Shaqlawa Technical College, Erbil Polytechnic University

Medical Laboratory Technology Department

Uncertainty in measurements
ACCURACY AND PRECISION, SIGNIFICANT FIGURES, AND
DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS
Exact and Inexact numbers
Two kinds of numbers are encountered in scientific work:
Exact numbers (those whose values are known exactly).
Inexact numbers (those whose values have some uncertainty).

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Exact numbers
For example, there are exactly 12 eggs in a dozen, exactly 1000 g in a kilogram, and exactly 2.54
cm in an inch.
The number 1 in any conversion factor, such as 1 m = 100 cm or 1 kg = 2.2046 lb, is an exact
number.
Exact numbers can also result from counting objects.
For example, we can count the exact number of people in a classroom.

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Inexact numbers
Numbers obtained by measurement are always inexact.
The equipment used to measure quantities always has inherent limitations (equipment errors),
and there are differences in how different people make the same measurement (human errors).
Suppose ten students with ten balances are to determine the mass of the same dime.
The ten measurements will probably vary slightly for various reasons.
The balances might be calibrated slightly differently, and there might be differences in how each
student reads the mass from the balance.
Remember: Uncertainties always exist in measured quantities.

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Precision and Accuracy
Precision is a measure of how closely individual measurements agree with one another.
Accuracy refers to how closely individual measurements agree with the correct, or “true,” value.

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Precision
In the laboratory we often perform several “trials” of an experiment and average the results.
The precision of the measurements is often expressed in terms of the standard deviation, which
reflects how much the individual measurements differ from the average.

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Precision
In much scientific work we drop the ± notation with the understanding that there is always some
uncertainty in the last digit reported for any measured quantity.

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Significant Figures
◦ Suppose you determine the mass of a dime on a balance capable of measuring to the nearest 0.0001 g.
You could report the mass as 2.2405 ± 0.0001 g.
◦ The notation (read “plus or minus”) expresses the magnitude of the uncertainty of your measurement.
◦ In much scientific work we drop the ± notation with the understanding that there is always some
uncertainty in the last digit reported for any measured quantity.
◦ All digits of a measured quantity, including the uncertain one, are called significant figures.
◦ A measured mass reported as 2.2 g has two significant figures, whereas one reported as 2.2405 g has
five significant figures.
◦ The greater the number of significant figures, the greater the precision implied for the measurement.

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The following figure shows a thermometer with its liquid
column between two scale marks.
We can read the certain digits from the scale and estimate the
uncertain one. Seeing that the liquid is between the 25° and 30
°C marks, we estimate the temperature to be 27 °C, being
uncertain of the second digit of our measurement.
By uncertain we mean that the temperature is reliably 27 °C
and not 28° or 26 °C, but we can’t say that it is exactly 27 °C.

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What difference exists between the
measured values 4.0 and 4.00 g?
The value 4.0 has two significant figures, whereas 4.00 has three.
This difference implies that 4.0 has more uncertainty.
A mass reported as 4.0 g indicates that the uncertainty is in the first decimal place. Thus, the
mass is closer to 4.0 than to 3.9 or 4.1 g.
We can represent this uncertainty by writing the mass as 4.0 ± 0.1 g.
A mass reported as 4.00 g indicates that the uncertainty is in the second decimal place.
In this case the mass is closer to 4.00 than 3.99 or 4.01 g, and we can represent it as 4.00 ± 0.01
g.

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How many significant figures are in each of
the following numbers (assume that each
number is a measured quantity)?
(a) 4.003
(b) 6.023 X 1023
(c) 5000
(d) 5.00 X 103

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Dimensional analysis
In the dimensional analysis approach to problem solving, we keep track of units as we carry
measurements through calculations.
In dimensional analysis, units are multiplied together or divided into each other along with the
numerical values.
Equivalent units cancel each other.
Using dimensional analysis helps ensure that solutions to problems yield the proper units.
Moreover, it provides a systematic way of solving many numerical problems and of checking
solutions for possible errors.

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Dimensional analysis
A conversion factor is a fraction whose numerator and denominator are the same quantity
expressed in different units.
For example, 2.54 cm and 1 in. are the same length: 2.54 cm = 1 in.
This relationship allows us to write two conversion factors:

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Dimensional analysis (Converting units)
We use the first factor to convert inches to centimeters.
For example, the length in centimeters of an object that is 8.50 in. long is

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Dimensional analysis (Converting units)
In general, we begin any conversion by examining the units of the given data and the units we
desire.
We then ask ourselves what conversion factors we have available to take us from the units of the
given quantity to those of the desired one.
When we multiply a quantity by a conversion factor, the units multiply and divide as follows:

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Exercise

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Using two or more conversion factors
It is often necessary to use several conversion factors in solving a problem.
As an example, let’s convert the length of an 8.00-m rod to inches.

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Exercise

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Conversions involving volume
The density of a substance can be treated as a conversion factor between mass and volume.
Suppose we want to know the mass in grams of 2 cubic inches (2.00 in.3) of gold, which has a
density of 19.3 g/cm3.
The density gives us the conversion factors:

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Conversions involving volume
Because we want a mass in grams, we use the first factor, which has mass in grams in the
numerator.

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