UNIT I: Introduction To Physics: Lesson 1.1. Measurement in Physics
UNIT I: Introduction To Physics: Lesson 1.1. Measurement in Physics
UNIT I: Introduction To Physics: Lesson 1.1. Measurement in Physics
Chapter 1
Lesson 1.1. Measurement in Physics
Why do we need to measure?
System of Units
Chapter 1
Lesson 1.2. Uncertainty and Error
Analysis
ACCURACY vs. PRECISION
• ACCURACY refers to the closeness of a measured value to the
expected or true value of a physical quantity.
SYSTEMATIC ERRORS
• this errors usually come from the measuring instrument,
experimenter or in the design of the experiment itself.
Percent Error
When there is an expected or true value of a quantity, percentage error (or
simple percent error) is usually calculated .
Formula:
Percent error =
where:
– measured value
– true or accepted value
=
Standard deviation
• The square root of variance
• It is a measure of how diverse or spread out are a set of
measurements from their average.
The measurement of of a physical quantity in a
set of measurements is usually reported as
Sample Problem
1. During an experiment in a physics laboratory class, a group of five students
was asked to measure the period of a simple pendulum. Their
measurements were as follows: 2.3 s, 2.4 s, 2.2 s, 2.5 s, and 2.1 s. Determine
the (a) mean, (b) variance, (c) standard deviation, and (d) measured period
of the pendulum.
2. In an experiment, 10 trials were done to determine the range of a projectile.
The measurements for the range of the projectile in centimeters are as
follows:
134.8 133.9 135.1 134.7 135.3
Determine the (a) mean, (b) variance, (c) standard deviation, and (d)
measured range of projectile.
ABSOLUTE & RELATIVE
Uncertainties
Uncertainty
• indicates the range of values within which the measurement is
asserted to lie with some level of confidence.
• is quantitative measure of how much your measured values deviate
from a standard or expected value.
ABSOLUTE Uncertainty
• Has the same unit as the quantity itself.
Example:
The resistance of a wire is (25.00 .
The absolute uncertainty is 0.05 . This means that the resistance of the
wire ranges from (25.00 – 0.05) to (25.00 + 0.05) or from 24.95 to
25.05 .
RELATIVE/PERCENT Uncertainty
• Is dimensionless and is obtained by dividing the absolute uncertainty
by the numerical or measured value.
• The quotient is usually expressed as percentage by multiplying it by
100%.
Example: From the same problem
Solution:
Absolute uncertainty = m3 = 0.03825 m3 0.04 m3
The best way to come up with a good
measurement of a physical quantity is to get
independent measurements of the same thing. The
mean or average of these measurements
represents the best estimate, while the range may
be obtained by getting the difference between the
lowest and highest values. The uncertainty is one-
half of this range.
• Mean =
• Range = Highest value – Lowest value
• Uncertainty =
Sample Problem
1. During an experiment in physics laboratory class, a group pf six
students was asked to measure the height of a cylinder. Their
measurements were as follows: 5.25 cm, 5.27 cm, 5.26 cm, 5.24 cm,
5.23 cm, and 5.36 cm. what is the height of the cylinder?
Solution:
Mean = = 5.27 cm
Range = 5.36 cm – 5.23 cm = 0.13 cm
Uncertainty = = 0.065 cm 0.07 cm
Sample Problem
1. The measurement of the thickness of a physics book is (5.3 0.1) cm.
(a) What is the best estimate of the thickness of the physics book?
(b) What is the range of the values of the thickness of the book? (c)
Express the thickness of the book using relative uncertainty.
Solution:
a. The best estimate of the thickness of the book is 5.3 cm
b. The thickness of the book could be from 5.2 cm to 5.4 cm
c. The thickness of the book is
5.3 cm () x 100% = 5.3 cm 2%
Rules apply to calculations involving data
with uncertainties
• If data are to be added or subtracted, add their absolute
uncertainties.
• If data are to be multiplied or divided, add their relative uncertainties.
• For a number raised to a power, fractional or not, multiply the relative
uncertainty by the power.
• For a number to be multiplied by a constant, multiply the number and
uncertainty if it is absolute. Only the number is multiplied by the
constant if the uncertainty is relative.