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Rules for finding uncertainties in different situtations, and combining uncertainties. And definitions.
What is the uncertainty in a reading?
± half the smallest division e.g. uncertainty in the temperature of an analog thermometer measured to 1C would be ±0.5C
What’s the uncertainty in a measurement
(at least) ±1 smallest division
What’s the uncertainty in repeated data
half the range i.e. ± ½ (largest - smallest value)
What’s the uncertainty in digital readings?
± the last significant digit (unless otherwise quoted)
How do you add/subtract data with uncertainties?
add the absolute uncertainty
How do you multiply or divide data with uncertainties?
add percentage uncertainty
How do you raise data with uncertainties to a power?
multiply percentage uncertainty by the power
How do you multiply data with an uncertainty by a constant?
multiply the absolute uncertainty by the constant
How to find the percentage uncertainty from a graph.
(best fit - worst fit)/best fit
i.e. line of best fit/line of worst fit
