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55a22d01785c ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE UNCERTAINTIES

The document explains the concepts of absolute and relative uncertainties in measurements, highlighting that absolute uncertainty is expressed in the same unit as the measurement, while relative uncertainty is dimensionless and expressed as a percentage. It provides examples and sample problems to illustrate how to calculate both types of uncertainties. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of taking multiple measurements to obtain a more accurate estimate and determine uncertainty.

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51 views11 pages

55a22d01785c ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE UNCERTAINTIES

The document explains the concepts of absolute and relative uncertainties in measurements, highlighting that absolute uncertainty is expressed in the same unit as the measurement, while relative uncertainty is dimensionless and expressed as a percentage. It provides examples and sample problems to illustrate how to calculate both types of uncertainties. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of taking multiple measurements to obtain a more accurate estimate and determine uncertainty.

Uploaded by

EJ Loz
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ABSOLUTE AND RELATIVE

UNCERTAINTIES
A measurement must be presented
by two components: (1) a numerical
or measured value with the proper
unit that gives the best estimate of
the quantity measured and (2) the
degree of uncertainty in the
measurement.
Uncertainty indicates the range of
values within which the
measurement is asserted to lie with
some level of confidence\.
The degree of uncertainty
maybe reported as absolute or
relative. Absolute uncertainty
has the same unit as the quantity
itself. For example, the
resistance of wire is (25.00). The
absolute uncertainty is 0.05 This
means that the resistance of the
wire ranges from (25.00-0.05) to
(25.00+0.05) or from 24.95 to
25.05 .
Relative Uncertainty or percent
uncertainty, on the other hand, is
dimensionless and is obtained by
dividing the absolute uncertainty by the
numerical or measured value. The
quotient is usually expressed as
percentage by multiplying it by 100. The
relative uncertainty in the resistance of
the same wire is: x100=0.2%
Thus, the same resistance may be
expressed as 25.00 0.2%
SAMPLE PROBLEM
The speed of an ant was measured to be
v=(3.05 0.02) cm/s. Find the (a) absolute
uncertainty and(b)relative uncertainty of the
speed of an ant.
Solution:
a. With v=(3.05 0.02) cm/s, the absolute value
is 0.02 cm/s.
b. relative uncertainty = x 100=0.7%
SAMPLE PROBLEM
The measurement of the volume of an object is
1.53 2.5%. Find the absolute uncertainty.
Solution:
Absolute uncertainty = x1.53=0.038250.04
The absolute uncertainty is rounded off to 0.04
because 1.53 is only precise to the hundredths
place, so the uncertainty can only be precise to
the hundredths place.
Practice Exercise
1. The mass of an object is
found to be (24.5 0.1)g.
Find the (a) absolute
uncertainty and (b) relative
uncertainty of the mass of
the object.
2. The density of an
object was found to be
2.7 g/ 1.2%. What is the
absolute uncertainty of
the density of the object.
The best way to come up with a
good measurement of a physical
quantity is to get independent
measurements of the same thing.
The mean or average of these
measurements represents the best
estimate, while the range may be
obtained by getting the difference
between the lowest and the highest
values. The uncertainty is one-half of
this range.
SAMPLE PROBLEM
During am experiment in a physics laboratory
class, a group of six students was asked to
measure the height of the cylinder. The
group’s measurement were as follows:
5.25cm, 5.27cm, 5.26cm, 5.24cm, 5.23cm,
and 5.36cm. What is the height of the
cylinder?
Solution:
mean== 5.27cm
range= 5.36cm-5.23cm=0.13cm
uncertainty= =0.065cm0.07cm
The height of the cylinder is (5.270.07)cm.
Practice Exercise
The following are the values
obtained in measuring the
temperature of a room: 31.0C,
30.5C, 30.0C, 31.3C, 30.8C,
30.6C, and 31.1C. What is the
room temperature?

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