NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY

UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
-------------------------------------

GENERAL PHYSICS LABS

Contributors: Huynh Quang Linh, Tran Thi Thu Hanh, Ngo Thi Minh Hien,
Vo Nhat Quang, Tran Phuoc Duy, Tran Trung Nghia

HO CHI MINH CITY - 02/2017

Disclaimer: For internal circulation only
 Introduction to Data and Error Analysis
for General Physics Lab Experiments
1. INTRODUCTION
The determination of the laws of physics comes from observations and experiments.
It is essential to learn physics by performing experiments and interpreting experimental
data properly.
We consider two basic types of experiments that scientists often perform in order to
learn about the physical world:

1) Through measurements to determine the numerical value of some physical quantity

2) To test whether a particular theory is consistent with experimental data.

Our lab experiments are designed to teach you the techniques for making measurements
and for comparing data from an experiment with the predictions of physical laws which
you learn from the lectures. In order to obtain meaningful results from an experiment,
you need to analyze data with good understanding of experimental errors. It is very
important to learn how to identify sources of experimental errors and to estimate their
sizes. Please keep in mind that any valid experimental data must be presented
with the associated errors. For example, the measurement of the speed of light is
given as:
c = (2:99792458 0:00000004)  108 m=s
The information we can learn from the above data presentation includes two aspects:

i) the measured speed of light is 2.99792458108 m=s

ii) the error (or uncertainty) of the measurement is 4m=s.

For our lab course, it is required that you present experimental data with errors
indicated in your lab report.
In the following sections we briey introduce the basic concepts in experimental data
and error analysis through denitions and simple examples.
2. BASIC CONCEPTS
2.1 True value, Experimental Value and Error

1
  True value, A0: It is an exact physical value which often appears in fundamental
laws of physics. Examples are: the speed of light in vacuum (c) in Maxwell's equa-
tions gravitational acceleration (g) in Newton's equation and so on. The numerical
values of these physical quantities must be determined through measurements.
 Experimental value, A: It is the numerical value obtained by performing exper-
iments designed to measure A0. In general, the measured value does not exactly
equal its true value. This is because the experimental instruments and methods are
not perfect, so that the measured value, A has uncertainty, which is called experi-
mental error. The smaller the experimental error, the closer is the measured value
A to the true value A0.
 Experimental error,  : It is the dierence between A0 and A,  = A ; A0.
It indicates how close a measured value comes to its true value. However, we do
not know the exact value of A0, so  is also an unknown value. The task of data
analysis is to nd the sources of errors, and to estimate the size of the errors. Based
on the estimated , we can give a range of values where the true value, A0, is likely
to lie. The size of the error indicates the accuracy of the experimental value A.

2.2 The Rule for Data Recording

Before we discuss error analysis, we need to understand the rule for data record-
ing in experiments. This is because a meaningful experimental value is dierent from a
pure mathematic value, it contains certain physical meaning. When we make measure-
ments and record the measured data, we must determine how many valid digits should
be recorded. This idea can be illustrated through a simple example below.
Assume one measures a length of an object by using a ruler which has minimum scale
of 1 mm. The measurement is a little bit more than 89 mm (but less than 90 mm),
One can record the measurement value as 89.5 mm. Here, 89 mm is accurate, and the
additional 0.5 mm is estimated from the reading. Because it is hard for our eyes to tell
if that a little bit more is exactly 0.5 mm, the recorded data above should have some
uncertainty. We cannot be certain that our estimated 0.5 mm is not actually 0.4 or 0.6
mm, we then say that the measurement error is 0:1 mm. Therefore, the nal measured
result should be reported as: Length = (89:5 0:1)mm. In this example, we see that
three digits should be recorded in the measurement, which indicates the measurement
(read out) precision of the instrument. If one writes the measured data as 89.4987 mm
;! this means he can read out the ruler better than an accuracy of 0.001 mm. This is
certainly not true. On the other hand, if one writes his data as 89 mm ;! this indicates
his read out error is about 1 mm, clearly too large.
In general, the rule of data recording in an experiment is that the number of valid
digits of recorded data should reect the minimum read out scale of the measurement
instrument.
2
 In some cases we need to determine a physical quantity by measuring several values.
The number of valid digits for the nal measured result should be determined by the
minimum valid digits of individual values. For example, suppose we measure the resistance
of a resistor by measuring the circuit current, I , and the voltage, V . Assuming the read
out values are V = 10:5V , and I = 1:522A, then the resistance R should be recorded as
R = VI = 110 :5 = 6:70 :
:522
Here the R value has three valid digits, which is determined by the voltage, which is read
out with three valid digits.
2.3 Dierent Types of Errors
The discussion about the experimental error will not include the performance mistakes
during the experiment process. These mistakes include reading error, recording error, and
incorrect instrument operation. These kind of errors are dicult eliminate through data
analysis. Therefore, great care should be taken to prevent them from occurring.
We discuss here two fundamentally dierent types of errors associated with any mea-
surement procedures: systematic and random errors.
Systematic Errors
There are basically two sources of systematic errors:

1) Instrument calibration. For example, the zero-point has not been tuned correctly
before the measurement: suppose it is at a, not at the zero point, at the beginning.
Then all the measured data points will shift by a constant a. As another example,
if the full range of a voltage meter is 0-1.9 volts, but the meter scale shows a
full scale of 0-2 volts, then the measured voltage value using this meter will be
systematically increased by a factor of 2=1:9. Therefore, checking the instrument
calibration including the zero-point tuning is important to avoid the systematic
errors.
2) Experiment method error. This kind of error often is due to the experiment's
design being imperfect. The experimental conditions are not exactly the same as
the theoretic model assumes. When comparing the experimental data with the
theoretical expectations one must take into account the experimental method errors.
We sometimes call such error theoretical systematic error.

Understanding the systematic error in a experiment is not an easy job: we must fully
understand the experimental principles and carefully check the instrument to estimate
the size of the systematic errors.

3
 1 - Δ2/2 σ 2
f(Δ ) = σ e
2π

Δ
-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4

Error Δ distribution obay Gaussian function

Figure 1: Random error distribution.
Random Errors
Random error is often due to the experimental instrument's precision limitations,
and imperfectly performed experiments. A special random error comes from the physics
process itself. For example, the measurement of the life-time of radioactive particles must
take into account the fact that radioactive decay is a random process. Often, under certain
conditions, uctuations due to this kind of error obey the Gaussian distribution see ref.
1] as shown in Figure 1. We often refer to these as statistical errors. In general, random
errors can be reduced by repeating the measurement.
3. DATA ANALYSIS
Data analysis includes determination of the measured mean values and the standard
deviations. W e discuss the standard method to present the measurement results in this
section. We rst give the denitions and discuss how to combine the errors, then we
briey introduce the least squares method for linear variable relations.
3.1 Mean Value and Standard Deviation
For N measurements samples of a physical quantity of true value , with each measured
value xi, the sample mean value, x is dened by
X
x  N1 xi  hxi 
N
(1)
i=1

and the corresponding sample variance is given by

X
var(x)  N 1; 1 (xi ; x)2 :
N
(2)
i=1

4
 The shaded area indicates : Probability of measurement within t standard deviation of x .

68% 95% 99.7%

x x x

μ - σ μ μ+σ μ +2σ μ μ -2 σ μ -3 σ μ μ+3σ

Figure 2: Interpreting the standard deviation .

The sample standard deviation, , is given by

v
u
q u X
 = var(x) = t N 1; 1 (xi ; x)2 :
N
(3)
i=1

Standard deviation represents how the measured values spread out in repeated measure-
ments, and therefore is a good estimate of the statistical error of the experiment. As
shown in Fig. 2, the exact meaning of the standard deviation, , can be related to the
probability, pt, for nding a single measurement of x to be within the range ( ; t  + t),
This is seen to be 68:3%, 95:5% and 99:7% for t = 1, 2, and 3 respectively. for N large
enough (typically
p N p20) it can be shown that the probability for x to be in the interval
( ; t= N   + t= N ) is about 68%, 95%, and 99.7% for t = 1, 2 and 3 respectively.
So, to estimate , one measures x and one has that
 = x p2
N
with a condence of 95%. Thus the accuracy in determining  improves as N increases.
3.2 Combining errors
We are often confronted with a situation where the result of an experiment is the
combination of two or more measurements. We want to know what is the error on the
nal answer in terms of the errors on the individual measurements.
Linear situation
As a very simple example, consider the nal result a which is related to the measured
values b and c:
a = b; c:
To nd the error on a, rst dierentiate
a = (b) + (;c) :
5
if we were talking about maximum possible errors, then we would simply add the magni-
tudes of b and c to get the maximum possible a. But it is more sensible to consider
the root mean square deviations:
a2 = h(a ; a)2i
= h(b ; c) ; (b ; c)]2i
= h(b ; b)2i + h(c ; c)2i ; 2h(b ; b)(c ; c)i
 b2 + c2 ; 2cov(b c)
The last term involves the covariance of b and c. This has to do with whether their errors
are correlated or not. It can be positive, negative or, in the case where the errors are
uncorrelated, zero. Thus, provided that the errors on b and c are uncorrelated, the rule
is that we add the contributions b and c in quadrature:
a2 = b2 + c2 : (4)
However, it should be emphasized that only when the individual errors are uncorrelated,
Eq.(4) can be applied. To illustrate this point, let's consider the following example.
Example:
a=b+b
then the two variables on the right-hand side of the equation are completely correlated.
Thus pif the measurement error of b is b, then a is simply 2b. We notice that here
a 6= 2b, as would be expected by (4). (Recall: a2 = b2 + b2 + 2cov(b b) = 4b2, here
2cov(b b)  2h(b ; b)(b ; b)i = 2b2.)
Non-linear situations
For this case the correct answer can be achieved by rst dierentiating, then collect-
ing together the terms of each independent variable and nally adding these terms in
quadrature, i.e. for y(x1 x2  xn ),
X  !2
y2 =
n
@y 2  (5)
i=1 @x x i
i

thus, for example, if

a = br cs
where r and s are known constants. Assuming the errors on b and c are uncorrelated,
  2  2  2
2 b 2 c
a
a
= r b + s c  (6)
i.e. the fractional errors on b and c are combined to give the fractional error on a.

6
 As before, when dealing with ratios or products we must be careful about correlations.
When correlations are present between b and c in the above example, the fractional error
on a is given :   2  2  2
2 b 2 c cov(b c) :
a
a
= r b + s c + 2 rs bc (7)

Example: if a = b=c = (100 10)=(1 0:2) (assuming errors on b and c are independent.)
(a=a)2 = (10=100)2 + (0:2=1)2 = 0:01 + 0:04 = 0:05
p
a = a  0:05 = 100  0:22 = 22
The nal result should be presented as:
a = 100 22 or a = 100(1 22%):

In summary, for simple function with two independent variables, y(x1 x2), the mea-
surement results can be presented as:
q
y = x1 + x2 ;! y = (x1 + x2) x21 + x22
q
y = x1 ; x2 ;! y = (x1 ; x2) x21 + x22
 q 
y = x1  x2 ;! y = (x1  x2) 1 (x1 =x1) + (x2 =x2) 
2 2

x x
  q 
y = x 1
;! y = x 1 (x1 =x1) + (x2 =x2) :
1 2 2
2 2

Combining results of di erent experiments

When several experiments measure the same physical quantity and give a set of answers
ai with dierent errors i, then the best estimates of a and its accuracy  are given by
P (a = 2)
a = Pi (1i=2i)  (8)
i i

and
1 =X 1 : (9)
2 i 2i

Thus each experiment is weighted by 1= . In some sense, 1=i2 gives a measure of the
2
i
information quality of that particular experiment.
3.3 Least Squares Method
The least squares method is very often used in data analysis to determine the exper-
imental parameters from a set of measured data points. In this section, we only consider
7
the simplest situation where the relations between the variables are linear. The math-
ematic proof will not be given here, only the formulae used in this method are given
below.
Consider variables y and x are related to one another linearly:
y = a + bx (10)
where a and b are two parameters to be determined. (We should notice that the above
formula is a line equation, with a as the intersection, and b as the slope.) Assuming we
measured a set of data points fxi yig i = 1  N , we need to determine a and b from
the measurements. We rst dene the following variables for the calculation:
X
x = N1 xi (11)
i
X
y = N1 yi (12)
X i
Lxx = (xi ; x)2 (13)
Xi
Lyy = (yi ; y)2 (14)
Xi
Lxy = (xi ; x)(yi ; y) (15)
i

then the measured mean value of the line parameters, a and b are determined by the
following formulae:
b = Lxy  (16)
Lxx
a = y ; bx : (17)
The errors on a and b can be calculated using the following formulae:
P x2
a = N P x2 ; i(P x )2 y2
2
(18)
i i
N
b2 = N P x2 ; (P x )2 y2 (19)
i i

where y is the uncertainty of the y measurements and can be determined by the following
formula:
v
u P y ; (a + b  x )]2
u
t
y = i i (N ; 2) i (20)

4. EXAMPLE OF DATA ANALYSIS

8
 V
1 2
s

6V C

Fig. 3 RC circuit experiment set up diagram. When switch

connect to 1: charging C; connect to 2: discharging C.

Consider an experiment to measure the RC time constant in following circuit (see Fig.
3), and to determine the resistance, R, for a given capacitance value, C = 10(1 2%)C .
(ref: your lab manual: Capacitance experiment).
Experiment description
A fully charged capacitor of capacitance C (with initial voltage of 6 V), is connected in
series with a resistor of resistance R in the circuit. It will lose charge, so that the potential
dierence, V , across the capacitor will decay exponentially according to the following law
for a capacitor discharging :
V (t) = V0e;t=RC 
where V0 is the initial voltage across the capacitor and V (t) is the voltage at time t. The
product RC is called the `time constant'.

1) Measure the circuit time constant, RC 

2) Determine the resistance value of the resistor, R.

Measurement and data analysis

 To determine the time constant, we take data on voltage (V ) as function of time (t)
by reading the voltage every 5 seconds. Assume that the recorded data are listed in
Table 1. Please note: the recorded voltage data have three digits, and the minimum
read out scale of the voltage is mV.
 For data analysis, we rewrite the capacitor discharging formula by taking the loga-
rithm of both sides:  1 
lnV (t) = lnV0 ; RC t
so that lnV is linear in t and the formulae in section 3.3 can be applied directly
in the analysis. In order to see the linear relation directly, data can be plotted on a
9
 time (seconds) 0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0
Voltage (volts) 6.00 2.22 .823 .305 .118 .045

Table 1: Recording data on voltage vs. time

semi-log paper with voltage along the log scale and time along the linear scale. The
data points should lie on a straight line. The slope of the line is ;1=RC .
 The standard way to determine the slope of a line from a set of measured data points
is the least squares method. We use the formulae presented in the last section. Let
y  lnV (t)  x  t  a  lnV0  b  ;1=RC 
then the original equation becomes
 1 
lnV (t) = lnV0 ; RC t ;! y = a + bx :
Following the discussions in Least squares Method section, we can calculate all
the quantities for determining a, b, and a, b. The calculated results are listed in
Table 2.

x y Lxx Lyy Lxy P x2i P xi

12.5 -0.672 437.5 16.770 -85.7 1375.0 75.0

Table 2: Calculated quantities for least squares method

From these calculated quantities, we determine the measured parameters and errors
as :
b = Lxy  ;1=RC  = ;0:196 
Lxx
 ; bx  lnV0 = 1:77 
a = yv
u
u P y ; (a + b  x )]2
y = t i i i
= 1: 90  10 ;2
(N ; 2)
v
u P 2
u
a = n P x2 ;x(iP x )2 y2 = 9:97  10;2 
t
i i
s
b = n P x2 ;n (P x )2 y2 = 6:58  10;3
i i

Finally, we obtain the experimental results on the time constant RC and resistance
value R in Table 3.
10
 The time constant RC = ;1=b = 5:1 seconds
The error on time constant RC = (b=b)  RC = 0:17 seconds
The resistance value R = ; bCq= 0:19610;6 = 510k
1 1

The fractional error on R R=R = (C =C )2 + (b=b)2 = 3:94%

Table 3: Determined parameters and errors

 The measurement errors indicated in Table 3 are the random errors that mainly
come from the uncertainties for reading value of the voltage (you might not read
out the voltage exactly on time, and the last digit of recorded data contain errors).
By repeating the measurement, such error will decrease.
In addition to the random error, we should also consider possible sources of system-
atic errors.
{ There may be calibration errors in the voltage meter and in the clock.
{ The measured time constant in fact includes the resistance of the circuit and
the instrument, if you determine R through measured time constant, the de-
termined resistance value will be larger than its true value. Once we know the
circuit and instrument resistance, we should make corrections: b = ;1=RC ,
and R = R0 +r, where R0 is the resistance of the resistor, and r is the resistance
of the instrument and circuit ;! R0 = R ; r.
{ The given capacitance value is not exact, but has two percent of uncertainty.
This error cannot be reduced by repeating the measurement. From the calcu-
lation we know that the minimum error on the R value is 2%, which comes
from the capacitance value uncertainty.

