Error Propagation Product Rule
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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 method of propagation of errors their uncertainties scientifically? The answer to this fairly common question depends on how the
General Uncertainty Propagation
individual measurements are combined in the result. We will treat each case separately: Addition of measured quantities If you have measured values
Error Propagation Example
for the quantities X, Y, 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
Error Propagation Division
is an approximation that can also serve 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: error propagation physics (0.22 + 0.32)1/2 m = 0.36 m Multiplication of measured 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 q
constant size. Indeterminate errors have unpredictable size and sign, with equal likelihood of being + or -. RULES FOR ELEMENTARY OPERATIONS (DETERMINATE ERRORS) SUM RULE: When R = A + B then ΔR = ΔA + error propagation calculus ΔB DIFFERENCE RULE: When R = A - B then ΔR = ΔA - error propagation khan academy ΔB PRODUCT RULE: When R = AB then (ΔR)/R = (ΔA)/A + (ΔB)/B QUOTIENT RULE: When R = A/B then (ΔR)/R error propagation average = (ΔA)/A + (ΔB)/B POWER RULE: When R = An then (ΔR)/R = n(ΔA)/A or (ΔR) = n An-1(ΔA) Memory clues: When quantities are added (or subtracted) their absolute errors add (or subtract). But when http://lectureonline.cl.msu.edu/~mmp/labs/error/e2.htm quantities are multiplied (or divided), their relative fractional errors add (or subtract). These rules will be freely used, when appropriate. We can also collect and tabulate the results for commonly used elementary functions. Note: Where Δt appears, it must be expressed in radians. RULES FOR ELEMENTARY FUNCTIONS (DETERMINATE ERRORS) EQUATION ERROR EQUATION R = sin q ΔR = (dq) cos q R = cos q ΔR = -(dq) sin q https://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/scenario/errorman/rules.htm R = tan q ΔR = (dq) sec2 q R = ex ΔR = (Δx) ex R = e-x ΔR = -(Δx) e-x R = ln(x) ΔR = (Δx)/x Any measures of error may be converted to relative (fractional) form by using the definition of relative error. The fractional error in x is: fx = (ΔR)x)/x where (ΔR)x is the absolute ereror in x. Therefore xfx = (ΔR)x. The rules for indeterminate errors are simpler. RULES FOR ELEMENTARY OPERATIONS (INDETERMINATE ERRORS) SUM OR DIFFERENCE: When R = A + B then ΔR = ΔA + ΔB PRODUCT OR QUOTIENT: When R = AB then (ΔR)/R = (ΔA)/A + (ΔB)/B POWER RULE: When R = An then (ΔR)/R = n(ΔA)/A or (ΔR) = n An-1(ΔA) The indeterminate error rules for elementary functions are the same as those for determinate errors except that the error terms on the right are all positive. Students who are taking calculus will notice that these rules are entirely unnecessary. The determinate error equations may be found by differentiating R, then replading dR, dx, dy, etc. with ΔR, Δx, Δy, etc. This is equivalent to expanding ΔR as a Taylor series, then neglecting all terms of higher order than 1. This is a valid approx
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 http://physics.appstate.edu/undergraduate-programs/laboratory/resources/error-propagation will, of course, have some level of uncertainty. For instance, in lab you might measure an http://www.utm.edu/~cerkal/Lect4.html 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 error propagation 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 error propagation product 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 rounded to 0.06, which means that the slope must be rounded to the hundredths place as well: m = 0.90± 0.06 If the above values have units, don't forget to include them. Constants If an expression contains a constant, B, such that q =Bx, then: You can see the the constant B only enters the equation in that it is used to determine q. Example: F = mg = (20.4 kg)(-9.80 m/s2) = -199.92 kgm/s2 δF/F = δm/m δF/(-199.92 kgm/s2) = (0.2 kg)/(20.4 kg) δF = ±1.96 kgm/s2 δF = ±2 kgm/s2 F = -199.92 kgm/s2 ±1.96kgm/s2 With the answer rounded to 3 sig figs: F =
find that the error in this measurement is 0.001 in. To find the area we multiply the width (W) and length (L). The area then is L x W = (1.001 in) x (1.001 in) = 1.002001 in2 which rounds to 1.002 in2. This gives an error of 0.002 if we were 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 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 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 divided. Multiplication or division, relative error. Addition or subtraction: In this case, the absolute errors obey Pythagorean theorem. If a and b are constants, If there are more than two measured quantities, you can extend expressions provided above by adding more terms under the square root sign. Square or cube of a measurement : The relative error can be calculated from where a is a constant. Example 1: Determine the error