UNCERTAINTY &

ERROR ANALYSIS
MARY JOYCEN A. VINELES
SPST-I
Measurements always have some degree of
uncertainty due to unavoidable errors.
◦Error
▪ the deviation of a measured value from the expected or true
value.
◦Uncertainty
▪ 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
▪ the closeness of a measured value to the expected or
true value of a physical quantity

◦Precision
▪ represents how close or consistent the independent
measurements of the same quantity are to one
another
Precision is how close the arrows are to each other, while accuracy is how
close an arrow is to the target. The red portion of the circle represents the
expected result, while the arrows are the measurements.
 RANDOM VS SYSTEMATIC ERRORS
◦Random Errors
▪ result from unpredictable or inevitable changes during data
measurement. Examples of causes are,
• Slight variation of temperature when the volume of a gas is being measured
• Uncontrollable presence of wind when determining the period of pendulum
▪ affect the precision of the measurements
▪ may be reduced by increasing the number of trials of a measurement
and averaging out the results
 RANDOM VS SYSTEMATIC ERRORS

◦Systematic Errors
▪ usually come from the measuring instrument or in the
design of the experiment itself
▪These errors limit the accuracy of one’s result.
 PERCENT ERROR VS PERCENT DIFFERENCE
◦Percent Error
▪ used when there is an expected or true value of a quantity
▪ usually considered in judging the accuracy of the
experiment
𝑥−𝑥𝑇
Percent error = x 100
𝑥𝑇
𝑥 𝑇 - true or accepted value
𝑥 - measured value
 PERCENT ERROR VS PERCENT DIFFERENCE
◦Percent Difference
▪ a measure of how far apart the different measured value s
are from each other
▪ an indication of precision
𝑥1 −𝑥2
Percent difference = 𝑥1 + 𝑥2 x 100
2

𝑥1 and 𝑥2 - two measured value in an experiment

SAMPLE PROBLEM 1.1
Two trials were performed in an experiment to
determine the latent heat of vaporization (𝐿𝑣 ) of water at
100˚C. The values of 𝐿𝑣 of water obtained were 532 cal/g and
536 cal/g. Find the percent difference between the two
values.
PRACTICE EXERCISE 1.1
Two trials were performed in an experiment to
determine the latent heat of vaporization (𝐿𝑣 ) of water at
100˚C. The values of 𝐿𝑣 of water obtained were 532 cal/g and
536 cal/g. Find the percent error for each measurement if the
accepted value of 𝐿𝑣 of water at 100˚C is 540 cal/g.
VARIANCE
Another way to estimate errors from multiple
measurements of a physical quantity is to determine
the variance of the set of measurements.
 VARIANCE
▪ Measures the squared deviation of each number in the set from
the mean
𝑥 - measured value
Σ (𝑥 −𝑥)ҧ 2
𝜎2 = 𝑁
𝑥ҧ - mean
N - number of measurements

▪A variance of zero means that all measurements are precise.

▪ A small variance indicates that the values are close to one another, which
means they are also precise.
 STANDARD DEVIATION
▪ a measure of how diverse or spread out are a set of
measurements from their average
▪ the square root of variance
𝑥 - measured value
Σ (𝑥 −𝑥)ҧ 2
𝜎= 𝑁
𝑥ҧ - mean
N - number of measurements

▪ Small standard deviation → most of the measurements are close to their average.
▪ Large standard deviation → the measurements are very diverse.
The measurement of 𝑥 of a physical quantity in a set
of measurement is usually reported as
𝑥 = 𝑥ҧ ± 𝜎
𝑥ҧ - mean of the set of measurements
𝜎 - standard deviation of the measurement
 SAMPLE PROBLEM 1.2
During an experiment in a physics laboratory class, a group of
five students was asked to measure the period of a simple
pendulum. There measurement were as follows: 2.3 s, 2.4 s, 2.2 s,
2.5 s, and 2.1 s. Determine the following:
a. Mean
b. Variance
c. Standard deviation
d. Measured period of the pendulum
 PRACTICE EXERCISE 1.2
In an experiment, 10 trials were done to determine the range of a
projectile. The measurements for the range of the projectile are as follows:
134.8 cm 133.9 cm 135.1 cm 134.7 cm 135.3 cm
134.9 cm 135.2 cm 134.8 cm 135.5 cm 135.4 cm

Determine the following:

a. Mean
b. Variance
c. Standard deviation
d. Measured range of the projectile
 UNCERTAINTY
A measurement must be represented by two components:
1. A numerical or measured value with the proper unit that gives the
best estimate of the quantity measured
2. The degree of uncertainty in the measurement