Presentation of nal results

The measured time constant: RC = 5:1 0:17 seconds
The measured resistance of the resistor : R0 = 500(1 3:94%)k.
Note: we have assumed that the equivelance resistance of the circuit and instrument
r is 10, so that nal result is R0 = R ; r.
Reference:
(1) ` An Introduction to Error Analysis 0, by John R. Taylor

11
 Lab 1
MEASURING DENSITY OF SOLIDS
Practice of using length and mass measuring devices

A. Measuring the size and determining the volume of solid sample with
symmetrical shape

I. Equipment
1 vernier calliper 0  150mm with precision 0,02mm;
3 measuring samples (cube, copper ring, steel balls).
II. Procedure
A. Measuring the size of the cooper ring by vernier calliper to determine the volume
1- Vernier caliper
The meter scale enables us to measure the length to the nearest millimeter only.
Engineers and scientists need to measure much smaller distances accurately. For this a
special type of scale called Vernier scale is used.
2 2' 3
T
0 10 20 30 40 50 60

0 5 10

T/
1 1'

Figure 1.
The Vernier scale consists of a main scale graduated in centimeters and millimeters. On
the Vernier scale 0.9 cm is divided into ten equal parts. The least count or the smallest
reading which you can get with the instrument can be calculated as under:
Least count = one main scale (MS) division - one vernier scale (VS) division.
= 1 mm - 0.09 mm
= 0.1 mm
= 0.01 cm
The least count of the vernier

= 0.01 cm
The Vernier calliper consists of a main scale fitted with a jaw at one end. Another jaw,
containing the vernier scale, moves over the main scale. When the two jaws are in contact,
the zero of the main scale and the zero of the vernier scale should coincide. If both the zeros
do not coincide, there will be a positive or negative zero error.
After calculating the least count place the object between the two jaws.
Record the position of zero of the vernier scale on the main scale (3.2 cm in figure below).

You will notice that one of the vernier scale divisions coincides with one of the main scale
divisions. (In the illustration, 3rd division on the vernier coincides with a MS division).
Reading of the instrument = MS div + (coinciding VS div x L.C.)
= 3.2 + (3 x 0.01)
= 3.2 + 0.03
= 3.23 cm
To measure the inner and outer diameter of a hollow cylinder or ring, inner and outer
callipers are used.
2. Measuring the size of the cooper ring and determining the volume
The volume of the ring can be calculated according to the following formula:

V =  (D 2  d 2 )  h (1)
4
With D: outer radius , d: inner radius and h: height of the ring. Perform 3 times measurement
of D, d, h at different positions. Note the measured values in Tab.1 to determine the volume of
the ring.

B. Determining the volume of a steel cube

Perform 3 times measurement of the length a, the width b and the height h of the cube at
different positions. Note the measured values in Tab.2 to determine the volume of the cube
according to the following formula: V=a.b.c

C. Determining the volume of a steel ball

Using vernier calliper perform 3 times measurement of the ball radius D at different positions.
Note the measured values in Tab.3 to determine the volume of the steel ball according to the
following formula:
 1
V   .D 3 (5)
6

III. Experiment results

1. Complete the calculation results in tables 1, 2 and 3.
2. Write the measurement results to corresponding formulas in tables 1, 2 and 3.
3. Determine the volume of the ring (hollow cylinder), steel cube and steel ball (sphere).
4. Calculate the relative errors, total errors and write the results of volume measurement.

B. Measuring the mass using technical balance

I. Equipment
1 technical balance 0  200g with precision 0,02g;
1 weight box 0  200g;
3 measuring samples (cube, copper ring, steel balls).
III. Procedure
A. Basic theory
* Mass
Mass is a property of a physical body. It can be generalized as the amount of matter in an object.
It is the measure of an object's resistance to acceleration (a change in its state of motion) when a
net force is applied. It also determines the strength of its mutual gravitational attraction to other
bodies. The basic SI unit of mass is the kilogram (kg).
The mass of an object determines its acceleration in the presence of an applied force. The mass
quantitatively describes the inertia. According to Newton's second law of motion, if a body of
fixed mass m is subjected to a single force F, its acceleration a is given by F/m. A body's mass
also determines the degree to which it generates or is affected by a gravitational field. If a first
body of mass mA is placed at a distance r (center of mass to center of mass) from a second body
of mass mB, each body is subject to an attractive force Fg = GmAmB/r2, where G is the universal
gravitational constant. This is referred to as gravitational mass. Repeated experiments since the
17th century have demonstrated that inertial and gravitational mass are identicaland since 1915,
this observation has been entailed a priori by Einstein in the equivalence principle of general
relativity. Therefore the mass can be measured by the gravitational force (the weight) exerted on
an object in a known gravitational field such as the Earth.
* Measurement of Mass
Mass of an object can be determined by comparing the mass of it with a standard mass. For this
we can use a lever balance or a common balance.
* Technical Balance
This balance consists of a beam and two scale pans (shown in figure below), the beam
being balanced at its mid point on a knife-edge. The scale pans also hang on knife edges and
rest on the base board. When the balance is not in use the beam rests on the beam support.
* Operation of technical balance
Use the leveling screws, attached beneath the base board to make sure that the beam is
horizontal. It can be verified with the help of the plumb- line provided shown in the
diagram.
Use the arrestment knob to raise the beam and the adjusting screw at the two ends of the
beam, to bring the pointer to the middle or zero mark on the scale.
Lower the beam using the arrestment knob again.
Place the body to be weighed on the left scale pan and put weights on the right hand scale
pan to balance the beam (when pointer is at zero).
C. Measuring the mass of an object
Perform 3 times measurement of the mass of the ring, the cube and the ball. Note the
measured values in Tab. 4 and complete the results in corresponding formulas.
III. Experiment results
1. Complete the calculation results in tables 4.
2. Write the measurement results to corresponding formulas in tables 4.
3. Determine the mass of the ring, steel cube and steel ball.
4. Calculate the relative errors, total errors and write the results of mass measurement.
 Report Instruction

MEASURING DENSITY OF SOLIDS

Instructor’s confirmation

School:......................................

Class: ................ Group: ..........

Full name: ................................

I. Objective

...........................................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................................

II. Tables of data

A.1. Determining the copper ring volume

Table 1 Precision of calliper : ....................... (mm)

Meas. No D D d d h h
(10-3 m) (10-3 m) (10-3 m) (10-3 m) (10-3 m) (10-3 m)
1
2
3
Everage
1. Calculate the total errors of measurement of the outer radius D, the inner radius d and the
height h:
D  ( D )dc  D ...................................... ..................... . (10-3 m)
d  ( d )dc  d ...................................... .................. ..... (10-3 m)
h  ( h)dc  h ....................................... ....................... (10-3 m)
2. Calculate the relative error and the result of the ring volume:
V  D. D  d. d h
  2  ...................................................
V  D2  d 2 h
 -9
V   ( D 2  d 2 )  h  ..............................................................................................(10 m3)
4
V    V ...................................... ..................... (10-9 m3)
3. Write the result of the ring volume measurement:
V1  V1  V1  ........................  ......................... (10-9 m3)
A.2. Determining the volume of the steel cube:

Table 2 Precision of calliper: ....................... (mm)

Meas.No a Δa b Δb c Δc
(10-3 m) (10-3 m) (10-3 m) (10-3 m) (10-3 m) (10-3 m)
1
2
3
Average

Calculate V and V and write as follows:

a  (a) dc  a  ......................... 10 3 m
b  (b) dc  b  ......................... 10 3 m
c  (c) dc  c  ......................... 10 3 m
V a b a
V2  a  b  c    
V a b a
V2  V2  V2  ........................  ......................... (10 m )
-9 3

A.3. Determining the volume of the steel ball:

Table 3 Precision of calliper: ....................... (mm)

Meas.No 1 2 3 Average
D D =...............
(10-3 m) (10-3 m)
D D =.............
(10-3 m) .
(10-3 m)

D  (D) dc  D  ......................... 10 3 m
Calculate V and V and write as follows:
1 3 V  3D
V3  .D   
6 V  D

V1  V1  V1  ........................  ......................... (10-9 m3)

B.1. Determining the mass of the samples

Table 4 : Determination of the mass of the ring, the cube and the ball

Meas Weight
.No m1 (10 kg ) m1 (10 kg ) m2 (10 kg ) m 2 (10 3 kg ) m3 (10 3 kg )
3 3 3
m3 (10 3 kg )

1
2
3
Ever.

1. Calculate total errors:

m1  (m1 ) dc  m1  ......................... 10 3 kg

m2  (m2 ) dc  m2  ......................... 10 3 kg

m3  (m3 ) dc  m3  ......................... 10 3 kg

2. Write the results of the mass measurement:

m1  m1  m1  (........................  .........................)  10 3 kg

m2  m2  m2  (........................  .........................)  10 3 kg

m3  m3  m3  (........................  .........................)10 3 kg

c. Determining the mass density of symmetrical object:

m  m V
  
V  m V

Copper ring: 1  1  1  (........................  .........................)  10 3 kg / m 3

Steel cube: 1  1  1  (........................  .........................)  10 3 kg / m 3

Steel ball: 1  1  1  (........................  .........................)  10 3 kg / m 3

 Lab 2
MEASURING THE GRAVITATIONAL ACCELERATION
WITH A REVERSIBLE PENDULUM
I. Equipment
1. Physical pendulum. 5. Ruler 1000mm.
2. MC-963A meter 6. Calliper 0-150mm, accuracy 0.1 or 0.05mm.
3. Optical infrared port. 7. Paper 120x80mm.
4. Pendulum suspension.

II. Theory
Physical pendulum is a solid, mass m, can oscillate around a fixed horizontal
01
axis passing point 01that is placed higher than its center of mass G (Figure 1).
 O1 called the suspension of the pendulum.
Equilibrium position of the pendulum coincides with the vertical of the line
G
O1G. When pulling the pendulum out of the equilibrium position, with a small
Pt 
02 angle , then release it, the components Pt of the gravity P = mg acting on the
pendulum a torque M1 by:
Pn
P M1=-Pt.L1=-mg.L1.sin (1)
Hình 1 Where g is the gravitational acceleration, L1 = O1G is the distance from the
center O1 to the center of mass G, (-) indicates torque M1 always pull the pendulum to equilibrium
position, meanwhile rotate a reverse angle . When  is small, we can consider the approximate:
M1  - mg.L1. (2)
Basic equations for the rotation of the pendulum around an axis across 01:
M1
1  (3)
I1
With 1 = d2/dt2 is angular acceleration, I1 is the inertia moment of the pendulum to the rotation
axis passes through O1. Combine (3) and (2) and subtitute 12 = mg.L1/I1, we get the harmonic
oscillation equation of the pendulum:

d 
2
 1 .  0 (4)
2
2
dt
Root of equation (4):  = 0.cos (1.t + ) (5)

with 0 as amplitude, 1 is angular frequency, is the initial phase at time t = 0.

 2 I1
From (5), Period T1 can detemined: T1   2. (6)
1 mg.L1
In the physical pendulum, we can find a point O2, located on line through O1 and G so that when
the pendulum swings around a horizontal axis passing through O2, the oscillation period is equal its
period when oscillating around the axis O1. The physical pendulum is called reversible.
Indeed, we can easily prove that there exists the hanging points O2, as follows: When the
oscillation around the axis through point O2 (Figure 1), period T2 of the pendulum is the same
calculation above, and we found:
2 I2
T2   2. (7)
2 mg.L 2
with L2=O2,
G is the distance from the rotation axis passes through O2 to the center of mass G and I2 is the
inertia moment of the pendulum to the rotation axis passing through O2.
IG is called inertia moment of pendulum for rotating asix through the center of mass G and
parallel to the two axis O1 and O2. According to Huygens-Steiner theorem:
I1 = IG + mL21 (8)
I2 = IG + mL22 (9)
If the suspension point O2 satisfies T1 = T2 conditions, subtitute (9), (8) to (7), (6) we find
equation to determine O2 locate:
IG
L 1 .L 2  (10)
m
On the other hand, from (6), (7) we can identify
1 5
gravitational acceleration:

4 .(L1  L 2 ).(L1  L 2 )
2
g (11)
T1 .L1  T2 .L 2
2 2

6
If two point 01, 02 satisfying formula (10), than T1 = T2 =
T, and equation to determine the graviational acceleration is:

4  .L
2
3 9
g 2
(12)
T
with L= L1+L2= O1O2 is the distance between two
2
horizontal axis passing O1 and O2 passing
8
4 7 Physical pendulum used in this article includes a metal rod
C 6, on which attached two fixed knife 1 and 2 are separated by
10
a distance L = O1O2 (Figure 2). Edge of the knife 1 or 2 placed
on the glasses of the bearing 5, respectively. Two weights 3

