Abu Dhabi University

College of Art & Sciences

Physics I Lab, PHY102L.
Spring 2011-12

Experiment #:

Experiment Title:

Group:

Section #:

Students Names:

ID

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Submission Date:

1.

/ 2012

Measurement Uncertainties

Measurements Uncertainty

Page 1

Introduction
We all intuitively know that no experimental measurement can be perfect. It is possible to
make this idea quantitative. It can be stated this way: the result of an individual measurement of
some quantity is the actual value and an error. We associate the size of the error with the
particular method of measurementsome techniques have inherently smaller errors than others
(e.g. a micrometer vs. a meter stick.) We will use the terms uncertainty and error
interchangeably.
An important part of understanding an experiment and reporting its results is being able to
determine the measurement uncertainty. A practicing scientist or engineer needs to understand
measurement uncertainties both for the interpretation of measurements made by others, and
for design of future measurements.
To find an uncertainty, it is necessary to find the range in which an individual measurement is
likely to lie. For example, if we measure the speed of light to be 3.01 x 108 m/sec, and a study
of the measurement system indicates that the individual measurements are likely to lie between
2.98 x 108 m/sec and 3.04 x 108 m/sec, we would quote the result as
c=( 3.01 0.03 ) x 108 m/ sec

The uncertainty is usually explicitly displayed with error bars when experimental results
are graphed, as shown in Figure 1, below

Measurements Uncertainty

Page 2

Types of Uncertainties:
Uncertainty in a measurement can arise from three possible origins: the measuring device,
the procedure of how you measure, and the observed quantity itself. Usually the
largest of these will determine the uncertainty in your data.
There are two basically different types of uncertainties: systematic and random uncertainties.
Systematic Uncertainties:
Systematic uncertainties or systematic errors always bias results in one specific direction.
Your result will consistently be too high or too low. Here the magnitude and sign of the error is
always the same. The measurement result is shifted, up or down, by the same amount, even in
repeated measurements. Thus, averaging many measurements will not improve results.
An example of a systematic error follows. Assume you want to measure the length of table in
cm using a meter stick. But suppose the meter stick has been manufactured incorrectly or the
stick is made of metal that has contracted due to the temperature in the room, so that the stick is
less than one meter long. Clearly all the calibrations on the stick are smaller than they should
be. Your numerical value for the length of the table will then always be too large no matter how
often or how carefully you measure.
Another example might be reading temperature from a mercury thermometer in which a bubble
is present in the mercury column.

Measurements Uncertainty

Page 3

Systematical errors are usually due to imperfections in the equipment, improper or biased
observation, or by the presence of additional physical effects you did not take into account.
(An example might be an experiment on forces and acceleration in which friction in the setup
and is not taken into account!)
In performing experiments, try to estimate the effects of as many systematic errors as you
can, and then remove or correct for the most important. By being aware of the sources of
systematic error beforehand, it is often possible to perform experiments with sufficient
care to compensate for weaknesses in the equipment.
Typically a measurement has both random and systematic errors. Sometimes they can be
independently estimated and quoted. If this were the case for the speed of light measurement,
above, the result might be quoted:
c=( 3.01 0.03 0.01 ) x 108 m/sec

Here the last term is the systematic uncertainty.

Random Uncertainties:
In contrast to systematic uncertainties, random uncertainties are unbiased -- meaning it is
equally likely that an individual measurement is too high or too low. Random uncertainty
means that several measurements of a quantity will not always come out the same
but will spread around a mean value. The mean value will be much closer to the real
value than any individual measurement.
From your everyday experience you might now say, "Stop! Whenever I measure the
length of a table with a meter stick I get exactly the same value no matter how often I
measure it!" This may happen if your meter stick is insensitive to random measurements,
because you use a coarse scale (like mm) and you always read the length to the
nearest mm. But if you would use a meter stick with a finer scale, fractions of a mm, you would
definitely see the spread.
The RMS Deviation
One way to specify the range of a set of values is the RMS deviation. This stands for Root
Mean Square deviation. Mean in this context, means the average. Given a set of N
values of x, the average, or mean x, denoted by x is
x =

1
N

Measurements Uncertainty

x i ..(1)
i=1

Page 4

For the same set of xs we can also define the RMS deviation from the mean, denoted by ,
through the equation
=

2
1
x i x| (2)
|

( N1) i=1

The quantity is a measure of how dispersed are the values of x away from their average, .
If
all xs have the same value, then is zero. The RMS deviation is frequently called the
standard deviation. (Strictly speaking, is the standard deviation if the xs come from a
particular kind of distribution of errors called the normal or Gaussian distribution). It is
common practice to use as the experimental uncertainty.

Example:
Consider the following two sets of measurements taken with two different devices:
Set 1: 3.02
Set 2: 2.85

4.21
3.15

2.38
3.12

2.50
3.00

The average for both sets is the same = 3.00

The RMS deviation for set 1
N

xi

( x ix )

3.02

0.02

4 x10-4

4.21

1.21

1.4641

2.38

0.62

0.3844

2.50

0.50

0.2500

2.89

0.11

0.0121

|x ix|

|x ix|

x =3.0

i=1

Measurements Uncertainty

Page 5

2.89
2.88

|x ix|

(N1) i=1
=

Using similar calculations for the second set we find that = 0.136 as
shown below
N

xi

(x ix )

|x ix|

2.85

0.15

0.0225

3.15

0.15

3.12

0.12

3.00

0.00

0.0225
N, Number
0.0144
of
standard
deviations
0.00

2.88

0.12

x =3.00

0.0144
12
|x ix|
2

5 3

i=1 4

Probabilit
y of
exceeding
N

Probability
of
being less
than N

31.7%

68.3%

4.55%

93.45%

0.27%

99.73%

0.0065%

99.9935%

|x ix|

(N1) i=1
=

We would say that the second device makes measurements with greater precision than the
first. If the number of measurements N is increased, the values of x and tend toward
limiting values which are independent of N. It is common practice to use as the experimental
uncertainty.
A more detailed study of errors involves consideration of the probability of obtaining a
particular error in a measurement. One of the useful results of such a study is the following
chart which gives the odds that an individual error will deviate from the mean by a specified
number of standard deviations, N, for the normal error distribution.
Note: Probabilities are for values above or
Measurements Uncertainty

Page 6

below the mean

Precision and accuracy

Precision and accuracy in target shooting.

