Modern Physics

Part 1. Measurement

Accuracy vs Precision Accuracy, Precision, Resolution

Important in measurement Important in measurement (ISO standard 5725)

Accuracy
The accuracy of a measurement system is the degree of closeness of measurements of
a quantity to that quantity's actual (true) value

Precision
The precision of measurement system is the degree to which repeated measurement
under unchanged conditions show the same results (related to repeatability and
reproducibility)

Resolution
The resolution of measurement is the smallest to be distinguished magnitude from the
measured value.

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Accuracy, Precision, Resolution Accuracy, Precision, Resolution
Important in measurement Important in measurement

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Measurement Measurement
Example 1 Example 2

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 Uncertainty Uncertainty
Type of Stating Results with Uncertainty

There are two basic kinds of uncertainties, systematic and When stating a result and its uncertainty in a report, one typically uses the form x ± σx, with the
random uncertainties units placed last. For example, if the mass of an object is found to be 9.2 g and the uncertainty in
the mass is 0.3 g, one would write
• Systematic uncertainties are those due to faults in
the measuring instrument or in the techniques used
in the
experiment. Systematic uncertainty decreases the When using scientific notation, the factor of ten multiplier should come after the significant digits
accuracy of an experiment. and uncertainty. Write

• Random uncertainties are associated with

unpredictable variations in the experimental not
conditions under which the experiment is being
performed or are due to a deficiency in defining the
quantity being measured. Random uncertainty
decreases the precision of an experiment.

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The Mean and Standard Deviation

What is the best value of

Uncertainty is often associated with the concept of standard deviation. For example, suppose ten
students each measure the diameter of a steel ball with a micrometer caliper. For a variety of
reasons we do not expect all the measurements to be identical.

The sources of error include:

• some students tighten the micrometer caliper more than others.
• the steel ball may not be perfectly round.
• the temperature of the steel ball may change with time as the ball is handled and hence its
diameter may change slightly through thermal contraction or expansion.
• there may be varying amounts of corrosion on the steel ball.

The obvious question to ask is, “What is the best value for the diameter of the steel ball?"
Part 2. The Mean and Standard Deviation

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The Mean and Standard Deviation The Mean and Standard Deviation
The mean Standard Deviation

For a precise experiment we expect all measurements to be quite close to the mean value.
If the sources of error are random, that is, they give values for the diameter which vary randomly above The extent of scatter about the mean value gives us a measure of the precision of the
and below the “true" value, but do not skew all of the values in one particular direction, then an experiment, and thus, a way to quantify the random uncertainty.
obvious procedure to get the best value for the diameter is to take the average or arithmetic mean.
A widely accepted quantitative measure of scatter is the sample standard deviation, s. For the
The mean of a set of numbers is defined as the sum of all the numbers divided by the number special case where all data points have equal weight, the sample standard deviation is defined by
of them. In mathematical language, if we have N observations and xi represents any one of the the equation,
observations (i.e. i can have any integer value from 1 to N), then the arithmetic mean,

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Significant Digits
Rules

• All non-zero digits are considered significant. For example, 91 has two significant figures (9 and 1),
while 123.45 has five significant figures (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5).
• Zeros appearing anywhere between two significant figures are significant: 101.1203 has seven
significant figures: 1, 0, 1, 1, 2, 0 and 3.
• Zeros to the left of the significant figures (leading zeros) are not significant. For example, 0.00052
has two significant figures: 5 and 2.
• Zeros to the right of the non-zero digits (trailing zeros) are significant if they are to the right of the
decimal point as these are only necessary to indicate precision. However trailing zeros in the ones
place or higher may or may not be significant, depending on the precision of the measurement.
Thus 1.20 and 0.0980 have three significant figures whereas 45,600 may have 3, 4 or 5 significant
figures. Note that 120.00 would have five significant figures - the zero to the left of the decimal is
significant because it is between two significant figures (the 2 and the zeros to the right of the
decimal point).
Part 3. Significant Digits

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Significant Digits
Rules

• If σ is especially large, you will lose significant digits. For example, suppose that multiple
measurements are made with an instrument that is precise to 3 digits, and mean value of
9.52 g is found, but for other reasons the data points varied so that the standard deviation
of the mean was 2 g. The result would have to be reported as 9 ± 2 g.
•
If the measurement is so bad that σ is larger than the value itself, you may have no significant
digits, but only know the order of magnitude.

• If σ is calculated to be much smaller than the smallest digit of your measurement, then assume
that σ is equal to “1" of the smallest digit. For example, if a measurement of a mass gives
exactly 9.52 g, the result should be stated as m = 9.52 ± 0.01 g. Thus you may
need to round your uncertainty up to the least significant digit in your measurement.
Part 3. Propagation of Uncertainty

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Propagation of Uncertainty Propagation of Uncertainty

Rule 1 Rule 1

If Q is some combination of sums and differences, i.e. Example: suppose you measure the height H of a door and get 2.00 ± 0.03 m. This means that
H = 2.00 m and δH = 0.03 m. The door has a knob which is a height h = 0.88 ± 0.04 m from the bottom
of the door. Then the distance from the doorknob to the top of the door is Q = H - h = 1.12 m. What
is the uncertainty in Q?
then

Example: suppose you measure the height H of a door and get 2.00 ± 0.03 m. This means that
H = 2.00 m and δH = 0.03 m. The door has a knob which is a height h = 0.88 ± 0.04 m from the bottom
of the door. Then the distance from the doorknob to the top of the door is Q = H - h = 1.12 m. What
is the uncertainty in Q?

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Propagation of Uncertainty Propagation of Uncertainty
Rule 2 Rule 2

If Q is Example: a bird flies a distance d = 120 ± 3 m during a time t = 20.0 ± 1.2 s. The average speed of
the bird is v = d/t = 6 m/s. What is the uncertainty of v?

then

Example: a bird flies a distance d = 120 ± 3 m during a time t = 20.0 ± 1.2 s. The average speed of
the bird is v = d/t = 6 m/s. What is the uncertainty of v?

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Propagation of Uncertainty Propagation of Uncertainty

Rule 3 Rule 3

If Q is a ball is tossed straight up into the air with initial speed v0 = 4.0 ± 0.2 m/s. After a time
t = 0.60±0.06 s, the height of the ball is y = v0t- (1/2)gt2 = 0.636 m. What is the uncertainty of y? Assume
g = 9.80 m/s2 (no uncertainty in g).

then

Example: the period of an oscillation is measured to be T = 0.20 ± 0.01 s. Thus the frequency is
f = 1/T = 5 Hz. What is the uncertainty in f?

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Propagation of Uncertainty
Rule 3

a ball is tossed straight up into the air with initial speed v0 = 4.0 ± 0.2 m/s. After a time
t = 0.60±0.06 s, the height of the ball is y = v0t- (1/2)gt2 = 0.636 m. What is the uncertainty of y? Assume
g = 9.80 m/s2 (no uncertainty in g).

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