V1 V2

Hình 2
 and 4 fixed on a metal bar 6. Weight C likes a nut link on the chaser 4 , can be moved by turning
around the chaser 4, to change the location for the center of mass G, so that satisfies the formula 10
to physical pendulum becomes irreversible. The whole pendulum is placed on the base 9 and 10
with adjusting screw V1, V2.
Oscillation number and corresponding time are measured by the timer device MC-963A. MC-
963A is the kind of measuring instruments with high precision (smallest division 0,001-0,01s). It
can act as a stopwatch, is controlled by the photovoltaic port.
Photovoltaic 8 (Figure 2) includes a diode D1 emits infrared rays, and a diode D2 receives
infrared lighting from D1. Current supply to D1 is taken from the timer device. When the pendulum
swings, metal rods go into the slot 6 of 8 ports will definitely block the photovoltaic infrared beam
from D1 to D2, D2 will emit signals transmitted
along the wire going to the timer device, control the
machine activity. Such mechanism allows switching
the counter of timer device almost no inertia.
Photovoltaic 8 ports are located near the vertical
equilibrium position of the pendulum to limits
Hình 3: Máy đo thời gian hiện số MC-963A
pendulum swings with small amplitude ( <90).
On the chronometers have two socket with 5 pins A, B, a press RESET button, switching a time
scale TIME (9,999s or 99,99s), and a switch MODE. In this experiment:
* Switching placed MODE placed at position n = 50 to measuring 50 period of a pendulum
oscillating, other functions not in use. Notice that not let the pendulum swing with large amplitude
beyond photovoltaic port, so that after each cycle, the window "period n = N-1" just jump 1 times.
* RESET Button to give instructions to the state of 0000.
* The timescales TIME, select 99,99s.
* Plug 5 pins of Photovoltaic port is connected to a drive A on the MC-963A meter.
* Plug on the power of chronometers MC-963A at 220V grid, press the K on the machine, the
number of LED indicator lights up, the counter ready to measure.
III. Procedure
As mentioned above, in any given physical pendulum can always find two points O1, O2, so that
when the pendulum of change, oscillation period is constant.
In this experiment, two suspension points (two blades O1, O2) fixed, one must locate Weighted
C (ie change the position of the center of mass G, so that (10) is satisfied), to let the pendulum
becomes irreversible. The following procedure:
1. Turn on the Weighted C closed to the weights 4. Use the caliper to measure the distance x0
between them. In many cases, the pendulum was created so that the Weighted C extremely closed
 to the weights 4 (x0 = 0). Record the value x0 in table 1. Place the pendulum on the rack in the
forward direction (the word "Forward": toward the people that doing the experiment), measuring
the time of 50 oscillation period and recorded in Table 1, below the columns 50T1.
2. Reverse the pendulum ("Reverse direction": toward the people that doing the experiment), and
measured the time of 50 oscillation period, recording the results in Table 1 below 50T2 column.
3. Set the location Weighted C to weights 4 away a distance x' = x 0 + 40mm, (using callipers to
check). Measuring the period of 50 cycle and 50 reverse cycle with this position, recording the
results in Table 1.
50T1 4. Performance the measurement results
on the graph: vertical axis 120mm,
50T2
performances 50T1 and 50T2 time,
50T2 horizontal axis 80mm, shows the position x
of C. Connect the 50T1 and 50T2 points
50T1 together by straight lines, their

X=X1 communication is the approximate location

X= 0 X=40mm
Hình 4 of x for T1 = T2 (H3).
5. Use callipers to placed the weight C on
the right position x1. Measured 50T1 and 50T2. Record results in table 1.
6. Adjust the weight C to the right position: The graph in Figure 4 shows the line 50 T1 slope
than the T2, which means to the left of the crossover point than 50T2> 50T1, and the right of the
crossover point than 50T1> 50T2. From the results of measurements 5, at x1 we can conclude that
to obtain the best results, we must shift direction the weight C so that 50T1 = 50T2.
7. Finally, when the best location of Weighted C has identified, we measured each direction 3-5
times to get random error, Record results in Table 2.
8. Use a ruler (1000 m) to measure the distance L between the two blades O1, O2. Record in
Table 1. (Only once carefully measured, taking the error L = 1mm).
9. To complete the experiment, turn of the MC-963 meter and unplug it from the power of ~
220V.
IV. Question
1. What is the same and different between the physical pendulum and mathematical pendulum?
(The mathematical pendulum shall include a non-stretch line, negligible volumes, one end tied to a
fixed point O, the other end hanging freely a sphere or a point of mass m).
2. Prove that any physical pendulum hanging given point O1 can be found O2 to let the
pendulum become irreversible.
 3. Show the way to adjusting Weighted C to becoming a reversible pendulum with two given
suspension points O1, O2.
4. Write expressions identify oscillation period of a reversible pendulum with small amplitude.
5. To determine the oscillation period of a reversible pendulum, we must measure many periods
(50 periods for example), but not measure each period? When such a measure, which error that can
overcome? How to calculate these kind of error?
6. Write a formula to measure the errors by using reversible pendulum? in the formula, determines
the number of ?
 Report Instruction

MEASURING THE GRAVITATIONAL ACCELERATION

WITH A REVERSIBLE PENDULUM
Instructor’s confirmation

School:......................................

Class: ................ Group: ..........

Full name: ................................

I. Objective
...........................................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................

II. EXPERIMENT RESULTS

1. Table 1: L = .................  ................. (mm)
Position of weight C 50T1 (s) 50T2 (s)
(mm)
x0 = ...................mm ....................... .......................
x0+40 = ............mm ....................... .......................
x1 = ..................mm ....................... .......................

2. Draw the graph (H5)

0 10 20 30 40 X
Table 2: Best position of x1' pendulum is reversibleT1= T2 = T:
Best position of x'1 = .................................. (mm)
Numer of 50T1 (s)  (50T1) 50T2 (s)  (50T2)
measuring
1
2
3
Average .................. .................. .................. ..................

3. Determine the oscillation period of the reversible pendulum:

* Based on table 2, the period T of reversible pendulum is average of number of measuring
of 50T1 and 50T2:

T .

1 50T1  50T2 
 ..........................(s)
50 2
* Random error T:
* Error of equipment of measuring T:
* Error of measuring T: T = (T)dc + T = ....................................(s)
4. Caculate the graviational accerleration
- Caculate the graviational accerleration:

g
4 2 .L
T
2
 s
 ............................................  .................. m 2

- Calculate the relative error of the acceleration of gravity

g  L T
 2  2 =...........................
g  L T
- Calculate the absolute error of the acceleration of gravity
g= .g =....................................................................................

5. Writing the results of measurements gravitational acceleration:

g  g  g  ......................................  ....................................... (m/s2)

 Lab 3
DETERMINING THE MOMENT OF INERTIA OF A SOLID
CYLINDER AND THE FRICTION FORCE OF A PULLEY

I. Equipment
1. Experimental equipment MC - 965 (wheel
with rotational shaft, lug with bearing, weights, 3. Versatile chronometer MC-963;
strings, base box); 4. Sensor transceiver infrared photoelectric;
2.Ruler 0 150mm, accuracy 0,05mm; 5. Startup control box.
II. Basic theory
Angular acceleration  of a rigid object rotating about a fixed axis  is proportional to the
torque M acting on it and is inversely proportional to the moment of inertia I of that rigid object
about that rotational axis:

M
 (1)
I
This is fundamental equation of a rotational rigid body. The moment of inertia I characterize the
inertia of a rigid body in the rotational motion and it has dimensions of kg.m2.

We can determine the moment of inertia of the wheel

and friction force of its rotational shaft by the physics
equipment MC 965 (Figure 1). A wheel with mass M has
rotational shaft put in two bearings C1C2 which were fixed
to the erected lug G on the base box H. A thin and
unstretched string is scrolled together into one layer on its
rotational shaft: tie one end to the shaft, the other end
hanging weight mass m. The positon of the weight m is
determined on the millimeter straight-edge T. Using the
control box Đ (has 4 push-buttons F-1-2-3) connecting to
the versatile chronometer MC-963 and photoelectric
sensor QĐ, we can easily start the machine and
automatically measure interval motion time of material
systems including the weights m and the wheel M.
Firstly, the wheel M is stationary and the weight m is at
position A with the heigh h1 from the lowest position B
and the reserved potential energy of the system is mgh1.
Then put the system objects moving under the effect of
 
gravity of the weight P  mg . Meanwhile the weight m
translate from A to B and wheel M orbits around its
horizontal axis.
 The reserved potential energy mgh1 of the system transfer a part to translational kinetic energy
mv 2 I 2
and a part to rotational kinetic energy of the wheel (including its rotational axix), the
2 2
rest part is used to win the work of friction force Ac  f ms .h1 in two bearings C1C2.
Applying the conserved law of mechanical energy for the above system object moving from A
to B, we have:
mv 2 I  2
mg.h1    f ms .h1 (2)
2 2
where v is the velocity of the weight m at B , ω là angular velocity and I is moment of inertia of the
wheel (including its rotational axis), and fms is the friction force in two rotational bearings C1C2 .

When it reach to the lowest position B , the wheel M continue rotates follow the inertia and
makes the string being scrolled its seft into the rotational axis, then the weight m is lifted up to
position C with the height h2 < h1 . At C, potentional energy of system is mgh2 . The reduction of
the potential of the system in the moving process from A to B and from B to C has a total length h1+ h2
right by the work of friction force in two bearings C1C2 :
mgh1 - mgh2 = fms. ( h1 + h2 )
deduced:
h h
f ms  mg 1 2 (3)
h1  h2
Since the weight m moves with uniformly accelerated motion on AB = h1 within the interval of
time t , so its velocity at B is:
2.h
v 1 (4)
t
This velocity v also is the velocity of a point on the rotational axis of the wheel M at t ( since
the wheel started rotating). It relates with angular velocity ω and radius r of the shaft by equation
v  .r .
So:
2.h 4.h
 1 1 (5)
t.r t.d
where d  2. r is the diameter of rotational axis. Using (3), (4) , (5) into (2) , we find:
m. d 2  2 h2 
I g . t  1 (6)
4  h1 .( h1  h2 ) 
In this experiment, the mass m of the
weight was given, so we can determine the
friction force fms of the rotational bearings
and the moment of inertia of the wheel
(including its rotational axis) using the
equations ( 3 ) and ( 6 ) by mesuaring the
diameter d of rotational axis, the moving

Figure 2 : Versatile chronometer MC-963A

time t of the system, the height h1 and h2 of the weight.

III. Procedure
A. Measuring the interval time of motion and the heights h1, h2
1. Plug the power plug of the versatile chronometer MC - 963 into the current source ~ 220V. Connect
the sensor QĐ up with the outlet A and down with outlet B on the machine MC- 963 (Figure 2).
Turn the knob "MODE" to “A  B” and switch the knob "TIME RANGE" to 9,999. Press the K key:
the digits are displayed on the window "n = N-1" and "TIME".
Press the knob “3” of the control box Đ (put on the crossbeam of the erected lug G) to release the
brake lining of the wheel M: the wheel M rotates and the rolled string on its axis gradually
releases. Hold the weight m standing at its lowest position B. Unscrew the screws V on the bottom
of the base box H to adjust the erected lug G for the string hanging the weight m (as wire
illumination) parallels to the millimeter straight-edge T, and the bottom of the weight m located at
the lowest position B. Shifting downward the photoelectric sensor QĐ to the lowest position B of
weight m.

2. Then shifting again the QĐ sensor to gradually increase its height to the position at which the
digits displayed on the machine MC - 963 start "jumping" (changing values), then stop it. This
position of QĐ sensor on the millimeter straight-edge T coincides right with the lowest position of
the bottom of the weight m, corresponding to the height h0. Read and write the coordinates ZB of
the position B on the millimeter straight-edge T on the table 1.

3. Gently rotating the wheel M to let the string, which hanging the weight m, scrolling together
into one layer on its rotational shaft until the bottom of the weight m is located at the highest pre-
selected arbitrary A (can choose coincide with the positions range from 5 to 10 on the millimeter
straight-edge T). Press the knob F of the control box Đ to brake the wheel stationary in the position
A. Put one edge of the Eke ruler squeezes the millimeter straight-edge T, and the other side of the
Eke ruler touchs the bottom of the weight m to determine coordinate ZA of the highest position A at
the bottom of the weight m on the millimeter straight-edge T. Then the height of the bottom of
weight m at position A equals:
h1 = ZA - ZB (7)
Calculate and record the values of h1 into the table 1. Click the knob "RESET" on the versatile
chronometer MC - 963 to turn the indicator numbers back to 0.

4. Press the knob 1 of the control box Đ to simultaneously release the brake knob F of the wheel M
and close the electric circuit of the versatile chronometer MC-963: object system (the wheel M +
the weight m) starts moving and the versatile chronometer MC-963 starts counting. Shortly
thereafter, press the knob 2 of the control box to close the circuit of photoelectric sensor QĐ.
When the weight m falls down to the lowest position B (coinciding with position of sensor QĐ),
the versatile chronometer MC-963 stops counting. The interval motion time t of the consider object
system on the path from A to B, has the length h1 = ZA - ZB, will be displayed in the window
"TIME".
Continue tracking the upward motion of the weight m until it reaches the position C with the
maximum height, then press the knob F of the control box to brake the wheel M. Using the Eke
ruler to determine the coordinate ZC of the position C on the straight-millimeter T, similarly to the
noted above position A. Then the height of the bottom of the weight m at the position C has a
value of:
h2 = ZC - ZB (8)
Record the values of the interval motion time t of the system and the height h2 in the table 1. Click
the knob "RESET" on the versatile chronometer MC - 963 to turn the indicator numbers back to 0.

5. Press the knob 3 of the control box Đ to down the weight m to the lowest position B. Perform
the movements (3) and (4) repeating 5 times. Read and write in the table 1 the value of the
approximate interval motion time t of the object system and the value of the corresponding heights
h1, h2 of each measurement.

B. Measure the diameter d of the wheel M axis by the ruler ( See the using guidance in
experiment 1)
Perform this movement 5 times. Read and write the value of each measurement value d in Table 1.

3. Read and write the following datas in the Table 1:

- Mass m of the weight and its error.
- Accuraccy of the straight-millimeter T.
- Accuraccy of the ruler.
- Accuraccy of the versatile chronometer MC – 963.

III. Questions
1. Speak and write the basic equations of the rotational motion of a solid body around a fixed axis.
Outlined the meaning of the moment of inertia and its unit of measure.
2. Descripte the laboratory equipments and methods of determining the moment of inertia of the
wheel and the friction force in the bearings.
3. When conducting measurements, why must scroll the string hanging the weight m above the
rotational axis of the wheel into a layer? Is it alright if scrolled this string into several overlap
rounds?
4. Clarify the structural principles of the ruler and the vernier straight. Present the using of the ruler
to measure the length or diameter of the objects.
5. In this experiment, which errors are crucial. Explain why?
 Report Instruction
MEASURING DENSITY OF SOLIDS

Instructor’s confirmation
School:......................................
Class: ................ Group: ..........
Full name: ................................

I. Objective
...........................................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................

