Unit 1 Uncertainty

Text Reference: IB Course Companion

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE

Every measurement has an uncertainty, arising from

different sources.
Estimated uncertainty - because it is difficult to read the
instrument being used with unlimited accuracy, we must
record a measurement with one estimated digit. This kind of
uncertainty cannot be improved upon by repeated
measurements. The estimated digit is the smallest
increment on the measuring device.
Random uncertainty when a measurement is repeated
many times and is not always the same. This should be
reduced by averaging repeated measurements.
Systematic uncertainty caused by faulty or incorrectly calibrated equipment. This uncertainty
cannot be reduced by repeated measurement.
To calculate (experimental error)
% error = theoretical value experimental value x 100
theoretical value
Propagating Uncertainty when doing calculations with measurements with uncertainty there will
naturally be some uncertainty in the result. The following rules will be used to determine the uncertainty of
the result.
1. If c = a + b where a has uncertainty a and b has uncertainty b, then c = a + b
If c = a - b where a has uncertainty a and b has uncertainty b, then c = a + b
2. If z = xy where x has uncertainty x and y has uncertainty y, then (z / z) = (x / x) + (y / y)
If z = x/y where x has uncertainty x and y has uncertainty y, then (z / z) = (x / x) + (y / y)
3. If a = bn where b has uncertainty b, then (a / a) = n (b / b)
4. To find the uncertainty of an average value, divide the range of measured values by the number of
values that were averaged. xavg = Range / n
Graphing values with uncertainty it will be important to show the uncertainty of a measurement when
plotting a point on a graph. To do this we use an error bar a line that shows the full range of possible
values for the measurement (the ends of this line are m+m and m-m, where m is the measured value.
Typically we only show error bars for the value of the DV (vertical lines on the graph).
The uncertainty of the slope of a graph will also be important. Since the plotted values have error bars,
there will be many possible lines that fit the data (pass through all error bars). We want to find the range of
slope values so we calculate the largest possible slope and the smallest possible slope, using the error bars to
draw lines by eye that represent these values.

Study and
Practice

Read
Chapter 1,
pp. 8-16

Do practice
problems:
#7, p. 24
#8, 9, 10 p.
25

X vs t
50
45
40
35
30
X / m 25
20
15
10
5
0
0

10

15

20

t / sec
The graph shows three lines the line in the center passes through the points plotted and is considered the
best fit for this data. Note, all three lines fit the data since they touch all of the error bars.
The best fit slope is found as (Xlast Xfirst) / (tlast tfirst) = (41 25) m / (18 10 ) s = 2.0 m/s
The largest (steepest) slope runs from the smallest value of Xfirst to the largest value of Xlast: so the largest
slope = (42 24) m / (18 10) s = 2.25 m/s
The smallest slope runs from the largest value of Xfirst to the smallest value of Xlast: so the smallest slope =
(40 26) m / (18 10) s = 1.75 m/s
The slope would be reported as 2.00 +/- 0.25 m/s