Measurement and

Uncertainties
Dr. YAU Ka Ho Kevin

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  1.1 Measurement in Physics

Overview  1.2 Uncertainties and errors

 1.3 Vectors and Scalars

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 Review

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 Description Quantity

Lunar distance 384,402,000 m

How do you
feel about Diameter of Human Hair 0.000 09 m

these
Mass of a proton 0.000 000 000 000 000 000
numbers? 000 001 672 621 898 g

Frequency of FIR 300,000,000,000 Hz

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 CRAZY!!!
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 Factor Name Symbol Factor Name Symbol

1024 yotta Y 10-1 deci d

1021 zetta Z 10-2 centi c

1018 exa E 10-3 milli m

1015 peta P 10-6 micro μ

Orders of 1012 tera T 10-9 nano n
magnitude 109 giga G 10-12 pico p

106 mega M 10-15 femto f

103 kilo k 10-18 atto a

102 hecto h 10-21 zepto z

101 deka da 10-24 yocto y

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  Standard form
 A special way to express a number into a
more convenient way

Scientific  where q is an integer, and p is any real

notation number between 0 and 10 (i.e. 0 < p < 10)

 Example
3 = 3 x 100
5,471 = 5.471 x 103
0.000 671 = 6.71 x 10-4

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 Convert the following into meters (m) and write in
standard form:
1. Distance from London to New York = 5,585 km
Classwork 2. Height of Einstein was 175 cm
examples 3. Thickness of human hair = 25.4 μm
4. Distance to edge of the universe = 100,000
million million million km.
Solution
5.585 x 106 m 2.54 x 10-5 m

1.75 x 100 m 1.0 x 1026 m

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  The sig. fig. of a number are the digits
that are essential in representing the
measurement resolution.

 All digits are significant except:

 All leading zeros;
Significant  Trailing zeros
figures

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 Number Significant figures

10,987,001
8
Examples of 104,000,000
significant 3
figures 0.000 035 6
3
0.001 860 100
5

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 Round the following numbers to 4 sig. fig.
1. 742.396 742.4

Classwork 2. 0.00020196002 0.0002020

examples 3. 1002.452 1002
4. 0.10291100001 0.1029

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 1.1 Measurement
in Physics
Essential idea
Since 1948, the Système International d’Unités (SI) has
been used as the preferred language of science and
technology across the globe and reflects current best
measurement practice. 

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 Common terminology: Since the 18th
century, scientists have sought to
establish common systems of
measurements to facilitate international
collaboration across science disciplines
and ensure replication and comparability
of experimental findings.
Nature of
Science Improvement in instrumentation: An
improvement in apparatus and
instrumentation, such as using the
transition of cesium-133 atoms for atomic
clocks, has led to more refined definitions
of standard units.

Certainty: Although scientists are

perceived as working towards finding
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“exact” answers, the unavoidable
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uncertainty in any measurement always
 Scientific collaboration is able to be truly
global without the restrictions of national
borders or language due to the agreed
standards for data representation 

International
-mindedness

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 Theory of
Knowledge
What has influenced the common language
used in science? To what extent does
having a common standard approach to
measurement facilitate the sharing of
knowledge in physics? 

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  To define position, we use the quantity distance
 To quantify the difference, we compare the distance
with some standard measure, e.g. meter ruler.
 All distance can then be quoted as multiples of this
fundamental unit – meter (m)
Fundamental
and derived
units -
Position

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Fundamental  When something happens we call it an event
and derived  To distinguish between different events, we use time
units - Time  The time between two events is measured by
comparing to some fixed value, the second
 Time is also a fundamental quantity
 Some examples of time
 Time between beats of a human heart = 1 s
 Time for the Earth to go around the sun = 1 year

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  When we pick up something, some of
them are easy to lift up and others are
difficult.
Fundamental  To quantify how much matter the
object consists of, we define mass
and derived measured by comparing different
units - Mass objects to a piece of metal in Paris, the
standard kilogram.
An international
 A fundamental unit prototype, made of
 Unit: kilogram (kg) platinum-iridium, is
kept at the BIPM