II. Tables

Table 1 - Mass m of the weight: m = ..............  .............. ( kg )

- Accuraccy of the ruler: ..................... ( mm)
- Accuraccy of the versatile chronometer MC – 963: .............. ( s)
- Accuraccy of the straight-millimeter T: ........................ ( mm)
- The height of position A: h1 = ..............  .............. ( mm)

d d t t h2 h2
Measurement ( mm) ( mm) ( s) ( s) ( mm) ( mm)
times
1
2
3
4
5
Average

III. Calculation results

Determine the friction force of the bearings Fms and the moment of inertia of the solid
cylinder I
h  h2 m.d 2  2 h2 
1. Calculate the value : f ms  m.g 1 I  g .t  1
h1  h2 4  h1 .(h1  h2 ) 
2. Calculate the error :
f ms m g 1 1 1 1
    h1   h2
f ms m g h1  h2 h1  h2 h1  h2 h1  h2
 I m d g t  1 1 1 1
 2  2   h1   h2
I m d g t h1 h1  h2 h2 h1  h2
Measurement error m: m = (m)dc + m = ................. + .................(Kg).
Measurement error h1: h1 = (h1)dc + h1 = ..................+.................(m)
Measurement error h2: h2 = (h2)dc + h2 = ..................+.................(m)
Measurement error t: t = (t)dc + t = ..................+................. (s)
Measurement error d: d = (d)dc + d = ..................+................. (m)

IV. Write the measurement results

f ms  f ms  f ms  .............................. .................................. (N)

I  I  I  ......................................  ....................................... (kg.m2)

 Lab 4

THERMOCOUPLE
DETERMINATION OF THE THERMOCOUPLE CONSTANT

I. Equipment

1. Thermocouple (chromel-alumel); 6. Wine thermometer (0  1000C);

2. Thermocouple holder; 7. Boiler (220V - 300W);
3. MC-897 electronic millivoltmeter; 8. Digital multimeter 3,1/2 Digits
4. Two 250ml experiment glasses; 9. Set of wires.
5. Digital thermometer (-500C  1500C);

II. Theory
A thermocouple is a closed electric circuit consisting of two
dissimilar conductors A and B that are joined together (Figure 1). mV
If junctions 1 and 2 are at different temperatures T1 and T2
(T1>T2), respectively, an electric current that is called
thermoelectric current is produced within the circuit.
Electromotive force that generates the thermoelectric current is A B B A
known as thermal electromotive force E.
1 2
Thermal electromotive force is yielded because free electrons
diffuse from the metal with a higher density of free electrons to Figure 1
the metal with a lower density at junctions 1 and 2. Theories and
experiments have proved that the magnitude of thermal electromotive force depends on the nature
of the two metals and the temperature difference between the two junctions of the thermocouple.
Within a certain temperature range (depending on thermocouple types), thermal electromotive force
E increases proportionally to the temperature difference (T1 - T2) between the two junctions as
denoted in Equation 1:
E nđ  C.(T1  T2 ) (1)
where C is the thermocouple constant. For metal thermocouples, the value of E is small; therefore,
V V
C is measured in the unit of either or 0 . Thermocouples can be used as a thermometer to
K C
measure temperature or a low-power electric source (obtained by converting thermal energy to
electric energy).
E nđ
Prior the use of a thermocouple, we have to sample the
thermocouple; that is, we have to investigate the temperature range
(depending on the thermocouple type) where thermal electromotive
force is linearly dependent on the temperature difference (T1 - T2)
between its two junctions. As a result, the graph representing the 
function of E  C.(T1  T2 ) is a segment (Figure 2), and constant C is 0 T1 - T2
calculated as in Equation 2: Figure 2
 E nd
C  tg ( 2)
T1  T2
Since resistance RV of millivoltmeter mV is much larger than internal resistance r of the thermocouple,
applying Ohm’s law to a closed circuit, we have:
E  I .  RV  r   I .RV  UV (3)
where I is the current intensity, Uv is the reading on millivoltmeter mV.

Thus, for every value of temperature difference (T1 - T2) between the hot junction (T1) and the
cold junction (T2) of the thermocouple, we measure the corresponding value of thermal
electromotive force E on millivoltmeter mV. Therefore, we can draw the graph representing
thermocouple sampling and determine the value of constant C.

Milivoltmeter
MC-9691
2 1
4 0 150
4 mV 3
6 "0" 5
R 15
1,5 150
K
+ 

Figure 3

III. Procedure
1. Step 1
Connect the wires to form the electric circuit as demonstrated in Figure 3. Set the range selector
knob of millivoltmeter mV at position 15. Set the digital multimeter at the measurement range of
200mVDC. Use a piece of wire to short circuit the positive and negative probes. Turn sensitivity
knob R counterclockwise all the way left.
Plug digital milivoltmeter mV in the mains of 220V. Press button K on the front and
millivoltmeter mV starts. Wait for 4  5 minutes, then perform zeroing the measurement range of
millivoltmeter mV by turning slowly the zero corrector to move the pointer to 0, and the digital
multimeter also displays 0. Then, the maximum value of the measurement range on the
millivoltmeter mV is equal to 15mV. Turn knob "0" until the reading is 5mV on the electronic
millivoltmeter, then read the value of Ukđ on the digital multimeter to derive the amplification
coefficient k = Ukđ /5mV. Afterward, repeat zeroing for milivoltmeter mV, disconnect the wire from
the positive and negative probes and connect it to the thermocouple.

2. Step 2
 Place the bulbs of thermometers 3 and 4 at the same level as the junctions of thermocouples 1
and 2 in the middle of boiler 5 and experimental glass 6, respectively. Wait for 45 minutes, then
read and record the reading of temperature T1 on thermometer 3 and that of temperature T2 on
thermometer 4 in Table 1. If T1 is equal to T2, the pointer of millivoltmeter mV must point at 0.

3. Step 3
Plug the boiler 5 in the mains of 220V. Wait until the water in the boiler begins to boil, then
unplug the boiler 5 and let the water in the boiler cool down (avoid a quick cool down).
For every value of T1, record the reading of Ukđi on the digital multimeter to calculate thermal
electromotive force Enđ and write it down in Table 1. Repeat this process until temperature T1
decreases to 40°C.
Note: When the range selector "RANGE" of millivoltmeter mV is set at X10 and sensitivity
knob R is turned all the way left, the maximum limit on millivoltmeter mV is 15mV.

4. Step 4
Read and record the following data in Table 1:
- The level of accuracy v and the maximum value Um on the measurement range of electronic
milivoltmeter mV.
- The level of accuracy v and the maximum value Um on the measurement range of digital
milivoltmeter mV.
- Accuracy T of thermometers 3 and 4.

IV. Questions
1. Present the structure of a thermocouple and the cause of thermal electromotive force within a
thermocouple.
2. What factors does the magnitude of thermal electromotive force depend on? State clearly the
relation between thermal electromotive force E and the temperature difference (T1 – T2) between the
two junctions of a thermocouple.
3. Why is sampling needed prior to the use of a thermocouple to measure temperature?
4. Why is the cooling-down process instead of the heating-up process of the hot junction selected
to sample a thermocouple? Sampling a thermocouple is a process to investigate the dependence of
thermal electromotive force on the temperature difference between the two junctions as denoted in
equation E = C.(T1 – T2).
5. Present how to determine thermocouple constant C using a graph to demonstrate the
dependence of thermal electromotive force on the temperature difference between the two
junctions of the thermocouple as denoted in equation E = C.(T1 – T2)?
6. State clearly advantages of a thermocouple over a liquid thermometer (wine or mercury) in
temperature measurement.
 Report Instruction
DETERMINATION OF THE THERMOCOUPLE CONSTANT

Instructor’s confirmation

School:......................................

Class: ................ Group: ..........

Full name: ................................

I. Objective
...........................................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................................

II. Tables of data

Table 1 - Electronic milivoltmeter mV: δν = …………. ; Um = ………… (mV)

- Digital milivoltmeter mV: δν = …………. ; nα = …………. (mV)
- Digital thermometer: ΔT = ................ (°C)

Measurement/
T1 (°C) T1 – T2 Δ(T1 – T2) Ukđ (mV) Enđ (mV) ΔEnđ
T2 =.........(0C)
1 95
2 90
3 85
4 80
5 75
6 70
7 65
8 60
9 55
10 50
11 45

III. Calculate values and errors

1. Calculate values and errors:
U hs k U hs U k
k  
Uk k U hs Uk
U k   V  U max  ........................ = ............... (mV)
U hs   V  U hs  n  ........................ = ............... (mV)
 U kđ i Enđ k U kđ i
End i  i
   i
k Enđ i
k U kđ i

ΔEnđ i = εi . Enđ i =………………. (mV)

Δ(T1 – T2) = ΔT1 + ΔT2 = 2.ΔT = …………………. = ……………….. (°C)

2. Plot the graph of Enđ = C.(T1 – T2) on a millimeter paper

Scale: horizontal axis: 5°C/cm; vertical axis: 0,5 mV/cm

Enđ (mV)

(T1 -T2)(°C)

Note:
- One point on the graph corresponds to one pair of E and T = T1 - T2 in Table 1 and is represented by an
error rectangle with its sides being 2ΔT and 2ΔE.
- The graph must be a continuous and sharp line such that the centers of the error rectangles
distribute equally on both sides of the line.

3. Determination of the thermocouple constant

There are two methods to determine the thermocouple constant.
3.1 Method 1
In the working range of temperature, let the graph representing the function E = C.T be segment
OA. Then, the average C and the absolute error ΔC of constant C are calculated as follows:
n

 (T 1 i  T2 ).Enđ i S2
C i 1 (C ) 2  n

 (T
n

 (T
i 1
1 i  T2 ) 2

i 1
1 i  T2 ) 2

nđ i  C.(T1i  T2 )
n
1
S2   ( E nđ i   nđ i ) 2 where
(n  1) i 1
or  nđ i is a point on the line corresponding to (T1i – T2).

Record the results in the box below:

C  C = ......................................  ....................................... (mV/ 0C)

3.2 Method 2
3.2.1 Calculation of C
Let α be the tilt angle of segment OA with respect to the
horizontal axis, we have:
K y  AH
C  tg   .................................  ................  mV / 0 C 
K x  OH
3.2.2 Calculation of error ΔC (Review item IV of the lecture "How
to determine the error of the measurement of physical quantities"):
Applying differential, we obtain:
d
dC  d (tg )   1  tg 2 .d
cos 2 
Since C 2  tg 2  1 , we deduce equation 4:

C  1  C 2 .    (4)
Here, we can consider Δα the angle between two lines starting from origin O and going through the two
endpoints of the error segment 2ΔE. Δα is approximated as denoted in equation 5:
2 E
 
OA (5)
2 2
OA  AH  OH  ...............................................  ....................

and 2E  ................................  ......................

Thus, according to equation 4, we obtain: C    ..........................

Record the results in the box below:

C  C = ......................................  ....................................... (mV/ 0C)

 Lab 5
MEASUREMENT OF VISCOSITY COEFFICIENT
BY THE STOKES METHOD

I. Equipment:
MN-971A include:
- Glass tubes 95cm high, carved of 2mm / line
- Lubricant with viscosity coefficient
- Steel balls
- Hopper oriented the dropping steel balls
- Small Magnets to get the steel balls out of liquids
- Device to measure the fall time of steel balls
- Two sensors
- Vernier caliper 0-25mm, accuracy 0.01mm.
II . Theory
When laminar fluid flow following the parallel
z
direction to the Ox asix in a cylinder, orientation velocity
v of the molecules in the liquid layer has decreased to 0
dz v+dv
values in the direction Oz (perpendicular to Ox) from the
center O to the wall (Figure 1). The difference in the x
0
orientation velocity of the liquid layer is due to the
contact surface between these layers appeared the internal
friction so that obstruct their relative motion.
The internal friction can be explained according to Hình 1
the kinetic molecular theory, by the exchange of
molecules momentum between layers of liquid with different velocity direction. The
molecules of the fast-moving layer A, diffuses into slow motion layer B, passed down to the
molecular momentum of layer B, which increases the speed of orientation for layer B. In
contrast, the molecules of the slow moving layer B, diffuse into fast-moving layer A, dynamic
collapse the momentum of the molecules of layer A, than reduce the velocity of the layer A.
Experiment shows that the value of internal friction Fms between 2 liquid layers with
velocity is v and v + dv, is separated by a distance dz along the Oz, is proportional to the
gradient velocity Following Oz dv/dz and is proportional to the surface area S between the
two layers of fluid move relative to each other:
dv
Fms   S (1)
dz
The coefficient is called viscosity coeficient of fluid. Values of  depend on the
liquid and decreases when the temperature rises. The unit of  is kg / m.s.
II . Experiment methods
 2
r Assume there small steel balls with radius r falling
3
z vertically with velocity v of the liquid, the liquid layer on
the surfaces of adhesive beads and move along with the
same velocity v. Due to the effect of internal friction,
x v
fluid layer will pull other layers lying near it move along.
Hình 2
2r
Experiment shows on the distance from the outside
3
steel balls away, the velocity of the liquid layer decreases from v to 0 (Figure 2). Meanwhile
the gradient velocity with Oz:
dv v  0 3v
 
dz 2r 2r (2)
3
According to the formula (1), internal friction between adhesive liquid layers on the
outer surface of the steel balls, (an area S = 4 .r 2 , r: radius of steel balls) and the liquid
layers contact with it have value:
dv 3v
1 Fms   S   4 r 2 hay Fms = 6.r.v (3)
9 1 dz 2r
1
2
3 This formula is called Stokes fomula, it said that
internal friction Fms increase propotional to the velocity v, and
Hình 3
4 just right for the velocity v is not large (as a few m / s) of steel
balls moving in liquid infinitely wide.
The viscosity coefficient  can determine by the
5 Stokes method through the device MN-971A (Figure 3), which
includes a glass tube 2 containing a liquid 3 is kept upright on
the rack 9, two magnet sensors from 4 and 5 are connected to a
10 8
timer device in the front of the box 8.
When the steel balls with mass m drop through the
6
hopper than falls in the liquid, the marble are affected by three
7 forces:

value by:
4
P  mg   .r 3 1.g (4)
3

With r is the radius and  1 bulk density of steel balls, g is the gravitational acceleration.
- Acsimet force FA is vertical direction from the bottom up and has value by the weight of the
liquid being occupied by the steel balls:
 4
FA   r 3 . .g (5)
3
With  là bulk density of liquid
 The internal friction Force FC is vertically from the bottom up and have value by:
Fc  6 . .r. (6)
With v is velocity and  is viscosity coefficient of liquid
dv
Under the effect of the forces mentioned above, marble will move with acceleration: a 
dt
following the second Newton laws:
dv
m  P  FA  FC (7)
dt
The acceleration a make the velocity v of steel balls gradually increase, on the other hand
when v increases, internal friction increases. When V reaches the value vo, the Acsimet force
and internal friction will completely eliminate gravity P, steel balls will reach uniform speed
motion
Give equation (7) is 0 and follow the direction of steel balls motion, we have:
4 4
 .r 3 1.g   r 3 . .g  6 . .r.v0  0
3 3
2 ( 1   o ).r 2 .g
 (8)
9 vo
v0 can be determined by measuring the number of time interval movement  of steel balls
that are falling between two straight baseline 4 and 5 separated by a distance L
L
v0  .

