MeasurementLabPercentageError

JunniferThiNgo
Oct.14,2014
RobVetter

I.PURPOSE
Thepurposeofthemeasurementlabisforstudentstolearncalculateerrorpercentageandfindpercent
errorsandaveragepercenterror.Studentslearnhowtoapplythepercenterrorequationstodifferent
typesofmeasurements:mass,timeanddistancethroughaseriesofquickexperiments.
II.EQUIPMENT
RecordingSheet
Pencil
Calculator
CoolerBox
DigitalScale
Stopwatch
RoleofMaskingTape
Rulers
III.PROCEDURE
Beforestartingthislab,arecordingsheetshouldbepassedouttothestudents.Studentsshouldhavea
penciltorecordtheirdataandshowtheirwork.
I.Mass
A. Passthecardboardcoolerboxaroundtheclass,makingsureeachstudentshasaturntotouchand
liftit.
B. Havethestudentsestimatethemassofthecardboardcoolerboxingrams.
C. Findthetheoreticalmassofthecardboardcoolerboxusingthedigitalscale.
D. Havethestudentsfindthepercentageerrorusingtheequationontherecordingsheet.
E. Ingroups,havestudentsshareresults.
F. Inthegroups,studentsshouldfindtheaveragepercenterrorofthegroup.
II.TimeCalculations
A. Usingastopwatch,havethestudentsestimatehowmuchtimepassesinseconds.
B. Revealthetheoreticalamountoftimethathaspassed.
C. Havethestudentsfindthepercentageerrorusingtheequationontherecordingsheet.
D. Inthesamegroupsasbefore,havestudentsshareresultsonceagain.
E. Findtheaveragepercenterrorofthegroup.
III.Distance
A. Ripoffapieceofmaskingtapeforeachgroup.
B. Haveeachstudentestimatehowmanycentimeterslongthepieceoftapeis.
C. Havegroupsmeasurethepieceoftapegiventothemtogivethemthetheoreticalmeasurement.
D. Havethestudentsfindthepercentageerrorusingtheequationontherecordingsheet.
E. Shareresultswithinthegroup.
F. Findtheaveragepercenterrorofthegroup.
IV.DATA

MassDataExample
StudentAsData StudentBsDaya StudentCsData
Estimate 75grams 97grams 450grams
TheoreticalMass 695grams 695grams 695grams

TimeDataExample
StudentAsData StudentBsDaya StudentCsData
Estimate 60seconds 36seconds 83seconds
TheoreticalMass 68seconds 68seconds 68seconds

DistanceDataExample
StudentAsData StudentBsDaya StudentCsData
Estimate 10centimeters 7centimeters 16centimeters
TheoreticalMass 13.5centimeters 13.5centimeters 13.5centimeters

V.ANALYSIS

|ExperimentalValueTheoreticalValue|
PercentError=100%
TheoreticalValue

MassCalculationExamplewithStudentAsData
89.208633% 00% ( 75 695 ) 95 [ | | 6 ] 1 00% ( 20 ) 95 [ | 6 | 6 ] 1 0.89208633 100%
89%

StudentAsPercentError:89%
StudentBsPercentError:47%SharedbystudentB
StudentCsPercentError:22%SharedbystudentC

9% 47% 22% 158% 158% 52.6666667 3% 8 + + 3 5

AveragePercentError:53%

TimeCalculationExamplewithStudentAsData
00% 00% 0.11764706 00% 1.764706% 2% ( 60 68 ) 8 [ | | 6 ] 1 ( ) 8 [ | 8| 6 ] 1 1 1 1

StudentAsPercentError:12%
StudentBsPercentError:47%SharedbystudentB
StudentCsPercentError:22%SharedbystudentC

2% 47% 22% 81% 81% 27% 1 + + 3

AveragePercentError:27%

DistanceCalculationExamplewithStudentAsData
00% 00% 0.25925926 00% 5.925926% 26% ( 10 13.5 ) 3.5 [ | | 1 ] 1 ( .5 ) 3.5 [ | 3 | 1 ] 1 1 2

StudentAsPercentError:26%
StudentBsPercentError:48%SharedbystudentB
StudentCsPercentError:19%SharedbystudentC

6% 48% 19% 93% 93% 31% 2 + + 3

AveragePercentError:31%

VI.CONCLUSION
Throughthislab,studentshavelearnedhowtocalculatethepercenterrorwhichrevealsaccuracy.The
closerthepresenterroristozero,themoreaccuratethetheoreticaldesignorestimateis.