Aero 305: quiz 2 Name [1 pt]:

9 February 2021 Grader:

Open books, open notes

A spherical fuel tank with an empty mass M0 ± ∆M0 and an interior radius r ± ∆r is completely
filled with a fluid of unknown density ρ. If the full mass of the tank is M1 ± ∆M1 , the fuel mass is
Mf = M1 − M0 and the fluid density is given by

3Mf
ρ=
4πr3

1. [4 pts] If the uncertainty in the empty mass is ∆M0 = 4 g and the absolute uncertainty in
the full mass is ∆M1 = 3 g, use detailed uncertainty analysis to find the absolute uncertainty
for the net fluid mass ∆Mf .

2. [5 pts] Assume that the fractional uncertainty of the fuel mass is ∆Mf /Mf = 1%. If the
fractional uncertainty of the tank interior radius is also 1%, use detailed uncertainty analysis
to find the fractional uncertainty for the fluid density ρ.

1
Quick review of detailed uncertainty analysis: Consider a calculated value

R = R(x1 , x2 , x3 , . . . , xn )

that depends on multiple measurements x1 , x2 , x3 , . . . , xn . Define uncertainties:

• wr is the uncertainty in the calculated value

• w1 is the uncertainy in measurement x1

• w2 is the uncertainy in measurement x2 and so on

Assumption: variables are independent, so one error doesn’t affect others.

The uncertainty for the calculated value is

" 2 2 2 #1/2
∂R ∂R ∂R
 
wR = w1 + w2 + . . . + wn (1)
∂x1 ∂x2 ∂xn

For product functions (like CD ) where

n
R = xa11 xa22 . . . xann = xai
Y
i
i=1

Equation (1) can be arranged in terms of the fractional uncertainties,

n 
" #1/2
wR ai wi 2
X 
=
R i=1
xi

For additive functions where

n
X
R = a1 x1 + a2 x2 . . . + an xn = ai xi
i=1

Equation (1) becomes

" n #1/2
2
X
wR = (ai wi )
i=1