In everyday language, the words precision and accuracy are often

interchangeable. In the
sciences, however, the two terms have distinct meanings:
Precision describes the degree of certainty one has about a measurement .
Accuracy describes how well measurements agree with a known, standard
measurement.

Measurements Uncertainty

Page 7

Examples of precision and accuracy in length measurements. Here the

hollow
headed arrows indicate the `actual' value of 1.5 cm. The solid arrows
represent measurements.
Error Propagation

(worst case)

In the laboratory, we will need to combine measurements using addition,

subtraction, multiplication, and division to find the overall uncertainty.
We make use of the propagation of uncertainty to combine measurements
with the assumption that as measurements are combined, uncertainty
increases, hence the uncertainty propagates through the calculation.
1. When adding two measurements, the uncertainty in the final
measurement is the
sum of the uncertainties in the original measurements:
( A A )+ ( B B )=( A+ B ) (A +B )

Example,
let us calculate the combined length ( L L ) of two tables whose
lengths are ( L1 L1 ) =( 3.04 0.04 ) m

( L2 L2 ) =( 10.50 0.01 ) m
( L L )=( 3.04 0.04 ) m+ ( 10.50 0.01 ) m=( 13.54 0.05 ) m

Measurements Uncertainty

Page 8

2. When subtracting two measurements, the uncertainty in the final

measurement
is again equal to the sum of the uncertainties in the original measurements:
( A A )( B B )=( AB ) (A +B )

Example,
the difference in length between the two tables mentioned above is

( L2 L2 ) ( L1 L1 )= (10.50 0.01 ) m( 3.04 0.04 ) m

( 10.503.04 ) m ( 0.01+ 0.04 ) m
( 7.26 0.05 ) m

Example:
if a = 2.3 cm 0.3 cm and b = 1.3 cm 0.1 cm, then the difference is given by:
c = a b = (2.3cm 0.3cm) (1.3cm 0.1cm)
1.0 cm (0.3+ 0.1)

= 1.0 cm 0.4 cm

Be careful not to subtract uncertainties when subtracting measurements|

uncertainty
ALWAYS gets worse as more measurements are combined.

The table below shows Common formulas for propagating uncertainty

and their final Uncertainties measurements
Functional
Form

Formula

Uncertainty result formula

adding

( A A )+ ( B B )=

( A + B ) (A +B )

Eq.(1)

subtracting

( A A )( B B )=

( AB ) (A + B)

Eq.(2)

Measurements Uncertainty

Page 9

( AA + BB )]

Eq.(3)

dividing

A A
=
B B

A
A B
[1
+
]
B
A B

Eq.(4)

inversion

1
=
X X

( X1 )[1 XX ]

Eq.(5)

multiplicati
on
by a
constant

k ( y y )=

ky ky

Eq.(6)

Square root

( A A )

multiplying

( A A )( B B ) =

Triple
product.

AB [1

( A
ABC [1

( A A )( B B ) ( C C )

y=x n

Exponent

then

A
)
2A

Eq.(7)

( AA + BB + CC )]
1
e AB

e ( A A ) ( B B )=

Exponential

y (1+n

y +y=

Eq.(8)
Eq.(9)

x
)
x

Eq.(10)

Problems:
1. In an experiment we are measuring the gravitational acceleration(m/s2) in 2 different
ways. The following table contains the data for two trials, A and B.
Trial A

10.1

10.1

Measurements Uncertainty

10.1

10.6

Page 10

10.6

10.6

10.6

10.6

10.1

Trial B

9.93

8.99

8.96

9.89

9.92

10.24

10.12

10.3

10.6

A. Find the average for the gravitational acceleration in both trials.

B. Find the standard deviation for the gravitational acceleration in both trials
C. What is the percent error of the measurement for trial A? For trial B?
D. If the accepted value for gravitational acceleration is 9.82 m/s2, what is the percent
difference between the measured value and the accepted value for trial A? For trial B?
E. How many standard deviations away is the measurement for both trials from the
accepted value?
F. Which trial, A or B, is more accurate? Why?
G. Which trial, A or B, is more precise? Why?
2. To measure the density of a rectangular object, a student measures the
object's volume and mass. The volume is given by the formula V = LWH,
where L is the length, W is the width, and H is the height. The density is
given by

m
V , where m is the object's mass. If the measurement of the

mass is uncertain by 2%, and each of L, W and H is uncertain by 4%, what

is the uncertainty, in percent, of the density ? Show your work.

3. Assuming x, t, and a are related as in a=2x/t2, find the value for %

and a = (4.0 0.6 )m/s2
4. If = 0.80.02, and t=0.60.04 what is the value of for z = e
5. If x = 0.90 0.03 what is the value of for z = sin x?

Measurements Uncertainty

Page 11

(t)

if x = (8.0 0.4)m