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Error in Measurement

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18 views15 pages

Error in Measurement

Uploaded by

zhsm8fdcyk
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Error in

Measurement
Errors in Measurements
• Human error – mistakes made in reading an
instrument, or recording the results.
• To avoid, take repeated measurements to be certain
they are consistent.
• Measurements must be made by looking at the
device straight on.
• If they are not read straight on, an error due to
parallax is possible.
• Parallax is the apparent shift in position of an object
as it’s viewed from different angles.
Errors, continued
• Method error – measurements taken by different
methods.
• To avoid this error, you should standardize the method
of taking measurements.
• Instrument error – equipment not in good working
order.
• It is important to be careful with equipment.
Errors, continued
• External error – some equipment changes due to external causes.
• Ex.: length of a ruler changes with changes in temperature; electric measuring
devices are affected by magnetic fields near them.
Accuracy and Precision
The uncertainty of a measurement can be expressed in
terms of accuracy or precision.
Accuracy
• Accuracy of a measuring device depends upon how
well the value obtained by using the instrument
agrees with the accepted value.
• When a measurement to be made, the measuring
device should first be checked for accuracy.
• This can be done by using the instrument to
measure quantities whose values are known.
• The measured values are then compared to the
known values.
• This is known as calibrating the instrument.
Precision
• Precision is the degree of exactness with which the
measurement is made or stated.
• The precision of a measuring instrument is limited
by the smallest division on its scale.
• Errors in measurements affect the accuracy of a
measurement.
• But the precision is not affected since values are
still stated in terms of the smallest division on the
instrument.
If your lab partner is using a cylinder that is marked to the
nearest ten ml and tells you that there is 100 ml of water in
the graduated cylinder. How should this amount be recorded
on your lab sheet?
A. 100.00
B. 100.0
C. 100
D. 10.0 * 101
E. 1.00 * 102
What was the precision of the instrument which made the
following measurement: 3.024 g?
A. 10 g
B. 1 g
C. 0.1 g
D. 0.01 g
E. 0.001 g
Relative Error
• The accuracy of measurements can
be determined by comparing your
results with the accepted value.
• The percentage error, or relative
error, of a measured value can be
found with the following equation:
Experimental - Accepted
Relative Error  100%
Accepted
Investigation: Precision and
Significant Figures
• Purpose
• The purpose of this investigation is to learn how the number
of significant figures in a measurement is related to the
precision of the measurement.
• Equipment
• four-scale meterstick
• magnifying lens
• graph paper
Uncertainty in Measurement
Suppose the
measurement, using the 0.3

decimeter scale of the


meterstick, is 0.23 m. To

Length in meters
construct a bar graph of 0.2

the uncertainty in the


measurement extend a bar Certain
graph to the 0.2 m mark as 0.1

in the figure to the right.


Darkly shade this region
and label it “certain” since Decimeter
we are certain that the
length is at least 0.2 m.
Uncertainty in Measurement, continued

Now extend the bar 0.3

graph up to the 0.3 m


Doubtful
mark. Lightly shade this

Length in meters
region and label it 0.2

“doubtful” since we only


know that the length is 0.1 Certain
at least 0.2 m and not
more than 0.3 m.
Now place a line across Decimeter

at 0.23 m.
Questions
1. What determines the precision of a
measurement?
2. Explain how a measurement can be precise but
not accurate.
3. How does the last digit differ from other digits
in a measurement?
4. Your lab partner recorded a measurement as
100 ml.
a. What precision has he / she indicated is marked on this
cylinder?
Investigation: Precision and
Accuracy in Measurement
• Purposes
• to make precise linear measurements using the meterstick and to use these
measurements to compute quantities derived from length; and
• to distinguish between precision and accuracy by determining the mass
densities of some liquids and solids and comparing these values with
accepted values.

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