INTRODUCTION 1

In the ancient world and up to the middle ages, measurements were taken using one’s body. For

example, in ancient Egypt, from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger was a cubit and from the

tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger on the outstretched hand was a handspan. Up to the

12th century, a yard was the length of a man’s belt or girdle until King Henry fixed the yard as the

distance from the nose to the thumb of the outstretched arm.

Over time standard units were assigned to ancient measures but the lengths varied between

different groups of people who may have had different average heights. In addition, lengths were

estimated using body measurements of men. Height and gender may have affected body

measurements.

The ability to estimate length is important in everyday life. Like the ancient people, we will not

always have a ruler or tape measure handy. But how accurate is it to use body parts to estimate

lengths?

This SBA seeks to examine three measurements of length using parts of the human body, the cubit,

the handspan and the yard, to determine how accurately they can be used to estimate everyday

distances. In order to do this, the sub questions to be examined are:

1. What is the average cubit, handspan and yard for a sample of thirty persons?

2. As a measure of accuracy, how widely dispersed about the mean, is the sample data for

each measurement?

3. Does a person's height and gender affect the measurement of their cubit, handspan and

yard?
 INTRODUCTION

Laundry detergent is an essential item to any household and as such, the best value is to be

acquired to lower one’s essential expenses. Although there are many detergent brands on the

market, one should take into consideration the many factors that determine choosing the right

detergent.

In this SBA researchers investigated the factor ‘Net Mass’. Net mass can be defined as the mass

of the contents as declared within each label that does not include packaging. For example, the

laundry detergent “Sud Sud” with a mass of 350 grams.

It is expected that the net mass stated on a given product is that which the consumer has

received. The researchers assume that in most cases this is not so, hence an investigation was

conducted to determine the accuracy of the declared net mass of the selected items. Determining

the net Mass and comparing the measurement to the product's stated value will allow for

appreciation, or disregard, for a company’s consistency and accuracy. If there are no deviations

from the declared net mass, this will no doubt enhance consumer confidence.

The objective of this research is to:

(i) determine the accuracy of the net mass on the packaging of each of three brands of soap
powder:

● Breeze (330g)
● Rainbow (350g)
● Ariel (350g)

(ii) to assess which of the masses of the three brands is most accurate