IB Honors Biology Guidance on Uncertainties

Guidance on Uncertainties in Measurements

Measurements in Science must have units (e.g. meters, grams, cm3). Measurements are also necessarily imperfect there are uncertainties in all measurements. The uncertainty is acknowledged by assigning an uncertainty value to the measurement (raw data) and then propagating that uncertainty in any calculations performed using the raw data. A measurement uncertainty should be assigned to all measurements. For digital instruments like a digital balance the uncertainty is typically 1 unit in the final decimal place shown on the instrument. For a digital balance with readings to the hundredths decimal place the uncertainty is 0.01. So a measurement might be 4.56 0.01 g. Note that the recorded reading must match the uncertainty. Thus it would be inappropriate to record a value of 4.6 0.01 g or 4.567 0.01 g. For analog instruments like the graduated cylinder shown at the right the uncertainty is typically one-half of the smallest measurement shown on the instrument. Thus the uncertainty for a graduated cylinder with markings of 1 cm3 would be 0.5 cm3. For analog instruments the person recording the data estimates the value to one decimal place greater than the markings on the instrument. Reading from the bottom of the meniscus shown at the right the value reported might be 52.9 0.5 cm3. An absolute uncertainty is simply the value of the measurement uncertainty. Percent uncertainties can be calculated from absolute uncertainties by dividing the absolute uncertainty by the measurement and multiply by 100. For example, a measurement of 2.5 0.1 g has an absolute uncertainty of 0.1 and a percent uncertainty of [(0.1/2.5) x 100] = 4 %. Recording Measurement Uncertainties in Data Tables Data tables must include the measurement uncertainties. Uncertainties are recorded in the column and row headings along with the quantity measured and units. The body of the table should include ONLY numbers. These ideas are shown in the sample table below. The times were recorded using a stopwatch. The uncertainty assigned to the time was based on the humans recording the times, not on the units shown on the stopwatch. The volumes were recorded from a graduated cylinder with markings to the nearest 1 cm3. Table 1: Volume of carbon dioxide formed. Time t / (sec) 1 0 0.0 Volume V / (cm3) 0.5 0.0

IB Honors Biology Guidance on Uncertainties

5 10 15

12.2 26.3 33.7

5.5 11.1 14.2

IB Honors Biology Guidance on Uncertainties

Indicating Uncertainties on Graphs Uncertainties should also be shown on graphs. This is done using error bars associated with all the data points on the graph. The graph below was created using Graphical Analysis. It shows the data from table 1 on the previous page. In Graphical Analysis you can assign uncertainty values to your data by clicking on the Options button when defining the X and Y axis.

Figure 1: Volume of carbon dioxide formed.

Propagating Uncertainties in Calculations Measurement uncertainties are used when performing calculations. There are slightly different rules for addition and subtraction compared to multiplication and division. For addition and subtraction the uncertainty in the answer is the sum of the uncertainties in the measurements. The difference between A a and B b is B A (a + b). For example, the change from 25 2 mL to 76 2 mL is 51 4 mL. For multiplication and division the uncertainty is calculated by multiplying the answer by the sum of the percent uncertainties. This means that the product of A a and B b is A x B (A x B)(a/A + b/B) For example, the product of 5 1 m/sec and 10 1 sec is 5 m/s x 10 s (5 m/s x 10 s)(1/5 + 1/10) 50 15 m The uncertainty in a product or a quotient can also be reported as a percent uncertainty. In the example above the percent uncertainty could be reported as 30 %. Thus the answer would be 50 m 30 % 50 m (50 m)(0.20 + 0.10)

IB Honors Biology Guidance on Uncertainties

IB Honors Biology Guidance on Uncertainties

Notes about Significant Figures and Rounding Rules of significant figures and rounding must be used. When adding and subtracting the answer must be rounded to the decimal place of the least precise measurement. Thus 5.555 g + 2.2 g is equal to 7.8 g, not 7.755 g. When multiplying and dividing the answer is rounded to the number of significant figures present in the measurement with the fewest significant figures. Thus 157 meters divided by 5 seconds is rounded to one significant figure, 30 m/s. Using scientific notation can clarify the number of significant figures. It is unclear if 30 m/s is one or two significant figures. However, 3 x 10 m/s is clearly only one significant figure.