Measurement and

uncertainties
Uncertainties and errors
Essential idea:
Scientists aim towards designing experiments that can give a “true
value” from their measurements, but due to the limited precision in
measuring devices, they often quote their results with some form of
uncertainty.

Nature of science:
Uncertainties: “All scientific knowledge is uncertain. When the scientist
tells you he does not know the answer, he is an ignorant man. When he
tells you he has a hunch about how it is going to work, he is uncertain
aparamount importance, in order to make progress, that we recognize this
ignorance and this doubt. Because we have the doubt, we then propose
looking in new directions for new ideas.”
– Feynman, Richard P. 1998. The Meaning of It All:
Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist.
Reading, Massachusetts, USA. Perseus. P 13.
Understandings:
• Random and systematic errors
• Absolute, fractional and percentage uncertainties
• Error bars
• Uncertainty of gradients and intercepts

Applications and skills:

• Explaining how random and systematic errors can be identified and
reduced
• Collecting data that include absolute and/or fractional uncertainties and
stating these as an uncertainty range (expressed as: best estimate ±
uncertainty range)
• Propagating uncertainties through calculations involving addition,
subtraction, multiplication, division and raising to a power
• Determining the uncertainty in gradients and intercepts
Utilization:
• Students studying more than one group 4 subject will be able to use
these skills across all subjects
Uncertainty and errors

• No measurement can be "exact". This would require a measuring instrument

with marks infinitely close together – which is clearly impossible.

Accuracy is the closeness of agreement between a measured

value and a true or accepted value

Precision is the degree of exactness (or refinement) of a

measurement (results from limitations of measuring device used).
Random and systematic errors
There are 2 types of errors in measured data: random and systematic.

 Random: refer to random fluctuations in the measured data due to:

the readability of the instrument
the effects of something changing in the surroundings between measurements
the observer being less than perfect
poor technique (e.g. carelessness with parallax)
The observer being less than perfect in the different
way during each measurement.

Perhaps the ruler wasn’t perfectly lined up every time.

Random errors can be reduced by averaging.

A precise experiment has small random error.
 Random and systematic errors
Systematic errors is error due to the instrument being “out of adjustment.”
An instrument with a zero offset error.
A meter stick might be worn off or rounded at one end
An instrument that is improperly calibrated
• poor technique (e.g. carelessness with parallax)
The observer being less than perfect in the same way every time.

Systematic errors are usually difficult to detect.

Systematic errors can be detected using
different methods of measurement
RE RE RE RE
SE SE SE SE
precise, not accurate, not neither precise, both accurate
accurate precise nor accurate and precise

A measurement is said to be accurate if it has little systematic errors.

A measurement is said to be precise if it has little random errors.

A measurement can be of great precision but be inaccurate

(for example, if the instrument used had a zero offset error).
Random and systematic errors
EX:

•This is like the rounded-end ruler. It will produce a systematic error.

•Thus its error will be in accuracy, not precision.
 How to report the measurements
While we never know the true value exactly, we attempt to find its best estimate.
When you take a single measurement (individual trial) the number you record
(reading) is your best estimate of that trial. When we do multiple trials, the
average value of the trials is our best estimate of the measurement.
How do we report our findings? The most common way to show the range of
values that we believe includes the true value is:

measurement = (best estimate ± absolute uncertainty) units

"Absolute" uncertainty is just the

uncertainty uncertainty magnitude of the uncertainty
Best Measurement is not one particular value,
estimate rather it is a range of values.
Measurement That range represents the measurement
result at a given confidence.

For example, the result (20.1 ± 0.1) cm basically communicates that the
person making the measurement believes the value to be closest to 20.1 cm
but it could have been anywhere between 20.0 cm and 20.2 cm.
Uncertainty for a Single Measurement (1 trial)

Absolute uncertainty is Instrument uncertainty or readability error

Analog instrument : ½ of the smallest increment (precision)
Digital instrument : the smallest scale division
measurement = (reading ± absolute uncertainty) unit

EX:

L = (10.66 ± 0.05) cm

(length is anywhere btw 10.61 & 10.71 cm)

The value of best estimate must be expressed

to the same precision as the uncertainty
 Uncertainty for a Single Measurement (1 trial)
EX: The length of a rod is measured using part of a metre rule that is
graduated in millimetres, as shown below.

Which one of the following is the measurement of the length of the rod?
A.5 ± 0.1 cm B. 5 ± 0.2 cm C. 5.0 ± 0.1 cm D. 5.0 ± 0.2 cm

Although instrument uncertainty is half the smallest division on the ruler, because
there are two uncertainties in the game, the uncertainty in the case of reading
with a ruler is
reading ± the smallest division on the measuring instrument

Different sites report different rules for ruler. Both have its own logic.
You can use either ½ of the smallest increment or the whole one if you explain
Uncertainty for a Single Measurement (1 trial) can be
estimated uncertainty
A stop-watch which measures to 1/100 of a second measures time to be 1s:
t = 1s ± 0·01s

(equivalent to say: time t is between 0·99s and 1·01s)

This sounds quite good until you remember that the reaction-time of the person
using the watch might be about 0·15s. Now considering the measurement again,
with a possible 0·15s at the starting and stopping time of the watch, we should
now state the result as

t = (1s ± 0·3)s In other words, t is between about 0·7s and 1·3s.

CONCLUSION: The experimenter can determine the error to be different from instrument
uncertainty provided some justification can be given. For example, mercury and alcohol
thermometers are quite often not as accurate as the instrument uncertainty says. Instrument
uncertainty when measuring time with stopwatch is certainly not the one stated by
manufacturer – usually 0.01 s. It is ridiculous since you could never, ever move your thumb
that fast!
2. Calculating uncertainty range from several repeated measurements

measurement = (average ± absolute uncertainty) unit

Unfortunately, there is no general rule for determining the uncertainty.