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  The space taken up by an object is defined as
volume.
 Volume is measured in cubic meters (m3)
Fundamental  It is NOT a fundamental unit, but a derived unit
and derived
units -
Volume

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Fundamental
 Unique to a particular object
and derived
 By measuring the mass and the volume, the ratio is
units - the same for the same material
Density  The unit of density is kgm-3
 Examples include:
 Density of water = 1.0 x 103 kgm-3
 Density of air = 1.2 kgm-3
 Density of gold = 1.93 x 10 kgm-3

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  To describe a movement of a body, we define the
quantity displacement.
 Displacement means a distance moved in a
particular direction.
 Unit: meters (m)
Fundamental
and derived
units -
Displacement

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 Base quantity Name Symbol

length meter m

mass kilogram kg

time second s

Electric current ampere A

Summary of
Thermodynamic kelvin K
SI units temperature

Amount of mole mol

substance

Luminous candela cd
intensity

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  Sometime we do not have the data needed for
accurate calculations, or maybe calculations need
to be more quickly
 Sensible estimates is a useful skill that needs plenty
of practice
Estimation  Example: Mass of the air in a classroom (given the
density of air is 1.3 kgm-3)
2 kg 20 kg

200 kg 2000 kg

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 Mean value of measurements ±
error

Uncertainty and
error
Essential idea
Scientists aim towards designing experiments that can
give a ‘true value’ from their measurements, but because
of the limited precision in measuring devices, they often
quote their results with some form of uncertainty values
which any repeated measurements should fall within.

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 Uncertainties: “All scientific knowledge is
uncertain… if you have made up your mind
Nature of already, you might not solve it. When the
Science scientist tells you he does not know the
answer, he is an ignorant man. When he
tells you he has a hunch about how it is
going to work, he is uncertain about it.
When he is pretty sure of how it is going to
work, and he tells you, ‘This is the way it’s
going to work, I’ll bet,’ he still is in some
doubt. And it is of paramount importance,
in order to make progress, that we
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recognize
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this ignorance and this doubt. 25
Because we have the doubt, we then
Measuring
length using
a ruler

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  The uncertainty in a measurement is the range,
above and below a stated value, over which we
would expect any repeated measurements to fall
 Low uncertainties are described as more precise

Uncertainty

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  If the correct/true value of a quantity is known, but
an actual measurement is made that is not the
same, we refer to this as experimental error.

Error

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 Error
Errors in
measurement

Random Systemati
error c error

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  Cannot be avoided as the exact value can not be
measured
 Measurements can be bigger and smaller than the
true value scattering around the correct value
Random
error

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 Readability error
• The reading is limited by the smallest division of the
scale
 Error from analogue  Error from digital scale
(continuous) scale  The smallest division of the
 Half of the smallest scale
Random division of the scale
error (cont’d)

Vernier Caliper Digital balance

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Random
error (cont’d)

 Parallax error
 Reading an analogue scale from an incorrect
position

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  The measuring device/method is consistently wrong
 A reading always bigger/smaller than the corrected
value by the same amount
 For example, wrongly calibrated instrument
displays a reading when it should be zero – zero
Systematic offset error
error

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Precision vs
Accuracy

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  Random error
 By repeating measurements and taking an average
value
 Example: True value = 90.53 cm
 Single measurement = 90.4 cm (Error = 0.13 cm)
 5 repeated measurements:
Minimizing  90.4 cm; 90.6 cm; 90.5 cm; 90.5 cm; 90.6 cm
 Average value = (90.4+90.6+90.5+90.5+90.6)/5 =
the error 90.52 cm
 Error = 0.01 cm which is smaller!

