Uncertainty

Things that must be considered when calculating uncertainty:

- Resolution
- Manufacturers tolerance
- Repeats etc
- Judgements made by experimenter
- Size of increments available.

Uncertainty in a reading, taking only one judgement, is no smaller than ±half of the smallest division. Eg,
0.5oC

Uncertainty in a measurement, taking two judgements, is no smaller than ±1 of the smallest scale reading.

When taking the extension of a spring by measuring the total length unloaded and loaded, you are making
4 overall judgements, this is equal to 2x the uncertainty in a measurement so the uncertainty is ±2 of the
smallest division.

If you were to measure the extension of a spring by fixing an end and taking a scale reading of the lower
end so you are just observing where the spring lies on the scale, you are taking 2 readings, one extended
and one at the initial length, so the uncertainty is equal to the uncertainty in a measurement. This means
that this method is better to reduce uncertainty as the overall uncertainty is lower.

The uncertainty in a given value on the data sheet can be assumed to be ±1 of the least significant digit.

Uncertainty can be reduced by taking multiple instances of measurements. The uncertainty in each
measurement is the uncertain in the whole measurement divided by the number of things that have been
measured. This reduces uncertainty as the absolute uncertainty for 1 measurement is the same for the
total measurement but the percentage uncertainty is lower?.

Repeating methods reduces uncertainty as it allows you to find exceptional results and these can be
removed before calculating a mean. Uncertainty can be found in repeated measurements by finding half of
the range of the measured values.

Percentage uncertainty in a measurement ->

𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑦
x 100
𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒

Percentage uncertainty in a repeat measurement can be done using a mean value instead of a value.

Error bars can be plotted by:

- Plotting data point at the mean value
- Calculate the range, ignoring anomalis
- Add error bars with lengths equal to half of the range either side of the data point.
Uncertainties can be found from graphs. A line of best fit should be drawn and then the steepest or
shallowest gradient for a line of best fit should also be drawn. The uncertainty can be found from the
gradients of these lines by doing:
|𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 − 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡|
∗ 100 = 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑦
𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡
Gradients can be swapped for y intercept to calculate percentage uncertainty too.

You can also plot the steepest and shallowest possible line of best fits to calculate the percentage
uncertainty.
 |𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑠𝑡 − 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡|
∗ 100 = 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑦
2
When combining percentage uncertainties from equations:
- When adding or subtracting, add the absolute uncertainties
- When multiplying or dividing, add the percentage uncertainties
- When using powers, multiple the percentage uncertainty by the power.

When calculating an area, the percentage uncertainty can be calculated by adding the percentage
uncertainty for length and width, or the largest possible area can be found. This area should be taken from
the ‘most likely’ value for the area, which is just the mean value, and then divided by the most likely value
to find the percentage uncertainty.

The uncertainty in measurements should be rounded to the same number of decimal places as the reading
itself, e.g 0.023 ± 0.0065m should read 0.023 ± 0.007m