INSTRUMENTATION & MEASUREMENT

Chapter 2: Error In Measurement

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
In this chapter, student should be able to: a) Define terms related to the error in measurements. b) Use basic concept of measurement in error analysis. c) Perform basic statistic analysis calculations.

ERROR IN MEASUREMENT
a) Absolute Error = Expected Value Measured Value

e Yn X n

a) Percent Error =

Relative accuracy and percent accuracy

Yn X n c) Relative Accuracy, A= 1 Yn
d) Percent of accuracy Accuracy can be expressed as percent of accuracy, a, is:

Question 1
1. The expected value of the voltage across a resistor is 50V; however, measurement yields a value of 49 V. Calculate: a) The absolute error b) The percent of error c) The relative accuracy d) The percent of accuracy

ACCURACY
Accuracy refers to how close a measurement is to the correct/accepted value. Precision refers to the degree of agreement with a group of measurement or instruments.
Xn Xn precision 1 Xn

ACCURATE VS PRECISE
Accurate -> after taking a lot of measurements, you find they agree with the true value Precise -> after taking a lot of measurements, you notice that they are all very close to each other.

Precision
Calculate the precision of the fourth measurement Measurement Output Voltage,
V

2 2

12.11 11.99

3
4 5

13.00
11.88 11.99

TYPES OF ERROR
Gross Error

Instrumental Error
Observational Error Environmental Error

Types of Error

Systematic Error

Random Error

Gross Errors
Caused by the fault of the person using the instrument, incorrect recording of experimental data, incorrect adjustment and improper application of instruments and computational mistakes. How to avoid gross errors???

Avoiding Gross Error

The following actions may be necessary to reduce the effects of gross errors:
Great care should be taken in reading and recording the data. Different experiments should take two or more readings of the same measured quantity.

Systematic Errors
a) Instrument errors: Caused by the construction, calibration or operation of mechanical structure in the instruments. Misuse of the instruments. For example, these may be caused by failure to adjust zero of the instruments. Loading effect of the instruments

Systematic Errors
b) Observational errors.
Observational errors are those errors introduce by the observer. The two most common observational errors arise due to two main reasons:
Type of instrument display, whether it is analog or digital Parallax (eye should be directly in-pine with the measurement point).

Systematic Errors
c) Environmental errors.
Due to condition external to the measuring device such as the area surrounding the instrument. These conditions may be caused by the changes in pressure, humidity, dust, vibration or external magnetic or electrostatic fields.

Avoiding Systematic Errors

These errors can be eliminated or at least reduced by using the following methods: The procedure of measurement must be carefully planned Correction factors should be applied after detection of these errors Re-calibration the instrument carefully Use the instrument intelligently

Random Errors
Due to unknown causes. In some experiments, the results show variation from one reading to another; even after all systematical and gross errors have been accounted for. The best way to offset the errors is by increasing the number of readings and use statistical means to obtain the approximation of the true values of the quantity under measurement.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS IN MEASUREMENT

The evaluation based on a statistical analysis a Allows us to obtain such information as the mean value, average deviation and standard deviation of our data. Such information allows us to make quantitative judgments on the variations or error in our data.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS IN MEASUREMENT

Mean value / Arithmetic mean
x1 x2 x3 .... xn x n

Deviation

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS IN MEASUREMENT

Average Deviation
D d1 d 2 .... d n n

Standard Deviation
d1 d 2 ... d n n
2 2 2

, , ,

Example
x1 50 .1 x2 49 .7 x3 49 .6
a) b) c) d) e) The arithmetic mean Deviation of each value Sum of the deviations Average Deviation Standard Deviation
x4 50 .2

Question 2
Table 1 shows the output voltage of an amplifier was measured by the student. Calculate the: Arithmetic mean. Output Measureme Voltage, V nt Algebraic sum of deviation. 1 12.11 Average deviation. 2 11.99 Standard deviation. 3 13.00 4 11.88 5 11.99

a) b) c) d)

LIMITING ERROR
Most manufactures of measuring instruments state that an instrument is accurate within a certain percentage of a full-scale reading. The limits of these deviations from the specified values are known as limiting errors or guarantee errors.

LIMITING ERROR
For example, the manufacture of a certain voltmeter may specify the instrument to be accurate within with full-scale deflection. This specification is called limiting error and means that a full-scale reading is guaranteed to be within the limits of 2% of a perfectly accurate reading

LIMITING ERROR
Another example, if the resistance of a resistor is given as 5000 10%, the manufacturer guarantees that the resistance is between 4500 and 5500 (limiting error is 10% of 5000 i.e. 500).

Question 1
1. A 300V voltmeter is specified to be accurate within 2% at full scale. Calculate the limiting error when the instrument is used to measure a 120V source.

Question 2
1)The resistor has three different ratings: R1 = 15 5% R2 = 33 2% R3 = 75 5%
Determine the limiting errors for all the three resistors.

Assignment 1
Given the resistors with following rating: R1=505% R2=605% Determine:
i. ii. Magnitude of error in each resistor If the resistors are connected in series, calculate the resistance and limiting error in ohms and in percentage. iii. If the resistors are connected in parallel, calculate the resistance and limiting error in ohms and in percentage.

EXERCISE 2
The current in a certain circuit was measured and the results are tabulated as shown in following data.