Maryhill College

Basic Education Department

Lucena City

SELF- PACED LEARNING MODULE

Learning Area General Physics 1

Quarter First
Week Three
Lesson Title Accuracy and Precision
Date August 16-20, 2021
Teacher Mr. Marvin V. Gamban

Learning Resources

A. Textbook
B. ICT Integration: PPT presentation, pre-recorded video, stored learning packets in
OTG- Flashdrive

Objectives

At the end of the lesson, the students shall have:

1. identified the measurement if it is accurate or precise and if it has systematic
error or random error;
2. appreciated the importance of being precise and being accurate and the
importance of minimizing error;

Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELC)

 Differentiate accuracy from precision
 Differentiate random errors from systematic error
Estimate errors from multiple measurements of a physical quantity using variance

A. Getting Started

In the previous lesson we discussed about units, physical quantities and

measurements. Moreover, we also familiarized ourselves with the rules in
conversion and scientific notation. Now we will discuss the importance of having
an accurate and precise measurement.
 Go to the folder and open the power point presentation for the discussion.

B. Exploring the Lesson

These are the list of terms and formulas you will encounter.
Error Analysis
Measurements always have some degree of uncertainty because of unavoidable errors.

Error- the deviation of a measured value from the expected or true value.

Uncertainty- is a way of expressing this error. The equation below shows the
relationship of these factors.

measured value=( true value ± uncertainty ) units

Accuracy vs. Precision

Accuracy
- refers to the closeness of a
measured value to the expected
or true value of a physical
quantity.

-represents how to the closeness

of a measurement to the
expected value of a physical
quantity

Precision- represents how close or consistent the independent measurements of the

same quantity are to one another.

-represents how close or consistent the independent measurements to the expected

value of a physical quantity.

Can measurement be both

accurate and precise?

Why do you think physical

measurements never exact?

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Random vs. Systematic Errors

Random Error
 - Results from unpredictable or
inevitable changes during data
measurement.
- Affect the precision of the
measurements
- These may be reduced by
increasing the number of trials of a
measurement and averaging out the
results

Example Causes of Random Error

 Electronic noise from an electrical device
 Slight variation of temperature when the volume of gas is being measured
 Uncontrollable presence of the wind when determining the period of a simple
pendulum.

Systematic Error
- Usually come from the measuring instrument or in the design of the experiment
itself.
- These errors limit the accuracy of results.

Percent Difference and Percent Error

Percent Difference
- The measure of how far apart the different measured values are from each other.
- This is an indication of precision.
- The formula is given below:

percent difference=¿ x 1−x 2∨ ¿ ×100 ¿

x 1 + x2
2
- x 1∧x 2 two measured values in an experiment

Sample problem 1:

 Two trials were performed in an experiment to determine the latent heat

vaporization (Lv) of water at 100℃ . The values of Lv of water obtained were 532
cal/g and 536 cal/g. Find the percent difference between the two values.

Given:
Lv1 = 532 cal/g
Lv2 = 536 cal/g

Solution:
percent difference=¿ x 1−x 2∨ ¿ ×100 ¿
x 1 + x2
2

cal cal
percent difference=
|532
g
−536
g|
×100
cal cal
532 +536
g g
2

=0.75%

Thus, Lv1 differs 0.75% from Lv2

Percentage (Percent) Error
- When there is an expected or true value of a quantity a percentage error (or
simply percent error) is usually calculated
- Usually considered in judging the accuracy of a measurement
- The formula is given below:

percent error=¿ x−x T ∨ ¿ ×100 ¿

xT

- xT is the true or accepted value

- x is the measured value

Sample problem 2:

 Referring to the given in Sample problem 1, find the percent error for each
measurement if the accepted value of Lv of water at 100℃ is 540 cal/g.
Given for Lv1:
Lv1 = 532 cal/g
Lv of water at 100℃ is 540 cal/g

Solution:
percent error=¿ x−x T ∨ ¿ ×100 ¿
xT

cal cal
percent error=
|532
g
−540
g |
×100
cal
540
g
 percent error =1.48%

Given for Lv2:

Lv2 = 536 cal/g
Lv of water at 100℃ is 540 cal/g.