Subtitute v0 in (8) with d is the diameter of the steel balls, we find:
1 ( 1   ).d 2 .g.
 (9)
18 L
In fact, liquid is not infinitely wide, it is contained in a cylinder with a finite diameter d. In
this case, the viscosity coefficient of the fluid is calculated using the formula:
1 ( 1   ).d 2 .g .
 (10)
18 L.(1  2, 4 d )
D
If you know  1 ,  , g , L , D the viscosity coefficient of the liquid can determine in a
simple way, by measuring the diameter d of steel balls and period  were between two
selected baseline. :

III. Procedure
1. Measure the diameter d of steel balls by Micrometer
1.1 Introducing Micrometer
 Micrometer is a measuring instrument with the accurate to 0.01 mm. Its structure
includes: a U-shaped bearing body screw 1 and fixed head 2; Along the screw body 1,
a double ruler with carving 0.50 mm apart division is staggered on both sides of the
horizontal standard line: the top half of the double ruler is integer lines of mm (N = 0,
1, 2 , 3, ... 25 mm), the lower half is semi-integer line (N '= 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 ... mm).
Round ruler 3 is cylinder shape, inside is connected with the fang bolt 4 with precise
lace, step 0.5mm, is screwed to the screw body through this exact lace system. When
the round ruler 3 rotate one round, fang bolt 4 will translational 0.5 mm. According to
the circular meter circumference, dividing it equally 50 scale marks, such as rotating
the ruler shifts 1 sclae mark versus horizontal baseline, fang bolt 4 will translational a
period equal to:
1
  0.5(mm).  0.01mm
50
: Accurateness of Micrometer

2 4 1

6 3 5

Hình 4

Accuracy of lace step, flatness and smoothness of the fang bolt head 4 and the fixed head
2, is the determining factor of precision Panme. To avoid damaging the lace system, othe
Micrometer is added a slidding spindle 5 attached to the tail of the round ruler 3. When the
screw turn out, rolling the round ruler 3, when we turn in, rolling the sliding spindle 5, until
the fang bolt 4 touch the materials that need to measure, induce the sound crackle.
A small lever grip 6 for fixing the fang bolt 4; when measuring, remember to move the
grip to the right, so that can rolling the round ruler..
Before the test point "0" of Micrometer should be check. Use clean cloth lightly wipe the
head face the fixed head 2 and fang bolt 4 (2 faces are polished like mirrors), turn slowly
spindle 5 until heard the sound crackles. Observe the bar "0" on round ruler 3. If Micrometer
has been adjusted correctly, the bar "0" on the round ruler 3 is coincide with the standard line
in screw body 1. In case the baseline is not coincide, asking the instructor to adjust, or record
the deviation "0" for later additions. If bar "0" is below the standard, the measurement results
must subtract 0,01n (mm) and vice versa.
To measure the diameter d of steel balls, put up the steel balls against the fixed head 2, and then
slowly turn the screw head 5 to fang bolt 4 enters into contact with steel balls until you hear a crackle
than stopped, move the grip 6 to the left side to inhibit the fang bolt 4.
 - If the edge of the round ruler is closed to the right size of N of integer line (above the baseline) of
the double ruler, also the standard line is coincides with m in round ruler, than the diameter of the ball:
d = N + 0,01.m (mm)
- If the edge of the round ruler is closed to the right size of N of semi-integer line (under the
baseline) of the double ruler, also the standard line is coincides with m in round ruler, than the
diameter of the ball:
d = N’ + 0,01.m = N + 0,5 + 0,01.m (mm).
Where N is the integer line (above range) is located adjacent the left of N '.
 Or: d = 0,5.k + 0,01.m (k is the total number of line that appear on the edges of
round ruler, do not count line 0)
1.2. Use Micrometer, perform five times the measurements of diameter d, recorded in table
1.
2 . Measue the time interval  of steel balls falling in liquids
2.1. Installation and adjustment of balance.
Drive the screws on the bottom of the box 8 (Figure 3) to adjust so that the glass tube 2
containing the liquid is vertical direction. Maintaining the head of the sensor 4 and 5 along the
bottom of the tube about 30 centimeters apart.
Plug the power grab of the physical device MN-971A into a power ~ 220V. Press the K
key on the machine: LED lights glow and the digits displayed in the window "TIME" and "N"
on the machine.
2.2 Adjusting the sensitivity of the sensor 4 and 5 of the time measurement device as
follows:
- Turn the knob 6 and 7 couter -clockwise on the lef position.
- Adjust the sensitivity of the sensor 5 (at the bottom) by turning the knob 7 slowly,
according clockwise to the right until the digits displayed on the window "TIME" began to
change status (from standing turn to jump number or vice versa), then stop, then return a little
to the left (about 1/3- 1/2 of its division). Need to repeat several times to find the exact
location of the knob threshold M (7), in which the counter flip status, to be able to put it in
position close to the left point M, sensitive enough to the ball passing sensor 5, timer must
turn over. This location can verify by tapping the ball into the face of the sensor 5 wall
damage: if the digits displayed on the window "TIME" change status 5 status, the sensor has
been adjusted sensitive enough to operate.
Perform the same movement for the knob 6 to adjust the sensitivity of the sensor 4
(above).
Finally click "RESET" to put the digits displayed on the windows are back to 0, the
system is ready to measure. Note that, we can only adjust status threshold flip for a sensor
when the other sensor is located in front of the threshold flip (left point M).
In case not to use the sensor, the measurement device MN-971A can be used as an
electronic stopwatch with an accuracy of 10-3s, layout buttons on the machine lid. Meanwhile
the adjustment knob (6), (7) turn to the left end.
 2.3. Measurement falling time of steel balls
Slight drop steel balls through hopper to fall vertically along the axis of the glass tube
containing the liquid. When the ball goes over the cross section of the sensor 4 or 5, it would
appear an electrical impulse effects start or stop the timer device. Period of steel balls 
falling on the distance L between the two sensors 4 and 5 on the display window TIME.
Perform this experiment 10 times with the same steel balls chosen. Read and write the
value of  in the display window "TIME" with each measurement in Table 1.
(To the left of the window "TIME" are displayed "N" to track the operation number of
the sensors 4 and 5: each steel balls passing through a sensor, digit displays in the window
"N" is increased by one unit).

Note: If the steel balls goes through the two sensors 4 or 5, that one or both of these
sensors does not work, then we have done from the beginning movements 2-2 more
carefully.

After each measurement, taking steel balls out of the tubing 11 by using a small magnet
(placed in box 10), pressed into the tube magnets 11 at the steel balls position and move
magnets gently to let the steel balls followed, sliding along the body 11 up to the mouth of
this pipe. Wait for lubricant adhesion on steel balls dripping off, than took it out and placed on
a paper sheet.

2.4. Read and record the following data in the table 1

IV. Question
1. Explain the emergence of internal friction, stating the basic theory and written
expression of this force. The unit of fluid viscosity coefficient.
2. Presentation Stokes method of determination of fluid viscosity. Explain the causes and
charateristic of force against the motion of the steel balls fall in the liquid.
3. How the speed of the steel balls fall in liquid change? Why the fall time measurements
of the steel balls are made at the end of the glass tube?
4. Under what conditions, we can calculate the viscosity coefficient of fluid by the formula
(9) or formula (10)?
5. Apply formulas (11), demonstrated relative error of viscosity coefficient.
 Report Instruction

MEASUREMENT OF VISCOSITY COEFFICIENT BY THE STOKES METHOD

Instructor’s confirmation

School:......................................

Class: ................ Group: ..........

Full name: ................................

I. Objective

...........................................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................................

II. EXPERIMENT RESULTS

A. Small steel balls
Table 1
- Accuracy * Bulk density :
- micrometer : ...0,01........... (mm) - steel ball  1 = ........... .±………... (kg/m3)
- Timer device : ..0,001...(s) - Lubricant  = 895±89 (kg/m3)
- Diameter of cylinder : * Distance between two sensor :
D = 35,00 ±0,02(mm) L = ................±……………. (m)
- Room temperature: t 0 C = ...............
d d  
Number (mm) (mm) (s) (s)

1
2
3
4
5

Average d .............. d ................  ................  ................

B. Big steel balls: Similar table for two types, big and small steel balls, calculate the results)
Notice: Absolute error of d, m, τ, L is determined by total error induce by instrument error
and average error of the number of measurement:
d   d  dc  d ......................................( mm)
   (  ) dc    ...........................................( s)
………………………………………………………..
m  1  m d
Bulk density of steel balls:  1  ; Relative error:   3
1 3 1  m d
 .d
6
2
1 ( 1   ).d .g.
Vicosity coefficient of liquid:   and relative error:
18 d
L.(1  2,4 )
D
   1   g  L 1  d D 
      (2 D  2,4d )  2,4d
 1   g  L D  2,4d  d D 

1. Identify the bulk density of the steel balls and the viscosity coefficient of fluid (lubricant)
a. Relative error of the bulk density of steel balls and viscosity coefficient 
b. The average value of the bulk density and viscosity coefficient 
c. Absolute error of the bulk density of steel balls and viscosity coefficient 
2. Write the results of the measurements

IV Results

Small steel balls

η =    η = ......................................  ....................................... (kg/m.s)

Big steel balls

η =    η = ......................................  ....................................... (kg/.ms)

 Lab 6
STUDYING THE ACCUMULATE-RELEASED OSCILLATOR
CIRCUIT USING THE NEON LIGHT TO MEASURE
THE RESISTANCE AND THE CAPACITANCE

I. Equipment :
 The physics experiment equipment MC  Sample capacitance C0=1,00±0,01F
- 958  Capacitance to be measured Cx
 Sample resistance R0=1,00±0,01M  The multifunction versatile chronometer
 Resistance to be measured Rx MC-963A
 Protective resistance of circuit R =  Sensor transceiver infrared photoelectric.
100k
II. Theory
The accumulate-released oscillator circuit using the neon
light is a simple electric oscillator circuit (H.1) including: the
neon light Ne (a small glass lamp, inside was vacuumed to
10mmHg and has two metal electrodes A and K spaced 2 ÷
3 mm), protective resistor of circuit R with the value of
megaohm (MΩ) in series with neon light Ne, capacitor has
the capacitance C with microfara size (μF) in parallel with
neon light Ne, constant electricity supply has the electric Hình 1
potential Un.

Firstly, the capacitor C charged from the electric supply Un. Electric potential U between two
poles of the capacitor C increases from 0 to the US. When U = US: neon light Ne glow (becomes a
conductor with rather small resistance, but due to the hundred kilo ohm size of resistor R connected
in series with it, so the electric current inside the circuit is quite small, only about dozen
microamperes). Capacitor C discharges through the neon light Ne, and the electric potential U
between its two poles rapidly decreases from US to UT. When U = UT: neon light Ne goes off and
becomes an insulator. Capacitor C does not discharge anymore, but charged from the electric supply
Un and electric potential U between its two poles increases from UT to US.

When U = US: The neon light Ne glows again. Subsequently, the whole process of charge
and discharge of neon light Ne repeats cyclical over time and is called accumulate-released
oscillation. The variation of the electric potential U between two poles of the capacitor C in the
accumulate-released oscillation circuit using the neon light is represented in Figure 2.

Value US is called on electric potential and UT is called off electric potential. Period 
of the accumulate-released oscillation equals the interval time between two consecutive glow of
neon light Ne in the circuit:   t 2  t1
Could find the expression of period  of
the accumulate-released oscillation by Hình 2
applying the Ohm's law for electrical circuit
in Figure 1, we have:
 Un  U
i (1)
R
where i is the electric current in the circuit when the capacitor is charged from the electric
supply Un. After a small interval time dt, the charge of capacitor increases by an amount
equal:
dq  i . dt (2)
But the charge of capacitor q  C.U , where C is the capacitance of capacitor, so:
dq  C  dU (3)
Un  U
Substitution (1) and (3) to (2) : C  dU   dt
R

Deduces dt  R  C  dU (4)
Un  U

In fact, because the capacitor C discharges very fast (almost instantaneously), so it should
be considered approximately:   t 2  t1 , where t1 is the time the capacitor C starts charging
from the electric supply Un after the neon lights went out. Performing the integral to the
equation (4) from time t1 to time t 2 with the electric potential values UT and US between two
poles of the capacitor C:
t2 US
dU
   dt   R  C  Un  U
t1 UT

we then find the period  of the accumulate-released oscillation circuit using the neon light:
U n  UT
  R  C  ln (5)
U n  US
Period  of the accumulate-released oscillation circuit is proportional to the resistance R and
the capacitance C in the circuit.
In this experiment, we study the accumulate-released oscillation circuit using the neon light by
testing the equation (5). On the other hand, using the accumulate-released oscillation circuit to
determine the resistance Rx and the capacitance Cx arising in this circuit.

III. Procedure
1. Measure the “on” electric potential US and
the “off” electric potential of the neon light
a. Do not plug in the electric plug of the
physics laboratory equipment MC-958 into the
electric source 220V yet. Observe the machine on
the schematic in Figure 3.

b. Connect the circuit on the machine MC-958

according to the diagram in Figure 4, in which:
- Protective resistance R =100k is connected
in series with the neon light Ne between two Hình 3
points P, Q.

Hình 4
 - Voltmeter V is connected in parallel to the neon light Ne between two points L, E (two
points S, E2 are using to observe the accumulate-released oscillation on electronic oscilloscope).
- Spinning knob of the electric supply Un is placed at position 0 (the electric potential of this
electric supply can be changed from 0 to + 100V through a spinning knob of resistor connected
between two point P, E1).
- Key K (switch) is located in the electric interruption state.

Note: Before pluging in the electric plug of the physics laboratory equipment MC-958
into the electric source 220V, need to ask the teacher to check the circuit and guide the
using to avoid damaging the machine!
c. Press the key K on the machine MC-958: the LED light glows. Turn slowly the knob
of the supply Un to gradually increase the potential between two poles of the neon light Ne
until the light glows. Read and write the value of the on electric potential Us on the voltmeter
V into the table 1.
Then slowly turn back the knob of the supply Un to decrease the potential U between
the two poles of neon light Ne until the light go out. Read and write the value of the off
electric potential Us on the voltmeter V into the table 1.
Perform this movement 5 times again. Read and write the corresponding value of US and
UT of each measurement in Table 1.
d. Turn the knob of the supply Un back to 0. Press the key K on the machine MC - 958 to
disconnect power. Remove the protective resistor R out of the circuit.

2. Test the formula to determine period  of the accumulate-released oscillation circuit

a. Connect again the circuit on the machine MC-958 according to the electric schematic in
Figure 5, in which:
- Voltmeter V is connected between two points P, E1.
- The sample capacitor C 0 is connected in parallel to the neon light Ne between two points L,
E.
- The sample resistor R0 is connected in series to the neon light Ne between two points P,Q .
b. Place the tip of the sensor transceiver infrared photoelectric on the surface of machine
that the neon light Ne is located between the two windown holes of the sensor. Plug the
sensor into the plug A of the multifunction versatile chronometer MC - 963A (Fig. 6). Turn
the knob to select the type of measurement "MODE" to position n = 50. Brushing the time
scale selector knob "TIME RANGE" to position 99,99s.

Figure 6 : The multifunction

Hình 5 versatile chronometer MC-963A
Ask the teacher to check the circuit on the machine
MC -958. Plug in the electric plug into the electric supply ~220V.
 c. Press the key K on the machine MC - 958 to close the electricity: the LED light glows.
Turn the knob of the power supply to let the voltmeter V has the value Un = 90V and keep
this value is constant during the time the circuit R0C0 oscillating.
From the equation (5), the accumulate-released oscillation of circuit R0C0 has the period:
U n  UT
 0  R0  C0  ln (6)
U n  US
d. Plug the power grab of the chronometers MC - 963A into the supply ~ 220V. Press the
energized key K: the glowing digits on the window display PERIOD"" and "TIME". Press the
"RESET" to put the digits back to the state 0.000. Then, the chronometers MC - 963A
automatically measures the interval time t0 of n = 50 of the period  0 of the accumulate-
released oscillation of the circuit R0C0 corresponding to 51 consecutive glowing times of neon
light Ne.
Perform 5 times of the t0 measurement. Read and write the corresponding values of t0 of
each measurement in Table 1.
Then finding the period  0 of the accumulate-released oscillation of the circuit R0C0,
measured by:
t0 t
0   0 (7)
n 50
Could test the formula (5) by comparing the results of determining the period  0 of the
accumulate-released oscillation according to the formula (6) and (7).

e. Turn the knob of the supply Un back to 0. Press the key K on the machine to disconnect
the power.

3. Determine the resistance Rx

a. Change the resistor to be measured Rx to the place of the sample resistor R0 connected
between to points P, Q in the circuit diagram in Fig. 5. Press the key K on the machine MC -
958: the LED light glows.
Turn the knob of the supply Un to let the voltmeter V has the value Un = 90V and keep this
value constant during the time the circuit RxC0 performs the accumulate-released oscillation.

Following the equation (5), the period of the accumulate-released oscillation  x of the electric
circuit RxC0 is calculate by:
U n  UT
 x  Rx  C0  ln (8)
U n  US
b. Press the knob "RESET" of the chronometer MC-963A to put the digits back to the state
0.000. Then, chronometer MC - 963A automatically measure the interval time tx of n = 50 of
the period  x of the accumulate-released oscillation of the circuit RxC0 corresponding to 51
consecutive glowing times of neon light Ne.
Perform 5 times of the tx measurement. Read and write the corresponding values of tx of
each measurement in Table 1.
 Then finding the period  x of the accumulate-released oscillation of the circuit RxC0,
measured by:
tx t
x   x (9)
n 50
Devide the (8) to (6), also using (7) and (9), we found:
x t
Rx  R0   R0  x (10)
0 t0
c. Turn the knob of the supply Un back to 0. Press the key K on the machine MC-958 to
disconnect power.
4. Determine the capacitance Cx
a. Change the capacitor to be measured Cx to the positon of the sample capacitor C0
connected between to points L, E in the circuit diagram in Fig. 5. Press the key K on the
machine MC - 958: the LED light glows.
Turn the knob of the supply Un to let the voltmeter V has the value Un = 90V and keep this
value constant during the time the circuit RxC0 performs the accumulate-released oscillation.

