Lab 6 Propagated Uncertainty

1.      Lab 6: Propagated Uncertainty in measurements

a.      Lab conducted by Mohammed Karim (author), Curtis, and Lynel

2.      Objective –  Understand the role propagated uncertainty plays in our measurements and understand how to take into account this error and get more accurate results.

3.      Theory/Introduction – Prior to learning about propagated uncertainty, we didn’t have a way for us to fix any minor errors in our measurements. For example, if we measured a block that did not completely meet the centimeter mark, we would typically round it. This, while it may be a minor, could vastly skew the results, as much of the experiment relies on that measurement being accurate. If our measurement is slightly inaccurate, then we could be missing monumental concepts, such as energy not being conserved, momentum being conserved, etc.

4.      Apparatus/Procedure – There was no apparatus involved in this experiment aside from two cylinders in which we measured the height, mass, and diameter. (See Figure 6.1) Using these measurements, we found density. However, to consider the propagated uncertainty, we used an equation to get the uncertainty. (See Figures 6.2, 6.3) The final step would just be to assemble our results, as shown in Figure 6.4.

5.      Data Tables

Any data tables/pictures referred to during experiment.

6.      Conclusion – This lab was fairly short as there wasn’t much to do besides calculate propagated uncertainty. Personally, it does feel much better to be able to get a much more accurate result and become more advanced when conducting future experiments.