Assessment of

Uncertainty
[Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication,
Division, Average, Timing Exp]
 Assessment of Uncertainty in the Final Result
• How do we find the • Assessment of total uncertainty:
total uncertainty in • To assess the total uncertainty or error,
the final-result?
• It is necessary to evaluate the likely uncertainties
Explain
in all the factors involved in that calculation.
• The maximum possible uncertainty or error in a
final-result is found by different methods
depending upon the nature of calculation like;
1) Addition or subtraction,
2) Multiplication or division,
3) Power factor involved,
4) Uncertainty in the average of measurements,
5) And uncertainty in the timing experiments.
 Assessment of Uncertainty in the Final Result
• How do we • For addition and subtraction:
calculate the • Absolute uncertainties are added.
uncertainty while
• For example we have two values x1 and x2 then;
adding or
subtracting values? • Distance: 𝟏 , and
• Distance: 𝟐 , then
• For addition
• 𝟏 𝟐
• 𝟏 𝟐
• For subtraction:
• 𝟐 𝟏
• 𝟐 𝟏
 Assessment of Uncertainty in the Final Result
• How do we • For multiplication and division:
calculate the • Percentage uncertainties are added.
uncertainty while
• For example the uncertainty in resistance R from
multiplying or
the measurements of potential V and current I
dividing values?
using R = V/I is found by:
• Potential: , and
• Current: , then
• Percentage uncertainty in V:
𝑳.𝑪. 𝟎.𝟏
𝑴.𝑽. 𝟓.𝟐
• Percentage uncertainty in I:
𝑳.𝑪. 𝟎.𝟎𝟓
𝑴.𝑽. 𝟎.𝟖𝟒
 Assessment of Uncertainty in the Final Result
• How do we • For multiplication and division:
calculate the • Resistance is calculated by:
uncertainty while
multiplying or
dividing values?
• Percentage uncertainty in R: =
%age uncert. in V + %age uncert. in I

• Final Result: the resistance of the wire is:

with a %age uncertainty of 8%
𝟔.𝟐
𝟏𝟎𝟎
 Assessment of Uncertainty in the Final Result
• How do we Example # 2: Percentage uncertainties in multiplication
calculate the Let’s find the area of a rectangle and uncertainty in it:
uncertainty while Length: l = 11.2 ± 0.1 cm,
multiplying or
dividing values? Width: w = 12.3 ± 0.1 cm
Area: A = (length) x (width) = ?
Solve it by yourself as in previous example.

width
Area = ?

length
 Assessment of Uncertainty in the Final Result
• How do we • For Power Factor
calculate the • Multiply the percentage uncertainty by that power.
uncertainty in
results where • For example, the volume of a sphere is calculated by:
power factor are 𝟒 𝟑
involved? 𝟑
• Let
𝟒 𝟑 𝟒 𝟑
•
𝟑 𝟑
𝟑
•
• %age uncert. in V %age uncertainty in r
𝑳.𝑪.
• %age uncert. in r =
𝑴.𝑽.
 Assessment of Uncertainty in the Final Result
• How do we • For Power Factor
calculate the 𝟎.𝟎𝟏
uncertainty in • %age uncert. in V
𝟐.𝟐𝟓
results where • %age uncert. in V
power factor are
• 𝟑
with a %age uncert. of
involved?
𝟒𝟕.𝟕 𝟑
•
𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝟑
•
𝟑
•
• While rounding off we need to keep
• The number of significant figures in mind
 Assessment of Uncertainty in the Final Result
• How do we • Uncertainty in average of many measurements
calculate the • An average is taken of the measured values,
uncertainty in the
average of many • A difference between average value and each
measurements? measured value is found,
Explain • The average of this difference (deviation) is the
uncertainty in the average value.
• For example, if the diameter of a wire is measured six
times by a micrometer screw gauge in mm as:
1.20, 1.22, 1.23, 1.19, 1.22, 1.21
• Then;
Final measurement = average ± mean of difference
 Assessment of Uncertainty in the Final Result
• How do we • Uncertainty in average of many measurements
calculate the • Average:
uncertainty in the
average of many
measurements?
Explain
• Difference of average with each measured value in
mm:
0.01, 0.01, 0.02, 0.02, 0.01, 0
• Average of difference:
 Assessment of Uncertainty in the Final Result
• How do we • Uncertainty in average of many measurements
calculate the • Thus, likely uncertainty in the mean diameter is 1.21
uncertainty in the mm is 0.01 mm recorded as:
average of many
measurements? 1.21 ± 0.01 mm
Explain
 Assessment of Uncertainty in the Final Result
• How do we • Uncertainty in the timing experiments:
calculate the • The uncertainty in the time period of a vibrating
uncertainty in the body is found by dividing the least count of timing
timing device by the number of vibrations.
experiments?
• For example:
Explain
• If the time of a simple pendulum of 30 vibrations
recorded by a stopwatch of least count 0.1 second
is 54.6 seconds, then time period is:
𝟑𝟎
 Assessment of Uncertainty in the Final Result
• Summary • For uncertainty in addition and subtraction, the
absolute uncertainties are added.
• For uncertainty in multiplication and division,
percentage uncertainties are added.
• For uncertainty in power factor, percentage
uncertainty is multiplied by that power.
• For uncertainty in average of many measurements,
first average and then mean of deviation is measured.
• For uncertainty in the timing experiment, the least
count is divided by the number of vibrations.
• Number of significant figures is kept in mind while
recording the final answer.
 Thank you very much…!!!
Next Lecture
Assessment of Uncertainty
(addition, subtraction, multiplication and division)