Following the equation (5), the period of the accumulate-released oscillation  x of the electric
circuit R0Cx is calculate by:
U n  UT
 x  R0  C x  ln (11)
U n  US
b. Press the knob "RESET" of the chronometer MC-963A to put the digits back to the state
0.000. Then, chronometer MC - 963A automatically measure the interval time t x of n = 50 of
the period  x of the accumulate-released oscillation of the circuit R0Cx corresponding to 51
consecutive glowing times of neon light Ne.
Perform 5 times of the t x measurement. Read and write the corresponding values of t x of
each measurement in Table 1.
Then finding the period  x of the circuit R0Cx using:
t x t
 x   x (12)
n 50
Devide the (11) to (6), also using (7) and (12), we found:
 x t
C x  C0   C0  x (13)
0 t0
c. Read and write the following data in the table 1:
- The maximum value Um and the accuracy v of the voltmeter V.
- The accuracy t of the chronometer MC - 963A
- Value of the sample resistance R0
- Value of the sample capacitance C0.
d. Turn the knob of the supply Un back to 0. Press the key K on the machine MC-958 and
MC - 963A to disconnect power: all the LED lights turn off. Plug out the electric plug out of
the electric supply ~220V. Arrange neatly all equipment on the lab desk.

IV. Questions
1. Describe the accumulate-released oscillation circuit using the neon light. Draw the circuit
diagram and proven the equation to determine the period the accumulate-released oscillation.
2. Present how to measure the “on” electric potential US and the “off” potential UT of the neon
light. Why need to connect the resistor in series to the neon light?
3. Clarify the method of testing equation to determine the period of the accumulate-released
oscillation circuit RC.
4. Present methods for determining the resistance and capacitance by the accumulate-released
oscillation circuit using the neon light.
5. Why not use this method to measure the small resistance and capacitance?
 Report Instruction

MEASURING DENSITY OF SOLIDS

Instructor’s confirmation

School:......................................

Class: ................ Group: ..........

Full name: ................................

I. Objective

...........................................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................................

II. Tables

Experimental results
1. Table 1
- Voltmeter V : U m  .......... ......( V ) ;  V  .......... ..
- Sample resistance: R0 = 1,00±0,01 (MΏ )
- Sample capacitance: C0 = 1,00±0,01 (F ) ;
- Accuraccy of the versatile chronometer MC - 963A : t  .......... ....( s )
Measurement US U S UT UT t0 t 0 tx t x t x t x
times (V) (V) (V) (s) (s) (s) (s) (s)
(V) (s)
1
2
3
4
5
Average

III. Calculation results

U  UT
1. Calculate the value:  0  R0 .C 0 . ln n
Un US
x t  'x t'
R x  R0 .
 R0 . x C x  C0 .  C0 . x
0 t0 0 t0
2. Calculate the error :
 Measurement error Us , UT , Un :  Us = (Us )dc + U s = ................. +
.................(V)
Measurement error t0 : t0 = (t0)dc + t 0 = ..................+.................(s)
Measurement error tx: tx = (tx)dc + t x = ..................+.................(s)
Measurement error t: t’x = (t’x)dc + t' x = ..................+................. (s)
*Put them in the error’s equation for calculating the absolute error
 U UT   1 
 0   ln n .(C 0 R0  R0 C 0 )  ( R0 .C 0 ). 1 
1
. U  . U 
1
. U S
 n T
 Un US   U n  U T U n  U S U n UT Un US 
 R x R 0 t x  t 0  C x C 0 t ' x  t 0
     
Rx R0 tx t0 Cx C0 t'x t0

IV. Write the measurement results

U S  ............  .............(V ) và U T  ............  .............(V )

Indirect measurement:  0   0   0  .................... .......................(s)

Direct measurement:  0   0   0  .......................  ......................(s)

Rx  Rx  Rx  .............................. .................................. (Ώ)

C x  C x  C x  .............................. .................................. (F)

 Lab 8
MEASURING REFRACTIVE INDEX OF THIN FILM
USING MICROSCOPE

I. Equipment
1. Microscope which has objective lens’ magnification at x4, x10, x100 and eyepieces lens
magnification at x10, x16.
2. Panme ruler 0  25mm, precision 0.01mm.
3. Thin film that need to measure refractive index.

II. Theory

Figure 1. Light propagation through a thin film

Consider narrow beam HAS from the point S located under the thin glass (Figure
1): Ray SH propagates through the film to the air in the direction HI
perpendicularly with the upper surface of the film and ray SA propagates out of
the film in the direction AB after being refracted at the point A. S1 is the
intersecting point of line HI and line AB. Therefore, S1 is the illusionary point of
S through the thin film.
Distance from to the upper surface of thin film is 𝑑 = 𝑆𝐻, which is the thickness
of the film and the so-called effective distance of the thin film is the distance from
illusionary point 𝑆1 to the upper surface of thin film, which is 𝑑1 = 𝑆1 𝐻.
From Figure 1, we easily obtain
AH
tg AS1 H   tg NAB  tg i (1)
S1 H
AH
tg ASH   tg N AS  tg r (2)
SH

Due to the fact that light beam HAS is narrow, the points H, A are near each
other, and the angles 𝑖, 𝑟 are small relatively. Using approximation, we have:
sin 𝑖 = tan 𝑖, sin 𝑟 ≈ tan 𝑟 (3)
Dividing (1) by (2), and taking into account (3), we have:
𝑑 𝑆𝐻 sin 𝑖
= 𝑆 𝐻 ≈ sin 𝑟 (4)
𝑑1 1

On the other hand, using the law of refraction (Snell’s law) for ray SAB
propagating through the film at point A located in the upper surface of the film,
(4) becomes:
 sin 𝑖
=𝑛 (5)
sin 𝑟
with n is the refractive index of given thin film (n>1). Making a comparison of (4)
and (5), we easily find that:
𝑑
𝑛≈𝑑 (6)
1
Formula (6) shows that the real thickness 𝑑 of given thin film is larger n times
than its effective thickness 𝑑1 . In this exercise, we will measure the refractive
index n of the thin film by using panme ruler to measure the real thickness 𝑑 and
microscope to measure its effective thickness 𝑑1 .

III. Procedure
1. Measuring the real thickness by using the Panme ruler (Reference to Problem 5).

2. Measuring the effective thickness of given thin film via microscope

First, let’s review what is microscope and its components. Microscope is an optical
instrument to observe the microscale object via magnification. It includes: ocular lens (1)
upper the eyepieces (2), the objective turret (3) which holds multiple objective lenses (4),
slice holder (5) upper the specimen stage (6), light control dial (8) to alternate the iris
diaphragm and condenser (7) upper the refractive mirror (9), the dial (13), and (14) are used
for alternating the coarse focus and fine focus respectively via changing the focal length of
eyepieces (2) to have an sharp image of specimen, dial (12) to clamp the dial (13) and (14),
rubber ring (15) for holding dial (13). All the microscope component is placed on the body
(10) and the base (11).

Figure 2. Microscope component

Second, before measuring the effective thickness 𝑑1 , we need to prepare the

microscope and specimen as follows:
 i. Clean the surface of the given thin film by provided materials (soft materials). Use
the neddle pen to draw a vertical line (a) on the upper surface of thin film and
horizontal line (b) on the other side of the thin film to form a plus + on the surface
of the give thin film, line length is 2mm.
ii. Place the thin film on specimen stage (6) (the (a) line should be the on top) and
hold it by the slice holder (5). Have a view outside and rotate the dial (13) to
move the objective lens (4) near the surface of the thin film. Notice that you
should place the thin film in the position that the plus + is aligned on the opposite
side of the objective lenses (4).

Now we can measure the effective thickness 𝑑1 as follows:

i. Have a look in the eyepieces (1). Alternating the iris diaphragm and condenser
(7), the refractive mirror (9) to archive the homogeneous brightness of the
viewfield. Rotate the dial (13) to have a sharp image of the line (b) of the upper
surface of the thin film. Then rotate the dial (14) to refine the image sharpness of
the line (b). Write down the position of the ring ruler corresponding to the mark l0
on the opposite site of the mark  of the microscope body.
ii. Next, rotate the dial (14) reversely (counter-clockwise) to raise the (2) higher, and
count the number of rounds N of the ring ruler (number of the mark 0 of the ring
ruler passing the mark ) until we have sharp image of the vertical line (a). Read
and write down the final position of the ring ruler with the number of rounds N
and its mark l, which is opposite site of mark .

Finally, the effective thickness of the thin film can be measured via the following
equation:
𝑑1 = 0.2𝑁 + 0.001(𝑙 − 𝑙0 ) 𝑚𝑚 𝑖𝑓 𝑙 > 𝑙0 (10)
𝑑1 = 0.2𝑁 + 0.001(𝑙 + 200 − 𝑙0 ) 𝑚𝑚 𝑖𝑓 𝑙 < 𝑙0 (11)

Replicate the measurement of the 𝑑1 five times. Write down the number into table 1
in the report.

IV. Questions
1. State the law of refraction. Draw the illustration image.
2. Explain the mechanism of image forming of a light point when viewing through the parallel
thin film. Show the properties of the image.
3. Define the effective thickness of the thin film. Show the relation of refractive index of the
given thin film and its effective.
4. Describe the components of the panme ruler and how to use it.
5. Describe the microscope and how to use it to measure the effective thickness of the thin film.
 Report Instruction

MEASURING REFRACTIVE INDEX OF THIN FILM

USING MICROSCOPE
Instructor’s Confirmation

Class:................ Group........

Name:..................................

I. Objective

......................................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................................

II. Data table

Table 1 - Precision of the panme ruler : ..................(mm)

- Precision of the microscope’s ring ruler : ..................(mm)
Replicate Effective thickness d1 (mm) Real thickness d (mm)
N l0 l d1 Δd1 k m d Δd
1
2
3
4
5
TB

III. Calculation

d
1. Mean refractive index : n
d1
n d d 1
2. Error:  
n d d1
d measurement error: d = (d)dc + d = ................. + .................(mm).
d1 measurement error: d1 = (d1)dc + d 1 = ................. + .................(mm).

IV. Result

n  n  n  .............................. ..................................
 Lab 9
MEASURING FOCAL LENGTHS OF CONVERGENT
AND DIVERGENT LENSES

Đ AA

B
O1

G
M

T
1
Figure 12.1a

Figure .1

I. Equipment

 Target of this experiment

1. Examine the image forming through the convergent lens. Measure its focal length.
2. Examine the image forming through the lens system consisting of a convergent lens and a
divergent len.
3. Measure the focal length of divergent lens.

 Equipment
- 1 optical bench 1000mm - 1 power source 6V-3A
- 1 convergent len O1 - 1 AB object shape likes number “1” inside a
- 1 divergent len O2 circle hole of the plastic plate (H.1).
- 1 light source Đ type 6V-8W - 1 screen M 70x100mm

I. Theory
The relation of the focal length f of the convex lens with distance d and d/ from optical center of
the lens to the AB object and A/B/ image of AB can be written as:
1 1 1
= + / (12.1)
f d d
Therefore, we have:
d d/
f= (12.2)
d + d/
Formula (12.1) and (12.2) are permutability with d and d/.
In this experiment, we simultaneously measure the focal length of the convergent lens O1 and
divergent lens O2 using the optical bench.

II. Experiment Setup

Optical bench (H.2) is a horizontal bench G with millimeter ruler T onsite for marking the
position of AB, lens O1 and O2 and the screen M which are placed on the sliders 1, 2, 3 and 4
respectively. Light source Đ is placed on one site of G.
 Note: To have a pricise measurement, all the principle axes of all lenses must be aligned
perpendicularly with AB object, the screen M, and on the line connecting light source ray.

III. Procedure
1. Measuring the focal length of convergent lens
Optical center of the lens is usually not the real center of the lens. Therefore, it is difficult to
measure exactly the distance d and d’ to calculate the focal length f of the lens based on the formula
12.2. To overcome this problem, we can take advantage of the follows:

- First method: Silberman method (Figure 2)

a) d d/

A M
A
F F’ F/1 B/
B B’ B F1 O1
(I)
A’
a A/
d1 d/1
b)
LO
A
O1 B1
Figure .2 B F/1
F1
(II) A1

Figure.
Hình312.3

a) Place AB near the light Đ at the mark 10cm. Next align the AB object in order to receive the
homogeneous exposure. Place the AB and the screen M with the mutual distance less than 4f and
the convergent lens is located between them.
b) Moving the convergent lens O1 and the screen M so that the lens O1 have the same distances
with AB and M until obtaining the sharp image. In this configuration, the image has the same size
as the object. (Moving the lens for a centimeter and the screen double of lens’ moving distance until
being near the sharpest state, moving with millimeter scale to have exact position). Write down the
distance L0 between AB and the screen M to the table 1 in the report.
c) Make replications of the measurement in (b) triple times
In this case, focal length f1 of the convergent lens O1 can be determined via:
L
f1  0 (12.3)
4

- Second method: Bessel method: (Figure 3)

a) Place the screen M far away AB with distance L  4. f1 on the optical bench (in this
experiment, the suggested values are L= 4,5f1 , L= 4,7f1, L= 4,9f1)
b) Moving the convergent lens O1 from near AB object to farther away to position (I) at which
the sharpest image A/B/ is larger than the AB object on the screen M (Figure.3a). Write down the
coordinate x1 of the lens O1 at position (I) to the table 1 of the report.
 c) Continue moving the convergent lens O1 farther away AB to position (II) to obtain the sharpest
image A1B1 smaller than AB on the screen M (Figure 3b). Write down the coordinate x2 of the lens
O1 at position (II) to the table 1 of the report.
d) Make replication of the task (b) và (c) triple times.
In the above, the displacement a of the lens O1 from position (I) to position (II) is:
a = x2 – x1 (12.4)
and the focal length f1 of the convergent lens O1 can be determined by:
L2  a 2
f1  (12.5)
4.L
2. Measuring the focal length of the divergent lens: the connecting point method:
(Figure 4)

d1 d1/
d2
A d2/

O1 O2 B1 B2
B F1 F2 F/2
A1
A2

Figure .4

Divergent lens only provides the real image of the imaginary object. Therefore to measure the focal
length f2 of the divergent lens O2, we need to couple it with another convergent lens O1 to be a coaxial
lens system so that the real image A1B1 of AB object given by the convergent lens O1 located back
within the focal length f2 of the divergent lens O2 (Figure. 4) so the image A1B1 become the imagine
object of the lens O2 by follows:
a) Keeping position of AB object and the convergent lens O1 at the position (II) in order to obtain
the sharpest image A1B1 smaller than AB on the screen M in Figure 12.3b. Place the divergent lens
O2 on the track 4 at the back of the convergent lens O1 and being coaxial with lens O1, apart from
the screen M distance d2 = O2B1 < f2 (in this experiment, the suggested values are d2 =
50mm,55mm,60mmm).
b) Moving the screen M farther away the divergent lens O2 to the position M/ to obtain the sharp
image A2B2 apart from divergent lens O2 distance d2/ in Figure 12.4. Make replication of this task
triple times and write down the distance d2/ in every time with the corresponding value of d2 into
the table 12.2 of the report.
Focal length f2 of the divergent lens O2 can be determined by:
d d/
f2 = 2 2 / (12.6)
d2 + d2
in which d2 < 0 (A1B1 is imaginary object), d2/ > 0 ( A2/ B 2/ is real image) and f2 < 0 (lens O2 is
divergent)
 IV. Questions

1. Write down convex lens formulas and sign consent of all quantities in these formulas.
2. Describe the measurement method of the convergent lens in this experiment. Draw figure illustrating
the image forming of the AB object.
3. Describe the measurement method of the divergent lens in this experiment. Draw figure illustrating the
image forming of the AB object.
4. Prove that if the distance L between AB and its real image given by the convergent lens with focal
length f1 is constant, :
- if L = 4f1 : there is only one position of convergent lens within L providing the sharpest image
on the screen M.
- if L > 4f1 : there are two positions of convergent lens within distance L that provide sharp
image.
5. Relative error of the measurement of focal length of convergent lens is determined by:
Δf 1 Δd ΔL
  (L  2d)  d
f Ld d L 
in which d is the distance from real object to the convergent lens and L is the distance from the real
object to its real image.
Based on the above formula and derivative method, prove that the focal length measurement will
have the minimum error if the convergent lens have the same distance with its real object and image.
6. Can we measure the focal length of the divergent lens by placing this lens in front of the
convergent lens (given all lenses are coaxial)? Draw illustrating figure for the image formation of this
case.
 Report Instruction

MEASURING FOCAL LENGTHS OF CONVERGENT

AND DIVERGENT LENSES
Instructor’s Confirmation

Class:...............Group..........

