Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
© 2003
Uncertainty 1
Types of Uncertainties
Uncertainty 2
Accuracy vs. Precision
Uncertainty 3
Standard Deviation
The average or mean of a set of data is
N
1
x
N
x
i 1
i
The formula for the standard deviation given below is the one
used by Microsoft Excel. It is best when there is a small set of
measurements. The version in the book divides by N instead of
N-1.
1 N
N 1 i 1
( xi x ) 2
Unless you are told to use the above function, you may use the
Excel function ‘=stdev(B2:B10)’
Uncertainty 4
Absolute and Percent
Uncertainties
If x = 99 m ± 5 m then the 5 m is referred to as an absolute
uncertainty and the symbol σx (sigma) is used to refer to it. You
may also need to calculate a percent uncertainty ( %σx):
5m
% x 100% 5%
99 m
Uncertainty 5
Standard Deviation
Uncertainty 6
Standard Deviation
Uncertainty 7
Expressing Results in terms of the
number of σ
•In this course we will use σ to represent the uncertainty in a
measurement no matter how that uncertainty is determined
•You are expected to express agreement or disagreement
between experiment and the accepted value in terms of a
multiple of σ.
•For example if a laboratory measurement the acceleration
due to gravity resulted in g = 9.2 ± 0.2 m / s2 you
would say that the results differed by 3σ from the accepted
value and this is a major disagreement
•To calculate Nσ
accepted exp erimental 9.8 9.2
N 3
0.2
Uncertainty 8
Propagation of Uncertainties with
Addition or Subtraction
If z = x + y or z = x – y then the absolute uncertainty in z is
given by
z x2 y2
Example:
Uncertainty 9
Propagation of Uncertainties with
Multiplication or Division
If z = x y or z = x / y then the percent uncertainty in z is given
by % % 2 % 2
z x y
Example:
Uncertainty 10
Propagation of Uncertainties in mixed
calculations
If a calculation is a mixture of operations, you propagate
uncertainties in the same order that you perform the calculations.
Uncertainty 11
Uncertainty resulting from
averaging N measurements
If the uncertainty in a single measurement of x is statistical, then
you can reduce this uncertainty by making N measurements and
averaging. x
avg
N
Example: A single measurement of x yields
x = 12.0 ± 1.0, so you decide to make 10 measurements and
average. In this case N = 10 and σx = 1.0, so the uncertainty
in the average is 1.0
avg x 0.3
N 10
This is not true for systematic uncertainties- if your meter stick
is too short, you don’t gain anything by repeated
measurements.
Uncertainty 12
Special Rule:
Uncertainty when a number is multiplied by a
constant
Uncertainty 13
Uncertainty when a number is raised to a
power
If z = xn then %σz = n ( % σx )
Uncertainty 14
Uncertainty when calculation involves a
special function
For a special function, you add and subtract the uncertainties
from the value and calculate the function for each case.
Then plug these numbers into the function.
Example: If θ = 120 ± 2.00
sin(140) = 0.242
0.034
sin(120) = 0.208
0.034
sin(100) = 0.174
Uncertainty 15
Percent Difference
Calculating the percent difference is a useful way to compare
experimental results with the accepted value, but it is not a
substitute for a real uncertainty estimate.
accepted value - experiment al value
% diff 100%
accepted value
Uncertainty 16