Uncertainty
▪ Indicates the range of values within which the measurement
is asserted to lie with some level of confidence
 ABSOLUTE & RELATIVE UNCERTAINTY
Absolute Uncertainty
▪ Has the same unit as the quantity itself
For example, the resistance of a wire is (25.00 ± 0.05) Ω
• Absolute uncertainty = 0.05 Ω
• This means that the resistance of the wire ranges,
from (25.00 - 0.05) Ω to (25.00 + 0.05) Ω
or
from 24.95 Ω to 25.05 Ω
 ABSOLUTE & RELATIVE UNCERTAINTY
Relative Uncertainty or Percent Uncertainty
▪ is dimensionless and is obtained by dividing the absolute
uncertainty by the numerical or measured value

𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑦
relative uncertainty = x 100
𝑥
 ABSOLUTE & RELATIVE UNCERTAINTY
Relative Uncertainty or Percent Uncertainty
For example, the resistance of a wire is (25.00 ± 0.05) Ω
𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑦
Relative uncertainty = x 100
𝑥
0.05 Ω
= 25.00 Ω x 100
= 0.2

Thus, the resistance may be expressed as 25.00 Ω ± 0.2%

ABSOLUTE & RELATIVE UNCERTAINTY
Absolute uncertainty
▪ Shows how large the error is

Relative uncertainty
▪ Shows how large the error is in relation to the true value
 SAMPLE PROBLEM 1.3
1. The speed of an ant was measured to be (3.05 ± 0.02) cm/s.
Find the speed of the ant’s
a. Absolute uncertainty
b. Relative uncertainty
2. The measurement of the volume of an object is 1.53 m3 ± 2.5%.
Find the absolute uncertainty.
 PRACTICE EXERCISE 1.3
1. The mass of an object is found to be (24.5 ± 0.1) g. Find the
mass of the object’s
a. Absolute uncertainty
b. Relative uncertainty
2. The density of an object was found to be 2.7 g/cm3 ± 1.2%.
What is the absolute uncertainty of the density of the object.
The best way to come up with a good measurement of a
physical quantity is to get independent measurements of
the same thing.

Mean
▪ the average of the measurements which represents the best
estimate
Range
▪ the difference between the lowest and highest values
Uncertainty
▪ one-half of this range
SAMPLE PROBLEM 1.4
During an experiment in a physics laboratory
class, a group of six students was asked to measure the
height of a cylinder. Their measurements were as
follows: 5.25 cm, 5.27 cm, 5.26 cm, 5.24 cm, 5.23 cm
and 5.36 cm. What is the height of the cylinder?
PRACTICE EXERCISE 1.4
The following are the values obtained in
measuring the temperature of a room: 31.0˚C,
30.05˚C, 30.0˚C, 31.3˚C, 30.8˚C, 30.6˚C and 31.1˚C.
What is the room temperature?
LEAST COUNT
▪ The smallest value that can be read from any
measuring device.
▪ As the general rule, uncertainties should be
reported with the same number of decimal places
as the instrument used. Thus, uncertainty should be
± the least count
The least count of this ruler is either 1 mm or 0.125 in,
depending on which scale is used.
SAMPLE PROBLEM 1.5
The measurement of the thickness of a physics
book is (5.3 ± 0.1) cm.
a. What is the best estimate of the thickness of the book?
b. What is the least count of the measuring device?
c. What is the range of values of the thickness of a book?
d. Express the thickness of a book using relative
uncertainty.
 PRACTICE EXERCISE 1.5

The length of a pencil was measured using a ruler. Find the

a. best estimate of the length of the pencil
b. least count of the ruler?
c. length of the pencil expressed in absolute uncertainty
d. length of the pencil expressed in relative uncertainty
 CALCULATING WITH UNCERTAINTIES
The following rules apply to calculations involving data with uncertainties.
1. If data are to be added or subtracted, add their absolute uncertainties.
2. If data are to be multiplied or divided, add their relative uncertainties.
3. For a number raised to the power, fractional or not, multiply the
relative uncertainty by power.
4. For a number to be multiplied by a constant, multiply the number and
uncertainty if its absolute. Only the number is multiplied by the
constant if the uncertainty is relative.
SAMPLE PROBLEM 1.6

The length and width of a rectangle are

(6.5 ± 0.1) m and (3.4 ± 0.2) m, respectively.
Find the its,
a. Perimeter
b. Area
 PRACTICE EXERCISE 1.6

The mass of a cubical object is (235.1 ± 0.1) g.

If the volume of the object measures (5.25 ± 0.05)
cm, what is its density?