Error Multiplying
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or more quantities, each with their individual uncertainties, and then combine the information from these quantities in order to come up with a final result of our experiment. How can you state your answer for the combined result of these measurements and their uncertainties scientifically?
Error Propagation
The answer to this fairly common question depends on how the individual measurements are combined multiplying uncertainty in the result. We will treat each case separately: Addition of measured quantities If you have measured values for the quantities X, Y, dividing error and Z, with uncertainties dX, dY, and dZ, and your final result, R, is the sum or difference of these quantities, then the uncertainty dR is: Here the upper equation is an approximation that can also serve
Adding Error
as an upper bound for the error. Please note that the rule is the same for addition and subtraction of quantities. Example: Suppose we have measured the starting position as x1 = 9.3+-0.2 m and the finishing position as x2 = 14.4+-0.3 m. Then the displacement is: Dx = x2-x1 = 14.4 m - 9.3 m = 5.1 m and the error in the displacement is: (0.22 + 0.32)1/2 m = 0.36 m Multiplication of measured
Multiplying Error By A Constant
quantities In the same way as for sums and differences, we can also state the result for the case of multiplication and division: Again the upper line is an approximation and the lower line is the exact result for independent random uncertainties in the individual variables. And again please note that for the purpose of error calculation there is no difference between multiplication and division. Example: We have measured a displacement of x = 5.1+-0.4 m during a time of t = 0.4+-0.1 s. What is the average velocity and the error in the average velocity? v = x / t = 5.1 m / 0.4 s = 12.75 m/s and the uncertainty in the velocity is: dv = |v| [ (dx/x)2 + (dt/t)2 ]1/2 = 12.75 m/s [(0.4/5.1)2 + (0.1/0.4)2]1/2 = 3.34 m/s Multiplication with a constant What if you have measured the uncertainty in an observable X, and you need to multiply it with a constant that is known exactly? What is the error then? This is easy: just multiply the error in X with the absolute value of the constant, and this will give you the error in R: If you compare this to the above rule for multiplication of two quantities, you see that this is just the special case of that rule for the uncertainty in c, dc = 0
find that the error in this measurement is 0.001 in. To find the area we multiply the width (W) and length (L). propagation of error physics The area then is L x W = (1.001 in) x
Error Propagation Calculator
(1.001 in) = 1.002001 in2 which rounds to 1.002 in2. This gives an error of 0.002 if we were error propagation square root given that the square was exactly super-accurate 1 inch a side. This is an example of correlated error (or non-independent error) since the error in L and W are http://lectureonline.cl.msu.edu/~mmp/labs/error/e2.htm the same. The error in L is correlated with that of in W. Now, suppose that we made independent determination of the width and length separately with an error of 0.001 in each. In this case where two independent measurements are performed the errors are independent or uncorrelated. Therefore the error in the result (area) is calculated differently as follows (rule 1 http://www.utm.edu/~cerkal/Lect4.html below). First, find the relative error (error/quantity) in each of the quantities that enter to the calculation, relative error in width is 0.001/1.001 = 0.00099900. The resultant relative error is Relative Error in area = Therefore the absolute error is (relative error) x (quantity) = 0.0014128 x 1.002001=0.001415627. which rounds to 0.001. Therefore the area is 1.002 in2± 0.001in.2. This shows that random relative errors do not simply add arithmetically, rather, they combine by root-mean-square sum rule (Pythagorean theorem). Let’s summarize some of the rules that applies to combining error when adding (or subtracting), multiplying (or dividing) various quantities. This topic is also known as error propagation. 2. Error propagation for special cases: Let σx denote error in a quantity x. Further assume that two quantities x and y and their errors σx and σy are measured independently. In this case relative and percent errors are defined as Relative error = σx / x, Percent error = 100 (σx / x) Multiplying or dividing with a constant. The resultant absolute error also is multiplied or di
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uncertainty of an answer obtained from a calculation. Every time data are measured, there is an uncertainty associated with that measurement. (Refer to guide to Measurement and Uncertainty.) If these measurements used in your calculation have some uncertainty associated with them, then the final answer will, of course, have some level of uncertainty. For instance, in lab you might measure an object's position at different times in order to find the object's average velocity. Since both distance and time measurements have uncertainties associated with them, those uncertainties follow the numbers throughout the calculations and eventually affect your final answer for the velocity of that object. How would you determine the uncertainty in your calculated values? In lab, graphs are often used where LoggerPro software calculates uncertainties in slope and intercept values for you. In other classes, like chemistry, there are particular ways to calculate uncertainties. In fact, since uncertainty calculations are based on statistics, there are as many different ways to determine uncertainties as there are statistical methods. The error propagation methods presented in this guide are a set of general rules that will be consistently used for all levels of physics classes in this department. In the following examples: q is the result of a mathematical operation δ is the uncertainty associated with a measurement. For example, if you have a measurement that looks like this: m = 20.4 kg ±0.2 kg Thenq = 20.4 kg and δm = 0.2 kg First Step: Make sure that your units are consistent Make sure that you are using SI units and that they are consistent. If you are converting between unit systems, then you are probably multiplying your value by a constant. Please see the following rule on how to use constants. Logger Pro If you are using a curve fit generated by Logger Pro, please use the uncertainty associated with the parameters that Logger Pro give you. In the above linear fit, m = 0.9000 andδm = 0.05774. The uncertainty should be ro