Accuracy vs. Precision What’s the Diff?

Accuracy Accuracy refers to how closely a measurement matches true or actual values

Precision Precision refers to the reproducibility of a measurement. Requires several measurements (notice multiple arrow holes) Has nothing to do with the true value (none of the values are close to the target but all the holes are close together).

Does this picture represent accuracy or precision? 1.Accuracy 2.Precision 3.Both accurate and precise

Does this picture represent accuracy or precision? 1.Accuracy 2.Precision 3.Both accurate and precise

Accurate and Precise In order to be accurate and precise, one must pay close attention to detail to receive the same results every time as well as “hit the target”.

‘ g g g g g

Problem #1 Answer Answer: The most accurate measurement would be g, because it is closest to the actual weight of the sample.

Consider the data (in cm) obtained for the length of an object as measured by three students. The length is known to be 14.5 cm. Which student had the most precise work? 1.Student A 2.Student B 3.Student C

Consider the data (in cm) obtained for the length of an object as measured by three students. The length is known to be 14.5 cm. Which student had the most accurate work? 1.Student A 2.Student B 3.Student C

Problem #2 Answer Answer: Student A had the most precise work since there is only 0.1 cm between the highest and lowest values, and Student C had the most accurate work since two of the measurements were exactly at the true value and the other three measurements were within 0.1 cm of the actual value.

So how do we keep track of how precise a measurement is? Significant Figures

RULES 1.) All non-zero #’s ARE SIGNIFICANT! 2.) Zero’s between non-zero numbers ARE SIGNIFICANT 3.) IF NO decimal point…zeros at the end of a # are NOT SIG. 4.) If the IS a decimal point…zeros at the end ARE SIG. 5.) IF there IS a decimal point…zeros at the beginning are NOT SIGNIF.

Determining Significant Figures If a decimal point is absent, count significant figures starting with the first non-zero digit on the right (atlantic side of the US) Atlantic Ocean

How many significant digits are in 12,500?

Determining Sig Figs cont… If a decimal point is present, count significant figures starting with the first non-zero digit on the left (pacific side of the US) Pacific Ocean

Draw this table and fill in the blanks Measurement# of Significant FiguresRule 12, cm 305 kg cm K

How did you do? Measurement# of Significant FiguresRule 12, /A 2400 cm 23/A 305 kg 32/A cm 44/P K 62/P /P /P /P

How many significant digits are in 3,005,000?

Did you remember the rule? If a decimal point is absent, count significant figures starting with the first non-zero digit on the right (atlantic side of the US) Atlantic Ocean

How many significant digits are in cm?

How many significant digits are in cm?

Did you remember the rule? If a decimal point is present, count significant figures starting with the first non-zero digit on the left (pacific side of the US) Pacific Ocean

What do significant figures tell you ? 1.How accurate a measurement is 2.How close a measurement is to the true value 3.How precise a measurement is

Significant Digits Notes on Significant Figures in Calculations

Adding/Subtracting with Sig Figs ! When quantities are added or subtracted, the number of decimal places in the answer is equal to the number of decimal places in the quantity with the smallest number of decimal places In other words… your answer cannot have more decimal places than the numbers you added together/ subtracted.

Example: Example : = _____________cm = cm BUT… your answer cannot have more decimal places than the numbers you added together So how many decimal places must we round to? »0.1 (tenths place) »Therefore the answer is… 4.6 cm

Add the following including the correct number of significant figures in your answer s s s s= ? sec sec sec sec sec sec 6.80 sec

Multiplication with Sig Figs! When quantities are multiplied or divided, the number of significant figures in the answer is equal to the number of significant figures in the quantity with the smallest number of significant figures. In other words…you answer can’t have more SIGNIFICANT FIGURES than your data

Multiply the following including the correct number of significant figures in your answer cm x cm x 2.54 cm = ? cm cm cm cm cm cm 3

How many significant digits are in x cm?

What if there is no decimal point? If NOT every value in your calculation is significant, you have to round to the least digits of significant figures. If every value in your calculation is significant, it’s easy…BUT