Uncertainty in Measurements
All measurements have uncertainty.
1. Measurements involve estimation by the person making the measurement.
2. Measuring devices are limited in their precision
Accuracy and PrecisionAccuracy – the
closeness of measured values to the true or accepted value
Precision – the closeness of repeated measurements of the same quantity
Percent Error• Used to compare measured values to the
true or accepted value.
%100xvalueaccepted
valueAcceptedValueMeasured
Percent ErrorSample Problems
1. Calculate the percent error in a length measurement of 4.25 cm if the correct value is 4.08 cm.
2. The actual density of a certain material is 7.44 g/cm3. A student measures the density of the same material as 7.30 g/cm3. What is the percent error of the measurement
Counting Significant FiguresDetermine the number of significant figures in each
of the following numbers:
0.003042
1.4030
1000
1000.
1000.00
0.060
50.0
10.47020
250.
65,321
2.00 x 102
1.004 x 105
Rounding to Significant FiguresRound each of the following numbers to three
significant digits:
1,566,311
2.651 x 10-3
84,592
0.0011672
0.07759