre m
metre Mass- 1 kg is defined to be the mass of a
Area A m
squared
cylinder of platinum-iridium alloy at the
metre
Volume V m International Bureau of Weights and
cubed
metre/ Measures (Sevres, France)
Speed s m/s
second
Velocity V metre/ m/s
Lesson 3
Uncertainty and Error Analysis
-Few countries continue to use the British deci d 10
system of units (e.g, the United Sates). The deka da 10
conversion between the British system of hector h 10
units and SI units have been defined exactly kilo k 10
below mega M 10
giga G 10
tera T 10
Length Weight
peta P 10
English Metric English Metric
2.54 1 ounce
exa E 10
1 inch (in.) 28.3 g
cm (oz)
30.5 1 pound EXAMPLE
1 foot (ft) 454 g
cm (lb)
91.4 0.454
1 yard (yd) 1 lb
cm kg
1610 0.0353
1 mile (mi) 1g
m oz SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
1.61 0.00220 -Also known as the significant digits or
1 mi 1g
km lb
precision of a number written in positional
0.0394 in 1 mm 2.20 lb 1 kg
0.394 in 1 cm
notation are digits that carry meaningful
39.4 in 1m contributions to its measurement resolution.
3.28 1m
1.09 yd 1m SIGNIFICANT FIGURES RULES
0.621 mi 1km 1. All non-zero digits DO count
*24= 2
EXAMPLES *3.56= 3
1. Convert 28 oz to g 2. Leading zeros DON’T count
*zeros in front of numbers
*0.0025= 2
2. Convert 3 ft to cm 3. Captive zeros DO count
*zeros between non-zero numbers
*1502= 4
*1.008= 4
-In certain cases, particularly in scientific 4. Trailing zeros DO count IF the number
usage, convenient to provide for subdivisions contains a DECIMAL
smaller than one-thousandth. In the metric *zeros at the end of number
system of measurement, designations of *100= 1
multiples and subdivision of any unit may be *2306.0= 5
arrived at by combining with the name of the *1.00 x 10 = 3
unit the prefixes on the table.
SCIENTIFIC NOTATION
Prefix Symbol Factor -A convenient and widely used method of
atto a 10 expressing large and small numbers
Femto f 10 - Any quantity may be expressed in the form
pico p 10 of N x 10
nano n 10
micro 10
milli m 10
centi c 10 SAMPLE PROBLEM
Lesson 3
Uncertainty and Error Analysis
1. The speed of light is approximately 300 -Properly reporting an experimental result
000 000 m/s along with its uncertainty allows other people
to make judgement about the quality of the
300 000 000 m/s = 3 x 10 m/s experiment, and it facilitates meaningful
comparisons with other similar values as a
2. The mass of a strand of hair is theoretical prediction
approximately 0.000 000 62 kg

0.000 000 62 kg = 6.2 x 10 kg

Error- the deviation of a measured value

from the expected or true value
Uncertainty- is a way of expressing this
error

ACCURACY VS PRECISION
Accuracy- refers to the closeness of a
measured value to the expected or true value
of a physical quantity
Precision- represents how close or consistent
the independent measurements of the same
quantity to one another

MEASUREMENT ERROR
-An error or fault can be described as the
disparity between the calculated worth and
the exact worth
-For instance, if the two machinists use a
similar instrument for discovering the errors
in measurement, it is not required that they
DEFINITION may acquire the related outcomes
-In reporting measurement values, one often -But, there will be a slight variation between
performs several trials and calculates the both the measurements which is known as an
average of the measurements error
-The repeated measurements have a range of
values due to several possible sources Types of Errors in Measurement
-The process of evaluating the uncertainty -The errors in measurement may happen from
associated with a measurement result is often the various sources which are generally
called uncertainty analysis or error categorized into the following types
analysis -These are clarified beneath in details
Lesson 3
Uncertainty and Error Analysis
1. Systematic errors
*Observational errors
*Environmental errors PERCENT ERROR & PERCENT
*Instrumental errors DIFFERENCE
-Inherent limitation of devices
-Abuse of apparatus PERCENT ERROR
-Effect of loading -When there is an expected or true value of
2. Random errors quantity, percentage error is usually
3. Gross errors calculated
X = true or accepted value
RANDOM VS SYSTEMATIC ERRORS x = measured value

RANDOM ERRORS PERCENT DIFFERENCE

-Result from unpredictable or inevitable -A measure of how far apart the different
changes during data measurement measure values are from each other and also
-This type of error is constantly there in a the indication of precision
measurement, which is occurred by -Percent difference between X1 and X2 is
essentially random oscillation in the given by the equation x_1 and x_2 are two
apparatus measurement analysis or in the measured value in an experiment
experimenter’s understanding of the
apparatus reading
-These types of errors show up as dissimilar
outcomes for apparently the similar frequent
measurement, which can be expected by
contrasting numerous measurements with SAMPLE PROBLEM
condensed by averaging numerous -Two trials were performed in an experiment
measurements to determine the latent heat of vaporization
(Lv) of water at 100 C. The values of Ly of
SYSTEMATIC ERRORS water obtained were 532 cal/g and 536 cal/g.
-Usually come from the measuring Find the percent difference between the two
instrument or in the design of the experiment values.
itself
-Produce consistent errors, either a fixed *given: LV1= 532 cal/g
amount (like 1 lb) or a proportion (like 105% LV2= 536 cal/g
of the true value). If you repeat the
experiment, you’ll get the same error
-Systematic errors are consistently in the
same direction (e.g. they are always 50g, 1%
or 99 mm too large or too small). In contrast,
random errors produce different values in
random directions. For example, you use a
scale to weigh yourself and get 148 lbs, 153
lbs, and 132 lbs.
Lesson 3
Uncertainty and Error Analysis