The following is the IB guideline (at the moment) for uncertainties in IA

n trials of quantity x leads to distribution of values (x1, x2, x3,…)

𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 σ 𝑥𝑖

𝐴𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒 = 𝑥𝑎𝑣𝑔 =
𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑛

𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑥𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝑥𝑚𝑖𝑛

𝐴𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑦 ∆𝑥 = =
2 2

Don’t forget that each individual measurement has readability uncertainty

 How to report the measurements
measurement = (best estimate ± absolute uncertainty) units

Single Measurement (1 trial)

measurement = (reading ± absolute uncertainty) unit
𝑥 = (𝑥𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 ± ∆𝑥) 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠 ∆𝑥 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑦

Several repeated measurements

measurement = (average ± absolute uncertainty) unit
σ 𝑥𝑖 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑥𝑚𝑎𝑥 − 𝑥𝑚𝑖𝑛
𝑥𝑎𝑣𝑔 = ∆𝑥 = =
𝑛 2 2
∆𝑥
𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑦 (𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟) =
𝑥
∆𝑥
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠(𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟) = 100%
𝑥
The value of best estimate must be expressed Uncertainty
to the same precision as the uncertainty has 1 sig. fig.
 Reporting results of measurements and uncertainties
EX: In measuring the angle of refraction at an air-glass interface for a constant
angle of incidence the following results were obtained (using a protractor with
a precision of ± 1o): 45°, 47°, 46°, 45°, 44°
How should we express the angle of refraction?
The mean of these values is 45.4° and the range is (47° − 44°) = 3°.
Half the range is 1.5°.
Since the precision of the protractor is ±1°, average value should be quoted to
the whole number and round down to 45°. Uncertainty should round up
to 2°. This means that the angle of refraction should be recorded as 45 ± 2°.

When reporting results, values calculated with calculator must be rounded.

EX: Calculator in students hands can do funny things.
calculator gives F=4.264 N, and an uncertainty ±0.362N.
Students knowledge quotes the force as as F=(4.3±0.4) N.
This year it is acceptable to express uncertainty to two significant figures.
EX: The six students measure the resistance of a lamp:
609 Ω; 666 Ω; 639 Ω; 661 Ω; 654 Ω; 628 Ω.
What should the students reports as the resistance of the lamp?

Average resistance = 643 Ω

Range = Largest - smallest resistance: 666 - 609 = 57 Ω
Absolute uncertainty: dividing the range by 2 = 29 Ω
So, the resistance of the lamp is reported as: R = (640 ± 30) Ω
𝐹𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑦 = ±0.05 This tells you
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 = 5% immediately that
resistance is anywhere
btw 610 and 670 Ω

EX: A student measures a distance several times.

The readings lie between 49.8 cm and 50.2 cm.
This measurement is best recorded as
A.49.8 ± 0.2 cm. B. 49.8 ± 0.4 cm C. 50.0 ± 0.2 cm D. 50.0 ± 0.4 cm.
EX: A student measures the voltage shown.
What are the absolute, fractional and percentage uncertainties of his
measurement? Find the precision.

Absolute uncertainty = 0.001 V.

Fractional uncertainty = 0.001/0.385 = 0.0026.
Percentage uncertainty = 0.0026(100%) = 0.26%.
Precision is 0.001 V.
 Propagating uncertainties through calculations

If data are to be added or subtracted, add the absolute uncertainty:

∆ 𝑎 ± 𝑏 = ∆𝑎 + ∆𝑏

𝑎 = 3.2 ± 0.2 𝑚
𝑏 = 2.3 ± 0.1 𝑚

𝑎 + 𝑏 = 5.5 ± 0.3 𝑚
𝑎 − 𝑏 = 0.9 ± 0.3 𝑚
 Propagating uncertainties through calculations
If data are to be multiplied or divided, add the fractional or percentage uncertainty:
𝑎 · 𝑏 ∆𝑦 ∆𝑎 ∆𝑏 ∆𝑐
𝑦 = = + +
𝑐 𝑦 𝑎 𝑏 𝑐

𝑎 = 2.3 ± 0.2 𝑚 𝑏 = 3.2 ± 0.1 𝑚

𝑎 ∙ 𝑏 = 7.36
∆𝐴 ∆𝑎 ∆𝑏
𝐴=𝑎∙𝑏 = + 𝑎
𝐴 𝑎 𝑏 = 0.719
∆𝐴 = 7.36 0.087 + 0.031 = 0.868 𝑏
∆𝑎
𝐴 = 7.4 ± 0.9 𝑚 = 0.087
𝑎
∆𝑏
= 0.031
𝑎 ∆𝐵 ∆𝑎 ∆𝑏 𝑏
𝐵= = +
𝑏 𝐵 𝑎 𝑏
∆𝐵 = 0.719 0.087 + 0.031 = 0.0848
𝐵 = 0.7 ± 0.1
 A cylinder has a radius of 1.60 ± 0.01 cm and a height of 11.5 ± 0.1 cm.
EX:
Find the volume.

V = π r2 h = π (1.60) 2 x 11.5 = 92.488 cm2 = 92 cm2

∆𝑉 ∆𝑟 ∆𝑟 ∆ℎ ∆𝑟 ∆ℎ
= + + =2 + = 2 × 0.00625+0.00870=0.02120
𝑉 𝑟 𝑟 ℎ 𝑟 ℎ

Absolute uncertainty in V:
∆𝑉 = 0.02120𝑉 =0.02120 x 92.488 cm3 = 1.96075 cm3
V = 92 ± 2 cm3