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Example 6
The mass, m, of a wire is found to be 2.255 g with a standard uncertainty of 0.032 g. The
length, l, of the wire is 0.2365 m with a standard uncertainty of 0.0035 m. The mass per unit
length, , is given by
m
: (5:36)
l
Determine the:
(a) best estimate of ;
(b) standard uncertainty in .
ANSWER
(a) Using equation 5.36, ml 0:2365
2:255
9:535 g=m.
(b) Writing equation 5.33, in terms of , m and l, gives
2 2
@ @
u2c um ul : (5:37)
@m @l
@ 1 1
4:2283 m1 ;
@m l 0:2365
@ m 2:255
and 2 40:317 g=m2 :
@l l 0:23652
Substituting values into equation 5.37 gives,
u2c 4:2283 0:0322 40:317 0:00352
0:01831 0:01991 0:03822g=m2 ;
therefore,
uc 0:1955 g=m:
Exercise J
(1) Light incident at an angle, i, on a plane glass surface is refracted as it enters the glass.
The refractive index of the glass, n, can be calculated by using
sin i
n ;
sin r
where r is the angle of refraction of the light.
The best estimate of i is 52.0 with a standard uncertainty of 1.0. The best estimate
of r is 32.5 with a standard uncertainty of 1.5.
Use this information to calculate the best estimate of n. Assuming errors in i and r
are not correlated, determine the combined standard uncertainty in n.
204 5 MEASUREMENT, ERROR AND UNCERTAINTY
y dy
Note, for y = sin x, the approximation x dx is valid for x expressed in radians.
(2) The focal length, f, of a thin lens is related to the object distance, u, and the image
distance, v, by the equation
1 1 1
:
f u v
In an experiment the best estimate of u is 125.5 mm with a standard uncertainty of
1.5 mm. The best estimate of v is 628.0 mm with a standard uncertainty of 1.5 mm.
Assuming that the errors in u and v are not correlated,
(i) calculate the best estimate of the focal length and its standard uncertainty;
(ii) calculate the best estimate of the linear magnication, m, of the lens and the standard
uncertainty in m, given that
v
m :
u
(3) The electrical resistivity, , of a wire may be determined by using
RA
; (5:38)
l
where R is the electrical resistance of the wire measured between its ends, l is the length
of the wire and A is the cross-sectional area of the wire.
For a given metal wire it is found that the:
(4) Figure 5.11 shows a at belt wrapped around a drum. If the tension in the belt, T1, is
greater than T2 then the drum will rotate clockwise so long as the friction between the belt
and the drum is large enough. The relationship between the coecient of static friction, s
between belt and drum, and the two tensions, T1 and T2, can be written33
1 T1
s ln ; (5:39)
T2
where is the angle dened in gure 5.11.
33
See Blau (2009).
5.8 COMBINING UNCERTAINTIES 205
Assuming errors in T1, T2 and are uncorrelated, use this information to nd the
best estimate of s and the combined standard uncertainty in the best estimate of s.
X Z ; (5:40)
where X is the mean of the values of temperature in table 5.6. This is equal to
the best estimate of the true temperature in the absence of any systematic
errors. Using data in table 5.6,
X 32:148 C:
The standard deviation, s, of the value in table 5.6 is found using equation 1.16,
s 0:1408 C:
p p
Standard uncertainty in X, uX s= n 0:1408= 8, i.e.
uX 0:0498 C:
Z in equation 5.40 is a correction term which takes into account errors due
to, for example, calibration error or resolution error. Here we restrict the
T1
T2
Mass (g) 7.054 7.053 7.053 7.054 7.053 7.053 7.052 7.054
32:148 0 C 32:148 C:
The resolution, , of the thermometer is 0.1 C, so the half-width a = /2 = 0.05 C.
Using equation 5.20,
a 0:05
uZ p p 0:0289 C:
3 3
@ @
We now apply equation 5.33, noting that @X
@Z
1;
uc 0:058 C:
To summarise, the best estimate of the true value of the temperature is 32.148 C
with a combined standard uncertainty of 0.058 C.
Exercise K
A steel ball of nominal diameter 6.35 mm is weighed on a top-loading balance which has
a resolution of 0.001 g. The balance is zeroed between each measurement, so that you
can assume that any zero error is negligible.
The values obtained are shown in table 5.7.
Using the data in table 5.7, determine the best estimate of the true value of the mass
of the steel ball, and the combined standard uncertainty in the best estimate.
45
Figure 5.12. Increase in uc(y) resulting from including u(z) in the calculation represented by
equation 5.42.
y x z: (5:41)
Table 5.8. Coverage factors in Type A evaluations for degrees of freedom when the level of
condence is 95%.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
k 12.706 4.303 3.182 2.776 2.571 2.447 2.365 2.306 2.262 2.228
y U Y y U; (5:43)
where Y is the true value of the quantity, y is the best estimate of the true value,
and U is the expanded uncertainty. If there is a probability of, say, 95% that the
true value lies in the interval given by equation 5.43, then it is referred to as the
95% coverage interval.
Equation 5.43 may be written
Y y U: (5:44)
The expanded uncertainty, U, is related to the combined standard uncertainty,
uc, by the equation:
U kuc ; (5:45)
Example 7
In an experiment to calibrate a 1 mL pipette, the mass of water dispensed by the
pipette was measured using an electronic balance. Ten measurements were made
of the mass of water dispensed by the pipette. The mean mass of water was found
to be 0.9567 g, with a standard error in the mean of 0.0035 g. Using this information,
determine the:
(i) best estimate of the true value of the mass of water dispensed by the pipette;
(ii) standard uncertainty in the mass, u;
(iii) coverage factor, k, for a 95% level of condence;
(iv) expanded uncertainty, U, for a 95% level of condence;
(v) 95% coverage interval for the true value of the mass of water.