Name:..................................

I. Objective

......................................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................................

II. Data table

1. Table 1 : Measure the focal length of convergent lens

Replication First method Second method

L0 f Δf L a f Δf
1
2
3
Average

2. Table 2 : Measure the focal length of divergent lens.

Replication Connecting point method

d2 Δd2 d’2 Δd’2
1
2
3
Average

III. Calculation

L L2  a 2 d 2 d 2/
1. Focal length calculation: f1  0 f1  f2 =
4 4.L d 2 + d 2/
2. Error calculation:
L0 dc
First method : f1dc 
4
 f 1dc 2 Lg 1  2a g
  Ldc  2 a dc
f1g L2g  a g2 Lg L g  a g2

Measurement error of f1(first method)  f1 = (f1)dc + f 1 = ................. +

.................(mm).

Measurement error of f1 (second method)  f1 = (f1)dc + f 1 = ................. +

.................(mm).

Measurement error of f2:  f2 = (f2)dc + f 2 = ................. + .................(mm).

IV. Results

Method 1 : f 1  f 1  f 1  .............................. .................................. (mm)

Method 2 : f 1  f 1  f 1  .............................. .................................. (mm)

Divergent lens : f 2  f 2  f 2  ................... .......................... (mm)

 Introduction to Measurements & Error Analysis
(Source: Department of Physics and Astronomy, North Carolina University, 2008)

The Uncertainty of Measurements

Measurements have some degree of uncertainty that may come from a variety of sources. The
process of evaluating this uncertainty associated with a measurement result is often called uncertainty
analysis or error analysis.
The complete statement of a measured value should include an estimate of the level of confidence
associated with the value. Properly reporting an experimental result along with its uncertainty allows
other people to make judgments about the quality of the experiment, and it facilitates meaningful
comparisons with other similar values or a theoretical prediction. Without an uncertainty estimate, it
is impossible to answer the basic scientific question: “Does my result agree with a theoretical
prediction or results from other experiments?” This question is fundamental for deciding if a scientific
hypothesis is confirmed or refuted.
When we make a measurement, we generally assume that some exact or true value exists based on
how we define what is being measured. While we may never know this true value exactly, we attempt
to find this ideal quantity to the best of our ability with the time and resources available. As we make
measurements by different methods, or even when making multiple measurements using the same
method, we may obtain slightly different results. So how do we report our findings for our best estimate
of this elusive true value? The most common way to show the range of values that we believe includes
the true value is:
measurement = best estimate ± uncertainty (units)
Let’s take an example. Suppose you want to find the mass of a gold ring that you would like to sell
to a friend. You do not want to jeopardize your friendship, so you want to get an accurate mass of the
ring in order to charge a fair market price. By simply examining the ring in your hand, you estimate
the mass to be between 10 and 20 grams, but this is not a very precise estimate. After some searching,
you find an electronic balance that gives a mass reading of 17.43 grams. While this measurement is
much more precise than the original estimate, how do you know that it is accurate, and how confident
are you that this measurement represents the true value of the ring’s mass? Since the digital display of
the balance is limited to 2 decimal places, you could report the mass as m = 17.43 ± 0.01 g. Suppose
you use the same electronic balance and obtain several more readings: 17.46 g, 17.42 g, 17.44 g, so
that the average mass appears to be in the range of 17.44 ± 0.02 g. By now you may feel confident that
you know the mass of this ring to the nearest hundredth of a gram, but how do you know that the true
value definitely lies between 17.43 g and 17.45 g? Since you want to be honest, you decide to use
another balance that gives a reading of 17.22 g. This value is clearly below the range of values found
on the first balance, and under normal circumstances, you might not care, but you want to be fair to
your friend. So what do you do now?
 To help answer these questions, we should first define the terms accuracy and precision:

Accuracy is the closeness of agreement between a measured value and a true or accepted
value. Measurement error is the amount of inaccuracy.
Precision is a measure of how well a result can be determined (without reference to a
theoretical or true value). It is the degree of consistency and agreement among
independent measurements of the same quantity; also the reliability or reproducibility of
the result.
The statement of uncertainty associated with a measurement should include factors that
affect both the accuracy and precision of the measurement.

Caution: Unfortunately the terms error and uncertainty are often used interchangeably to describe
both imprecision and inaccuracy. This usage is so common that it is impossible to avoid entirely.
Whenever you encounter these terms, make sure you understand whether they refer to accuracy or
precision, or both.
Notice that in order to determine the accuracy of a particular measurement, we have to know the
ideal, true value, which we really never do. Sometimes we have a “textbook” measured value, which
is known precisely, and we assume that this is our “ideal” value, and use it to estimate the accuracy of
our result. Other times we know a theoretical value, which is calculated from basic principles, and this
also may be taken as an “ideal” value. But physics is an empirical science, which means that the theory
must be validated by experiment, and not the other way around. We can escape these difficulties and
retain a useful definition of accuracy by assuming that, even when we do not know the true value, we
can rely on the best available accepted value with which to compare our experimental value.
For our example with the gold ring, there is no accepted value with which to compare, and both
measured values have the same precision, so we have no reason to believe one more than the other.
The only way to assess the accuracy of the measurement is to compare with a known standard. For
this situation, it may be possible to calibrate the balances with a standard mass that is accurate within
a narrow tolerance and is traceable to a primary mass standard at the National Institute of Standards
and Technology (NIST). Calibrating the balances should eliminate the discrepancy between the
readings and provide a more accurate mass measurement.
Precision is often reported quantitatively by using relative or fractional uncertainty:

uncertainty
Relative Uncertainty =
measured quantity (1)

For example, m = 75.5 ± 0.5 g has a fractional uncertainty of: 0.5g

= 0.0066 = 0.66%
75.5g
Accuracy is often reported quantitatively by using relative error:

measured value - expected value

Relative Error =
expected value (2)
 If the expected value for m is 80.0 g, then the relative error is:

Note: The minus sign indicates that the measured value is less than the expected value.
When analyzing experimental data, it is important that you understand the difference between
precision and accuracy. Precision indicates the quality of the measurement, without any guarantee that
the measurement is “correct.” Accuracy, on the other hand, assumes that there is an ideal value, and
tells how far your answer is from that ideal, “right” answer. These concepts are directly related to
random and systematic measurement errors.

Types of Errors
Measurement errors may be classified as either random or systematic, depending on how the
measurement was obtained (an instrument could cause a random error in one situation and a systematic
error in another).

Random errors are statistical fluctuations (in either direction) in the measured
data due to the precision limitations of the measurement device. Random errors
can be evaluated through statistical analysis and can be reduced by averaging over
a large number of observations (see standard error).
Systematic errors are reproducible inaccuracies that are consistently in the same
direction. These errors are difficult to detect and cannot be analyzed statistically.
If a systematic error is identified when calibrating against a standard, applying a
correction or correction factor to compensate for the effect can reduce the bias.
Unlike random errors, systematic errors cannot be detected or reduced by
increasing the number of observations.

Our strategy is to reduce as many sources of error as we can, and then to keep track of those errors
that we can’t eliminate. It is useful to study the types of errors that may occur, so that we may recognize
them when they arise.
Common sources of error in physics laboratory experiments:
Incomplete definition (may be systematic or random) - One reason that it is impossible to make exact
measurements is that the measurement is not always clearly defined. For example, if two different
people measure the length of the same rope, they would probably get different results because each
person may stretch the rope with a different tension. The best way to minimize definition errors is to
carefully consider and specify the conditions that could affect the measurement.
Failure to account for a factor (usually systematic) – The most challenging part of designing an
experiment is trying to control or account for all possible factors except the one independent variable
that is being analyzed. For instance, you may inadvertently ignore air resistance when measuring free-
fall acceleration, or you may fail to account for the effect of the Earth’s magnetic field when measuring
the field of a small magnet. The best way to account for these sources of error is to brainstorm with
your peers about all the factors that could possibly affect your result. This brainstorm should be done
before beginning the experiment so that arrangements can be made to account for the confounding
factors before taking data. Sometimes a correction can be applied to a result after taking data to
account for an error that was not detected.
Environmental factors (systematic or random) - Be aware of errors introduced by your immediate
working environment. You may need to take account for or protect your experiment from vibrations,
drafts, changes in temperature, and electronic noise or other effects from nearby apparatus.
Instrument resolution (random) - All instruments have finite precision that limits the ability to
resolve small measurement differences. For instance, a meter stick cannot distinguish distances to a
precision much better than about half of its smallest scale division (0.5 mm in this case). One of the
best ways to obtain more precise measurements is to use a null difference method instead of measuring
a quantity directly. Null or balance methods involve using instrumentation to measure the difference
between two similar quantities, one of which is known very accurately and is adjustable. The
adjustable reference quantity is varied until the difference is reduced to zero. The two quantities are
then balanced and the magnitude of the unknown quantity can be found by comparison with the
reference sample. With this method, problems of source instability are eliminated, and the measuring
instrument can be very sensitive and does not even need a scale.
Failure to calibrate or check zero of instrument (systematic) - The calibration of an instrument
should be checked before taking data whenever possible. If a calibration standard is not available, the
accuracy of the instrument should be checked by comparing with another instrument that is at least as
precise, or by consulting the technical data provided by the manufacturer. When making a
measurement with a micrometer, electronic balance, or an electrical meter, always check the zero
reading first. Re-zero the instrument if possible, or measure the displacement of the zero reading from
the true zero and correct any measurements accordingly. It is a good idea to check the zero reading
throughout the experiment.
Physical variations (random) - It is always wise to obtain multiple measurements over the entire range
being investigated. Doing so often reveals variations that might otherwise go undetected. These
variations may call for closer examination, or they may be combined to find an average value.
Parallax (systematic or random) - This error can occur whenever there is some distance between the
measuring scale and the indicator used to obtain a measurement. If the observer’s eye is not squarely
aligned with the pointer and scale, the reading may be too high or low (some analog meters have
mirrors to help with this alignment).
Instrument drift (systematic) - Most electronic instruments have readings that drift over time. The
amount of drift is generally not a concern, but occasionally this source of error can be significant and
should be considered.
Lag time and hysteresis (systematic) - Some measuring devices require time to reach equilibrium,
and taking a measurement before the instrument is stable will result in a measurement that is generally
too low. The most common example is taking temperature readings with a thermometer that has not
reached thermal equilibrium with its environment. A similar effect is hysteresis where the instrument
readings lag behind and appear to have a “memory” effect, as data are taken sequentially moving up
or down through a range of values. Hysteresis is most commonly associated with materials that become
magnetized when a changing magnetic field is applied.
Personal errors come from carelessness, poor technique, or bias on the part of the experimenter. The
experimenter may measure incorrectly, or may use poor technique in taking a measurement, or may
introduce a bias into measurements by expecting (and inadvertently forcing) the results to agree with
the expected outcome.

Gross personal errors, sometimes called mistakes or blunders, should be avoided

and corrected if discovered. As a rule, gross personal errors are excluded from the
error analysis discussion because it is generally assumed that the experimental
result was obtained by following correct procedures. The term human error
should also be avoided in error analysis discussions because it is too general to be
useful.

Estimating Experimental Uncertainty for a Single Measurement

Any measurement you make will have some uncertainty associated with it, no matter how precise
your measuring tool. How do you actually determine the uncertainty, and once you know it, how do
you report it?

The uncertainty of a single measurement is limited by the precision and accuracy

of the measuring instrument, along with any other factors that might affect the
ability of the experimenter to make the measurement.

For example, if you are trying to use a meter stick to measure the diameter of a tennis ball, the
uncertainty might be ± 5 mm, but if you used a Vernier caliper, the uncertainty could be reduced to
maybe ± 2 mm. The limiting factor with the meter stick is parallax, while the second case is limited
by ambiguity in the definition of the tennis ball’s diameter (it’s fuzzy!). In both of these cases, the
uncertainty is greater than the smallest divisions marked on the measuring tool (likely 1 mm and 0.1
mm respectively). Unfortunately, there is no general rule for determining the uncertainty in all
measurements. The experimenter is the one who can best evaluate and quantify the uncertainty of a
measurement based on all the possible factors that affect the result. Therefore, the person making the
measurement has the obligation to make the best judgment possible and report the uncertainty in a way
that clearly explains what the uncertainty represents:
Measurement = (measured value ± standard uncertainty) unit of measurement
where the ± standard uncertainty indicates approximately a 68% confidence interval (see sections
on Standard Deviation and Reporting Uncertainties).
Example: Diameter of tennis ball = 6.7 ± 0.2 cm

Estimating Uncertainty in Repeated Measurements

Suppose you time the period of oscillation of a pendulum using a digital instrument (that you
assume is measuring accurately) and find: T = 0.44 seconds. This single measurement of the period
suggests a precision of ±0.005 s, but this instrument precision may not give a complete sense of the
uncertainty. If you repeat the measurement several times and examine the variation among the
measured values, you can get a better idea of the uncertainty in the period. For example, here are the
results of 5 measurements, in seconds: 0.46, 0.44, 0.45, 0.44, 0.41.
The best estimate of the period is the average, or mean, of these N independent measurements:

Whenever possible, repeat a measurement several times and average the results.
This average is the best estimate of the “true” value. The more repetitions you
make of a measurement, the better this estimate will be.

Consider, as another example, the measurement of the width of a piece of paper using a meter stick.
Being careful to keep the meter stick parallel to the edge of the paper (to avoid a systematic error which
would cause the measured value to be consistently higher than the correct value), the width of the paper
is measured at a number of points on the sheet, and the values obtained are entered in a data table. Note
that the last digit is only a rough estimate, since it is difficult to read a meter stick to the nearest tenth
of a millimeter (0.01 cm).
Observation Width
(cm)
#1 31.33
#2 31.15
#3 31.26
#4 31.02
#5 31.20

This average is the best available estimate of the width of the piece of paper, but it is certainly not
exact. We would have to average an infinite number of measurements to approach the true mean value,
and even then, we are not guaranteed that the mean value is accurate because there is still some
systematic error from the measuring tool, which can never be calibrated perfectly. So how do we
express the uncertainty in our average value?
 One way to express the variation among the measurements is to use the average deviation. This
statistic tells us on average (with 50% confidence) how much the individual measurements vary from
the mean.