Solution:
percent error=¿ x−x T ∨ ¿ ×100 ¿
xT

cal cal
percent error=
|536
g
−540
g|
× 100
cal
540
g

percent error =0.74%

Variance
- Another way to estimate errors from multiple measurements of a physical quantity
is to determine the variance of the set of measurements.
- It measures the squared deviation of each number in the set from the mean
- A variance of zero means all the measurements are identical. A small variance
indicates that the values are close to one another, meaning they are precise.

The variance of a set of measurements is calculated as follows:

1. Take the mean of the of the set of measurements, x =
∑x
N
2. Take the deviation of the measurement from the mean (x - x)
3. Square each deviation, (x -x)2
4. Get the sum of the squares of each deviation ∑ ¿¿ -x)2
5. Divide the sum of the square by the number of measurements in the set
∑ ( x−x )2
N

In symbols, variance is
δ 2=
∑ ( x−x )2
N

Standard Deviation

- It is the measure of how diverse or spread out are a set of measurements from
their average.
- A small standard deviation means that the most of the measurements are close
to their average.
- A large standard deviation means that the measurements are very diverse.
- The measurement of x of a physical quality in a set of measurements is usually
reported as:

X=x ± δ
Sample problem 3:

 During an experiment in a physics laboratory class, a group of five students was

asked to measure the period of a simple pendulum. The group came up with the
following measurements: 2.3s, 2.4s, 2.2s, 2.5s, 2.1s.
Determine the following:
a. Mean
b. Variance
c. Standard deviation
d. Measured period of pendulum.
Solution:

a. x=
∑x
N

2.3 s+ 2.4 s +2.2 s+ 2.5 s+2.1 s

x= 5

x =2.3 s

b. δ 2=
∑ ( x−x ) 2
N

2 (2.3 s−2.3 s)2 +(2.3 s−2.4 s )2 +(2.3 s−2.2 s )2 +(2.3 s−2.1 s)2 +(2.3 s−2.5 s)2
δ =
5

δ 2 = 0.02 s2
 ∑ ( x−x )2
c. δ =
√ N

( 2.3 s−2.2 s ) +¿ 2( 2.3 s−2.1 s)2 +(2.3 s−2.5 s)2

√ 2
δ = (2.3 s−2.3 s) +(2.3 s−2.4 s) + 2
5
¿

δ 2=0.14 s ≈ 0.1 s

d. The measurement of x of a physical quality in a set of measurements is

usually reported as:
X=x ± δ

Therefore, the measured period of the pendulum is (2.3±0.1).

To determine what you have learned, you are tasked to answer the given
activities.

C. Assessing Learning

Activity 1: Solve me! Given below are practice problems regarding percent errors,
percent difference and variance. Write your solution in the space provided. You may use
extra sheets of paper. Make sure that the erasure is minimal.
1. In an experiment, 10 trials were 2. The reaction time of a student as
done to determine the range of a determined by her teammates in the
projectile. The measurements for laboratory are as follows:
the range of the projectile in
centimeters are as follows 2.1 s, 1.5 s, 1.9 s, 1.6 s
Good job! Proceed to the next activity!
138. 133.9 135.1 134.7 135.3 Determine the following (a) mean,
(b)variance, (c) standard deviation,
Activity
8 2: Bullseye! Tell whether the target below receives, a good/bad accuracy and
(d)measured range of time
good/bad precision.
134. 135.2 134.8 135.5 135.4
9
Determine the following (a) mean,
Target
(b)variance, (c) standard deviation,
(d)measured range of projectile
Good job!
 D. Enhancing Skills

Now that you learned about Measurement Uncertainties; you are tasked to apply
the knowledge you have learned to the skills you have acquired.

It is nutrition month! You are tasked by your teacher to measure you pulse rate (beat per
minute) 5 times after a sport activity. Use the data you have gathered and compute the
following (a) mean, (b)variance, (c) standard deviation, (d)measured range of bpm
Put your data in a table.

E. Reflection
The one thing that struck me the most in the lesson was_______________________
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