ACCURACY AND PRECISION IN MEASUREMENT How accuracy and precision affect each other?
Measurement
➢ The act comparing a quantitative property of an object to a known standard.
➢ Each quantitative property has an assigned unit of measurement.
➢ Measurements are important in the standardization of processes to achieve a
consistent result every time.
Accuracy
➢ refers to the proximity of the measured value to the true
value of the quantitative property.
Solving for Percentage Accuracy
Factors affecting the accuracy and precision of a measurement:
➢ A higher %A means a more accurate group of ➢ Unlike counting an amount, measuring quantitative properties cannot be
measurement trulyfree from error.
➢ Example: A 75cm string was measured three times, resulting ➢ Errors may stem from:
into 74cm, 72cm, and 76cm - Instrument
- Experimenter
- Random fluctuations
➢ By taking multiple measurements, the variation from errors gets almost
cancelled out.
Precision __________________________________________________________________________________________:)
➢ refers to the proximity of the measured values to each SIGNIFICANT FIGURES IN MEASUREMENTS
other. This can be measured by different statistical methods Significant Figures
like range and standard deviation. ➢ The significant figures in a measurement include all the digits that are
known, plus a last digit that is estimated to be either on mark 0 or in-between 5.
Solving for Percentage Precision ➢ Measurements must always be reported to the correct number of significant
figures because calculated answers cannot be more precise than measured data.
(deviation = | (measured value ) − (average value) |
➢A lower %P means a more precise group of measurement
➢Example: A 75cm string was measured three times, resulting
into 74cm, 72cm, and 76cm
To determine whether a digit in a measured value is significant, you need
to apply the following rules.
1.) Every nonzero digit is significant.
2.) Zeros appearing between nonzero digits are significant. These are called
“captured zeros”.
3.) Zeroes after the decimal point and nonzero are significant, captured or not.
4.) Zeroes after a nonzero and before the decimal point are significant.
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SOURCES OF ERROR IN MEASUREMENT
Error includes systematic and random. Systematic includes sampling, method,
personal, instrument.
➢ Sampling errors arise when a collected sample does not represent the
environment being sampled.
➢ Method Errors result from not being able to accurately measure the
sample’s concentration or mass. This usually occurs because another substance
present in the sample matrix is interfering in the measurement process.
➢ Instrument Errors involve using the proper glassware/equipment for
analyses and knowing the errors involved in its use.
➢ Personal Errors are also known as human errors and arise negligence like
over-titrating an endpoint or using a dirty cuvette for analysis.
➢ Random errors are always present during any measurement and can’t be
controlled for. In general, the magnitude of systematic errors greatly exceeds
those of random errors, so that is where analysts typically focus their attention
to minimize overall error in a process.
