FEU Institute of Technology

MPS Department

GED0081L

Experiment #1

Significant Figures and Uncertainty of Measurements

Grade

Damian, Edron Neatness (10%)

Group 1 Q&A (50%)

R04 Conclusion (40%)

T 10:00 - 12:40
Objectives

1.) To measure the length using the following: ruler, Vernier caliper, or micrometer.
2.) To apply the rules of significant figures in reporting measurements.
3.) To determine the limit of accuracy of the different devices.
4.) To differentiate precision of measurements and accuracy of measurements.
5.) To apply some elementary quantitative tools to evaluate quantities.

Question & Answer

1.) What is the significance of computing the absolute deviation in the experiment done?

The significance of getting the absolute deviation is to know or identify how precise is the
reading of the three values conducted by the group. This is to know how close or how far off the
reading is compared to the average.

2.) Differentiate the advantages of using ruler, micrometer caliper and the Vernier caliper.

The advantage of the ruler is how the straightforward you will use it, get the object to be
measured put it next to the ruler and get the measurement. The micrometer on the other hand
is useful in measuring the diameter of spherical objects of objects that is small that is not practical
to use the Vernier Caliper to measure it. The Vernier caliper’s advantage is how many ways you
can use it. For example, measuring the inner and outer diameter, the height or length of the
object. It also has a locking mechanism like the micrometer caliper that enables the measuring
tool to lock in place so you can get your reading accurately.

3.) Explain the difference of accuracy from precision.

Having an accurate reading is a reading that is close the known value or hypothetical value
of the object. While having a precise reading is a reading that is consistent. For example, you took
a reading of the volume of a cylinder and got 20,21,19.5 although the known value is 10. That is a
precise reading but not accurate.

4.) Did you encounter any difficulty in using the measuring instruments? Why?

I found the ruler in particular difficult to use since it doesn’t have a locking mechanism
like the calipers, being a person with a shaky hand while getting the reading the ruler tends to
move so I have to adjust and get the value again. Another issue, although I think this is more
personal, is that the I can’t see clearly the values in the ruler compared to the calipers.
 5.) What can you say about the values that you have computed for Part A and the percentage errors
that you got for part B? How do these tools help you evaluate your data?

At first I think that if our computations in Part A are correct that we would get the answer
in Part B correct, but later on I found out that how accurate your answer depends on how accurate
is your measurements or reading of the object. Obviously the ruler has the highest percentage of
error since it relies on human accuracy in getting the value, which makes it bad because the
human eye has a limitation on how it can see the readings. With the calipers it is more reliable
since it makes the job of a human easier to get the reading.

Conclusions

Using the rules of significant figures helped by avoiding confusion in the reported measurements
or calculations done. We only needed to write significant numbers which is 1 to 9 and zeroes that holds
value therefore making the measurements neat and not confusing.

The ruler by far has the highest error percentage due to it relying on the human hands to fixate
the ruler and make sure that it doesn’t move while measuring and the human eye to get the
measurements, but the human eye can only see to some extent therefore making it unreliable and it
shows in the data it has over 90% error. The Vernier and micrometer caliper is a little bit more reliable
since it has a way to fixate the object while taking the measurements and a handful of other things that
make it easier to take measurements accurately.

Our measurements were precise since the highest difference between the measurements were
only 0.5, therefore making it precise. Although our measurements are precise it was not accurate
especially with the ruler. Even though we used the Vernier caliper and micrometer caliper our
measurements lead us 15 to 30% off the hypothetical density so human error is the factor on why the
measurements were not accurate enough.