ANSWER
(i) The best estimate is taken to be the mean of values obtained through repeat measure-
ments, which in this example is 0.9567 g.
(ii) When Type A evaluations are carried out, the standard uncertainty is equal to the
standard error in the mean, i.e. u = 0.0035 g.
(iii) In this example, the number of degrees of freedom, = 10 1 = 9. Using table 5.8, the
corresponding value for k is 2.262.
(iv) U = ku = 2.262 0.0035 = 0.0079 g.
(v) Using equation 5.44, the 95% coverage interval is written (0.9567 0.0079) g.
Exercise L
The calcium content of ve samples of powdered mineral is determined. The mean of the
ve values is (expressed as percent composition) 0.02725 with a standard uncertainty
(obtained through a Type A evaluation) of 0.00012. Determine the expanded uncertainty
at the 95% level of condence.
to determine the combined uncertainty using equation 5.33, but how are we
able to calculate the coverage factor for the expanded uncertainty? In this
situation we calculate the eective number of degrees of freedom, e, using
the WelchSatterthwaite formula,34 which can be expressed:
u4c y
eff ; (5:46)
P
N 4
ui y
i
i1
X
N
u4 y u41 y u42 y u43 y
i
:
i1
i 1 2 3
Example 8
The optical density (o.d.) of a uid is given by:
o:d: Cl; (5:47)
where is the extinction coecient, C is the concentration coecient of the absorbing
species in the liquid, and l is the path length of the light. The best estimate of each
quantity, standard uncertainty and number of degrees of freedom are as follows.
Determine:
34
See Dietrich (1991).
5.9 EXPANDED UNCERTAINTY 211
ANSWER
(i) o:d: Cl 14:9 0:042 1:42 0:889 (note that optical density has no units).
(ii)
2 2 2
@f @f @f
u2c y
u uC ul
@ @C @l
@f @f @f
Cl; l; C:
@ @C @l
Now we write
2
@f
u21 y u Clu2 0:042 1:42 1:22 0:0051219;
@
2
@f
u22 y uC luC2 14:9 1:42 0:0032 0:0040289;
@C
2
@f
u23 y ul Cul2 14:2 0:042 0:212 0:017271:
@l
Using equation 5.34, this gives
5 8
i
i1
(iv) When the number of degrees of freedom is 15, the coverage factor for a level of
condence of 95% is 2.131 (see table 2 in appendix 1).
35
Because we are raising numbers to the fourth power, it is prudent to keep numbers to extra
gures in the calculations in order to reduce the eect of rounding errors.
212 5 MEASUREMENT, ERROR AND UNCERTAINTY
1 u 2 1 h u i2
: (5:49)
2 u 2 u
Example 9
A 3 digit voltmeter is used to measure the output voltage of a transistor. The mean of ten
repeat measurements of voltage is found to be 5.340 V with a standard deviation of 0.11
V. Given that the voltmeter is operating on the 20 V range and the operating manual
accompanying the voltmeter states that the accuracy of the voltmeter is 0.5% of the
reading + 1 gure, determine:
(i) the standard uncertainty in the voltage determined through a Type A evaluation of
uncertainty;
(ii) the standard uncertainty in the voltage determined through a Type B evaluation of
uncertainty;
(iii) the combined standard uncertainty;
(iv) the eective number of degrees of freedom using the WelchSatterthwaite formula;
(v) the coverage factor;
(vi) the expanded uncertainty at the 95% level of condence.
ANSWER
We begin by recognising that both the variability in the values and the stated accuracy of
the instrument will contribute to the combined standard uncertainty in the voltage. We
begin by writing the best estimate of the true value of the voltage as
V X V Z V :
XV is the mean of repeat measurements (and so the standard uncertainty in XV will be
determined by a Type A evaluation of uncertainty). ZV is a correction term to account
for errors due, to for example, osets or instrument accuracy. In this example we will use
36
See the GUM, section E.4.3.
5.10 RELATIVE STANDARD UNCERTAINTY 213
(i) The standard uncertainty in XV, u(XV) psn. In this example, s = 0.11 V and n = 10, so
p 0:03479 V:
u(XV) 0:11V
10
(ii) We assume that the accuracy of the voltmeter can be represented by a rectangular
distribution with half width of 0.5% of the reading + 1 gure, 0.5% of 5.340 V is 0.0267 V,
and the least signicant gure for a 3 digit voltmeter on the 20 V range is 0.01 V. The
half width of the distribution, a = 5.340 0.005 + 0.01 = 0.0367 V.
The standard uncertainty u(ZV) is found by using equation 5.20,
i.e. uZV pa3 0:0367
p 0:0212V
3
(iii) The combined standard uncertainty is found using equation 5.33,
i.e. u2c V u2 XV u2 ZV 0:034792 0:02122 0:00166V 2 .
So uc(V) = 0.04073 V.
u4c V 0:040734
(iv) eff 16:9 round to 16:
P
N
u4i V 0:03479
4
0:0212
4
9 1
i
i1
(v) When the number of degrees of freedom is 16, then coverage factor, k, for a level of
condence of 95% is 2.120.
(vi) The expanded uncertainty, U = kuc(V) = 2.120 0.04073 = 0.086 V (to two signicant
gures).
To summarise: the best estimate of the true value of the voltage is 5.340 V and the
expanded uncertainty at the 95% level of condence is 0.086 V.
ua
relative standard uncertainty : (5:50)
j aj
The modulus of the best estimate is used to avoid the fractional uncertainty
assuming a negative value.
Suppose the best estimate of the mass of a body is 45.32 g with a standard
uncertainty of 0.15, then the
0:15 g
relative standard uncertainty 3:3 103 :
45:32 g