Problem 1.

43 [Difficulty: 2]

Given: Pet food can

H = 102 ± 1 mm (20 to 1)
D = 73 ± 1 mm (20 to 1)
m = 397 ± 1 g (20 to 1)

Find: Magnitude and estimated uncertainty of pet food density.

Solution: Density is

m m 4 m
ρ= = = or ρ = ρ ( m, D, H )
∀ πR H π D 2 H
2

1
⎡⎛ m ∂ρ 2
⎞ ⎛ D ∂ρ ⎞ ⎛ H ∂ρ
2
⎞ ⎤
2 2
From uncertainty analysis: u ρ = ± ⎢⎜⎜ u m ⎟⎟ + ⎜⎜ u D ⎟⎟ + ⎜⎜ u H ⎟⎟ ⎥
⎢⎣⎝ ρ ∂m ⎠ ⎝ ρ ∂D ⎠ ⎝ ρ ∂H ⎠ ⎥⎦

m ∂ρ m 4 1 1 4m ±1
= = = 1; um = = ±0.252%
ρ ∂m ρ π D 2 H ρ πD 2 H 397
D ∂ρ D 4m 1 4m ±1
Evaluating: = ( −2) = ( −2 ) = −2; u D = = ±137%
.
ρ ∂D ρ πD H
3
ρ πD H
2
73
H ∂ρ H 4m 1 4m ±1
= ( −1) = ( −1) = −1; u H = = ±0.980%
ρ ∂H ρ πD H
2 2
ρ πD H2
102

[ ]
1
u ρ = ± (1 × 0.252 ) + (− 2 × 1.37 ) + (− 1 × 0.980)
2 2 2 2
Substituting:
u ρ = ±2.92%

π π m3
∀= D2 H = × (73) 2 mm 2 × 102 mm × 9 3
= 4.27 × 10 −4 m 3
4 4 10 mm
m 397 g kg
ρ= = −4 3
× = 930 kg m 3
∀ 4.27 × 10 m 1000 g

Thus: ρ = 930 ± 27.2 kg m 3 (20 to 1)