 Systematic error
 Cannot be reduced by repeating measurements
 Instruments should be checked for errors before
used

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  Absolute uncertainty
 A range of values that we would expect any
repeated measurement should fall
 53.2 g ± 0.1 g
Uncertainties  Fractional uncertainty
in  Ratio of the absolute uncertainty to the
experimental measured value
 0.1g / 53.2 g = 0.00188
data
 Percentage uncertainty
 Fractional uncertainty expressed in
percentage
 (0.1 g / 53.2 g) x 100% = 0.188%

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  Rules of uncertainties in calculations
 For quantities that are added or subtracted:
add the absolute uncertainty

Uncertainties
in calculated  
This equation is given in the Physics Data Booklet
result
 Ex: A mass of 346 ± 2g was added to a mass of
129 ± 1g
 Absolute uncertainty Δy = 2g + 1g = 3g
 Total mass = 475 ± 3g

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Uncertainties  For quantities that are multiplied or divided: add
the fractional uncertainty or percentage
in calculated  
uncertainty
This equation is given in the Physics Data Booklet
result
(cont’d)

 For quantities that are raised to a power, n ,

This equation is given in the Physics Data Booklet

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  Ex. A trolley moving with constant speed was
measured to travel distance of 76 cm ± 2 cm in a
time of 4.3 s ± 0.2 s
Uncertainties  Speed = distance / time
in calculated  Δy/y = (2/76) + (0.2/4.3) = 0.0728
result  Δy = 0.728 * (76/4.3) = 1.286
(cont’d)  Speed = 17.67 ± 1.29 cms-1

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Represen
ting
uncertain
ties on A graph showing the distance travelled by a train over time

graph  Uncertainties in distance is ± 1 m while uncertainties

in time is ± 0.5 s
 Vertical lines and horizontal lines on each point – error
bars
 A line of best fit passes through the shaded region

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  A Linear graph on applied force against length
 The gradient representing the force constant while the
x-axis represents the original length of the spring
 Force constant
= gradient =
 Original length
= x-intercept = 1.9 cm

Uncertainties
in gradients

A graph showing how the length of a metal spring

changed when a force is applied on it.

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 A graph showing
how the length of
Uncertainties a metal spring
changed when a
in gradients force is applied on
(cont’d) it.

 The uncertainties of the gradient and x-intercept will be

the maximum difference between the maximum and
minimum possible gradients and the values calculated
from the best-fit line.
 force constant is from 14 Ncm-1 to 28 Ncm-1
 original length is from 1.1cm to 2.6cm
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  Best-fit line
 Force constant = 19Ncm-1
 original length = 1.9cm
 Maximum error for gradient
 28 – 19 = 9 Ncm-1
Uncertainties
in gradients  Maximum error for original length
(cont’d)  1.9 – 1.1 = 0.8 cm
 Final result:
 Force constant = 19 ± 9 Ncm-1
 Original length = 1.9 ± 0.8 cm

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 An outlier
Other
information A non-zero intercept
from graphs
A non-linear trend

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 1.3 Vectors and
Scalars
Essential idea:
Some quantities have direction and magnitude,
others have magnitude only, and this understanding
is the key to correct manipulation of quantities. This
sub-topic will have broad applications across
multiple fields within physics and other sciences. 

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 Models: First mentioned explicitly in a
scientific paper in 1846, scalars and
vectors reflected the work of scientists
and mathematicians across the globe for
over 300 years on representing
measurements in three-dimensional
space 
Nature of
Science

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International
-mindedness

Vector notation forms the basis of

mapping across the globe 

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 What is the nature of certainty and proof in
mathematics? 

Theory of
knowledge

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 What is
vectors?
 Quantities that have both magnitude and direction
are called vectors.

 Quantities that have only magnitude are called

scalars.

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 Addition of
vectors

Using a parallelogram to determine the

resultant vector

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 Magnitude of the resultant force (F)

F2 = (3.0)2 + (5.0)2
F2 = 34
F = 5.8 N
Direction of the resultant force (θ)

tan θ = 3.0/5.0
Pythagoras θ = 31°

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 P-Q
Subtraction P + (-Q)
of vectors

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 Taking
components
of a vector

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 Worked
example

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  1.1 Measurement in Physics
 Fundamental and derived SI units
 Scientific notation and metric multipliers
 Significant figures
 Orders of magnitudes
 Estimation
 1.2 Uncertainties and errors
Summary  Random and systematic errors
 Absolute, fractional and percentage uncertainties
 Error bars
 Uncertainty of gradient and intercepts
 1.3 Vectors and Scalars
 Vectors and scalars quantities
 Combination and resolution of vectors

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