However, the standard deviation is the most common way to characterize the spread of a data set.
The standard deviation is always slightly greater than the average deviation, and is used because of
its association with the normal distribution that is frequently encountered in statistical analyses.

Standard Deviation
To calculate the standard deviation for a sample of 5 (or more generally N) measurements:
1. Sum all the measurements and divide by 5 to get the average, or mean.
2. Now, subtract this average from each of the 5 measurements to obtain 5 “deviations”.
3. Square each of these 5 deviations and add them all up.
4. Divide this result by (N-1) and take the square root.

We can write out the formula for the standard deviation as follows. Let the N measurements be
called x1, x2, ..., xN. Let the average of the N values be called x. Then each deviation is given by
, for i = 1, 2, ..., N. The standard deviation is:

In our previous example, the average width x is 31.19 cm. The deviations are:
Observation Width (cm) Deviation (cm)
#1 31.33 +0.14 = 31.33 - 31.19
#2 31.15 -0.04 = 31.15 - 31.19
#3 31.26 +0.07 = 31.26 - 31.19
#4 31.02 -0.17 = 31.02 - 31.19
#5 31.20 +0.01 = 31.20 - 31.19

The average deviation is: d = 0.086 cm

The standard deviation is:
 The significance of the standard deviation is this: if you now make one more measurement using
the same meter stick, you can reasonably expect (with about 68% confidence) that the new
measurement will be within 0.12 cm of the estimated average of 31.19 cm. In fact, it is reasonable to
use the standard deviation as the uncertainty associated with this single new measurement. However,
the uncertainty of the average value is the standard deviation of the mean, which is always less than
the standard deviation.
Consider an example where 100 measurements of a quantity were made. The average or mean
value was 10.5 and the standard deviation was s = 1.83. The figure below is a histogram of the 100
measurements, which shows how often a certain range of values was measured. For example, in 20 of
the measurements, the value was in the range 9.5 to 10.5, and most of the readings were close to the
mean value of 10.5. The standard deviation s for this set of measurements is roughly how far from the
average value most of the readings fell. For a large enough sample, approximately 68% of the readings
will be within one standard deviation of the mean value, 95% of the readings will be in the interval x
± 2s, and nearly all (99.7%) of readings will lie within 3 standard deviations from the mean. The
smooth curve superimposed on the histogram is the gaussian or normal distribution predicted by theory
for measurements involving random errors. As more and more measurements are made, the histogram
will more closely follow the bell-shaped gaussian curve, but the standard deviation of the distribution
will remain approximately the same.

Standard Deviation of the Mean (Standard Error)

When we report the average value of N measurements, the uncertainty we should associate with this
average value is the standard deviation of the mean, often called the standard error (SE).
of measurements, N. In the previous example, we find the standard error is 0.05 cm, where we have
divided the standard deviation of 0.12 by √5. The final result should then be reported as:

Average paper width = 31.19 ± 0.05 cm

Anomalous Data
The first step you should take in analyzing data (and even while taking data) is to examine the data
set as a whole to look for patterns and outliers. Anomalous data points that lie outside the general
trend of the data may suggest an interesting phenomenon that could lead to a new discovery, or they
may simply be the result of a mistake or random fluctuations. In any case, an outlier requires closer
examination to determine the cause of the unexpected result. Extreme data should never be “thrown
out” without clear justification and explanation, because you may be discarding the most significant
part of the investigation! However, if you can clearly justify omitting an inconsistent data point, then
you should exclude the outlier from your analysis so that the average value is not skewed from the
“true” mean.

Fractional Uncertainty Revisited

When a reported value is determined by taking the average of a set of independent readings, the
fractional uncertainty is given by the ratio of the uncertainty divided by the average value. For this
example,

Note that the fractional uncertainty is dimensionless (the uncertainty in cm was divided by the
average in cm). An experimental physicist might make the statement that this measurement “is good
to about 1 part in 500” or “precise to about 0.2%”.
The fractional uncertainty is also important because it is used in propagating uncertainty in
calculations using the result of a measurement, as discussed in the next section.
Propagation of Uncertainty
Suppose we want to determine a quantity f, which depends on x and maybe several other variables
y, z,etc. We want to know the error in f if we measure x, y, ... with errors σx, σy, …

Examples: f = xy (Area of a rectangle)

f = p cosθ (x-component of momentum)
f=x/t (velocity)

In the case where f depends on two or more variables, the derivation above can be repeated with
minor modification. For two variables, f(x, y), we have:
 When multiplying (or dividing), the relative uncertainty of the product (quotient) is the
rss of the individual relative uncertainties. Multiplying or dividing by a constant does
not change the relative uncertainty of the value.
Note that the relative uncertainty in f, as shown in (b) and (c) above, has the same form for
multiplication and division: the relative uncertainty in a product or quotient is the square root of the
sum of the squares of the relative uncertainty of each individual term, as long as the terms are not
correlated.

Example: Find uncertainty in v, where v = at with a = 9.8±0.1 m/s2, t = 1.2±0.1 s

Notice that since the relative uncertainty in t (2.9%) is significantly greater than the relative
uncertainty for a (1.0%), the relative uncertainty in v is essentially the same as for t (about 3%).

If one of the uncertainty terms is more than 3 times greater than the other terms,
the root-squares formula can be skipped, and the combined uncertainty is simply
the largest uncertainty. This shortcut can save a lot of time without losing any
accuracy in the estimate of the overall uncertainty.
The Upper-Lower Bound Method of Uncertainty Propagation
An alternative, and sometimes simpler procedure, to the tedious propagation of uncertainty law is
the upper-lower bound method of uncertainty propagation. This alternative method does not yield a
standard uncertainty estimate (with a 68% confidence interval), but it does give a reasonable estimate
of the uncertainty for practically any situation. The basic idea of this method is to use the uncertainty
ranges of each variable to calculate the maximum and minimum values of the function. You can also
think of this procedure as examining the best and worst case scenarios. For example, if you took an
angle measurement: θ = 25° ± 1° and you needed to find f = cosθ, then:
fmax = cos(26°) = 0.8988
fmin = cos(24°) = 0.9135
∴ f ≈ 0.906 ± 0.007
Note that even though θ was only measured to 2 significant figures, f is known to 3 figures. By using
the propagation of uncertainty law: σf = |sinθ|σθ = (0.423)(π/180) = 0.0023

The uncertainty estimate from the upper-lower bound method is generally larger
than the standard uncertainty estimate found from the propagation of uncertainty
law.

The upper-lower bound method is especially useful when the functional relationship is not clear or
is incomplete. One practical application is forecasting the expected range in an expense budget. In this
case, some expenses may be fixed, while others may be uncertain, and the range of these uncertain
terms could be used to predict the upper and lower bounds on the total expense.

Significant Figures
The number of significant figures in a value can be defined as all the digits between and including
the first non-zero digit from the left, through the last digit. For instance, 0.44 has two significant
figures, and the number 66.770 has 5 significant figures. Zeroes are significant except when used to
locate the decimal point, as in the number 0.00030, which has 2 significant figures. Zeroes may or may
not be significant for numbers like 1200, where it is not clear whether two, three, or four significant
figures are indicated. To avoid this ambiguity, such numbers should be expressed in scientific notation
to (e.g. 1.2 x 103 clearly indicates two significant figures).
When using a calculator, the display will often show many digits, only some of which are
meaningful (significant in a different sense). For example, if you want to estimate the area of a circular
playing field, you might pace off the radius to be 9 meters and use the formula area = πr2. When you
compute this area, the calculator might report a value of 254.4690049 m2. It would be extremely
misleading to report this number as the area of the field, because it would suggest that you know the
area to an absurd degree of precision - to within a fraction of a square millimeter! Since the radius is
only known to one significant figure, the final answer should also contain only one significant figure.
A more truthful answer would be to report the area as 300 m2; however, this format is somewhat
misleading, since it could be interpreted to have three significant figures because of the zeroes. The
better way to report the number would be to use scientific notation: 3 × 102 m2.
 From this example, we can see that the number of significant figures reported for a value implies a
certain degree of precision. In fact, the number of significant figures suggests a rough estimate of the
relative uncertainty:
The number of significant figures implies an approximate relative uncertainty
1 significant figure suggests a relative uncertainty of about 10% to 100%
2 significant figures suggest a relative uncertainty of about 1% to 10%
3 significant figures suggest a relative uncertainty of about 0.1% to 1%
To understand this connection more clearly, consider a value with 2 significant figures, like 99,
which suggests an uncertainty of ±1, or a relative uncertainty of ±1%. (Actually some people might
argue that the implied uncertainty in 99 is ±0.5 since the range of values that would round to 99 are
98.5 to 99.4. But since the uncertainty here is only a rough estimate, there is not much point arguing
about the factor of two.) The smallest 2-significant figure number, 10, also suggests an uncertainty of
±1, which in this case is a relative uncertainty of ±10%. The ranges for other numbers of significant
figures can be reasoned in a similar manner.
Use of Significant Figures for Simple Propagation of Uncertainty
By following a few simple rules, significant figures can be used to find the appropriate precision
for a calculated result for the four most basic math functions, all without the use of complicated
formulas for propagating uncertainties.

For multiplication and division, the number of significant figures that are reliably
known in a product or quotient is the same as the smallest number of significant
figures in any of the original numbers.

For addition and subtraction, the result should be rounded off to the last decimal place
reported for the least precise number.

If a calculated number is to be used in further calculations, it is good practice to keep one extra
digit to reduce rounding errors that may accumulate. Then the final answer should be rounded
according to the above guidelines.
Uncertainty and Significant Figures
For the same reason that it is dishonest to report a result with more significant figures than are
reliably known, the uncertainty value should also not be reported with excessive precision.
 For example, if we measure the density of copper, it would be unreasonable to report a result like:
measured density = 8.93 ± 0.4753 g/cm3 WRONG!
The uncertainty in the measurement cannot be known to that precision. In most experimental work,
the confidence in the uncertainty estimate is not much better than about ±50% because of all the
various sources of error, none of which can be known exactly. Therefore, to be consistent with this
large uncertainty in the uncertainty (!) the uncertainty value should be stated to only one significant
figure (or perhaps 2 sig. figs. if the first digit is a 1).

Experimental uncertainties should be rounded to one, or at most two, significant figures.

To help give a sense of the amount of confidence that can be placed in the standard deviation, the
following table indicates the relative uncertainty associated with the standard deviation for various
sample sizes. Note that in order for an uncertainty value to be reported to 3 significant figures, more
than 10,000 readings would be required to justify this degree of precision!
Relative Sig.Figs. Implied
N Uncert.* Valid Uncertainty
2 71% 1 ± 10% to
3 50% 1 ± 10% to
4 41% 1 ± 10% to
5 35% 1 ± 10% to
10 24% 1 ± 10% to
20 16% 1 ± 10% to
30 13% 1 ± 10% to
50 10% 2 ± 1% to
10 7% 2 ± 1% to
10 0.7% 3 ± 0.1% to

When an explicit uncertainty estimate is made, the uncertainty term indicates how many significant
figures should be reported in the measured value (not the other way around!). For example, the
uncertainty in the density measurement above is about 0.5 g/cm3, so this tells us that the digit in the
tenths place is uncertain, and should be the last one reported. The other digits in the hundredths place
and beyond are insignificant, and should not be reported:
measured density = 8.9 ± 0.5 g/cm3 RIGHT!
 An experimental value should be rounded to an appropriate number of significant
figures consistent with its uncertainty. This generally means that the last
significant figure in any reported measurement should be in the same decimal
place as the uncertainty.

In most instances, this practice of rounding an experimental result to be consistent with the
uncertainty estimate gives the same number of significant figures as the rules discussed earlier for
simple propagation of uncertainties for adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing.
Caution: When conducting an experiment, it is important to keep in mind that precision is
expensive (both in terms of time and material resources). Do not waste your time trying to obtain a
precise result when only a rough estimate is required. The cost increases exponentially with the amount
of precision required, so the potential benefit of this precision must be weighed against the extra cost.

Combining and Reporting Uncertainties

In 1993, the International Standards Organization (ISO) published the first official worldwide
Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement. Before this time, uncertainty estimates were
evaluated and reported according to different conventions depending on the context of the
measurement or the scientific discipline. Here are a few key points from this 100-page guide, which
can be found in modified form on the NIST website (see References).
When reporting a measurement, the measured value should be reported along with an estimate of
the total combined standard uncertainty of the value. The total uncertainty is found by combining
the uncertainty components based on the two types of uncertainty analysis:
Type A evaluation of standard uncertainty – method of evaluation of uncertainty by the
statistical analysis of a series of observations. This method primarily includes random errors.
Type B evaluation of standard uncertainty – method of evaluation of uncertainty by means other
than the statistical analysis of series of observations. This method includes systematic errors and any
other uncertainty factors that the experimenter believes are important.
The individual uncertainty components should be combined using the law of propagation of
uncertainties, commonly called the “root-sum-of-squares” or “RSS” method. When this is done, the
combined standard uncertainty should be equivalent to the standard deviation of the result, making this
uncertainty value correspond with a 68% confidence interval. If a wider confidence interval is desired,
the uncertainty can be multiplied by a coverage factor (usually k = 2 or 3) to provide an uncertainty
range that is believed to include the true value with a confidence of 95% or 99.7% respectively. If a
coverage factor is used, there should be a clear explanation of its meaning so there is no confusion for
readers interpreting the significance of the uncertainty value.
You should be aware that the ± uncertainty notation might be used to indicate different confidence
intervals, depending on the scientific discipline or context. For example, a public opinion poll may
report that the results have a margin of error of ±3%, which means that readers can be 95% confident
(not 68% confident) that the reported results are accurate within 3 percentage points. In physics, the
same average result would be reported with an uncertainty of ±1.5% to indicate the 68% confidence
interval.
Conclusion: “When do measurements agree with each other?”
We now have the resources to answer the fundamental scientific question that was asked at the
beginning of this error analysis discussion: “Does my result agree with a theoretical prediction or
results from other experiments?”
Generally speaking, a measured result agrees with a theoretical prediction if the prediction lies
within the range of experimental uncertainty. Similarly, if two measured values have standard
uncertainty ranges that overlap, then the measurements are said to be consistent (they agree). If the
uncertainty ranges do not overlap, then the measurements are said to be discrepant (they do not agree).
However, you should recognize that these overlap criteria can give two opposite answers depending
on the evaluation and confidence level of the uncertainty. It would be unethical to arbitrarily inflate
the uncertainty range just to make a measurement agree with an expected value. A better procedure
would be to discuss the size of the difference between the measured and expected values within the
context of the uncertainty, and try to discover the source of the discrepancy if the difference is truly
significant.

References:
Taylor, John. An Introduction to Error Analysis, 2nd. ed. University Science Books: Sausalito, 1997.
Baird, D.C. Experimentation: An Introduction to Measurement Theory and Experiment Design, 3rd.
ed. Prentice Hall: Englewood Cliffs, 1995.
Lichten, William. Data and Error Analysis., 2nd. ed. Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1999.
Bevington, Phillip and Robinson, D. Data Reduction and Error Analysis for the Physical Sciences, 2nd.
ed. McGraw-Hill: New York, 1991.
ISO. Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement. International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) and the International Committee on Weights and Measures (CIPM):
Switzerland, 1993.
NIST. Essentials of Expressing Measurement Uncertainty. http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Uncertainty/