Module 3A Flashcards
A scientific measurement is composed of three parts:
best guess, tolerance, unit
tolerance needs to be
as small as possible
(ILE).
Instrument limiting behavior
Digital devices
always have some screen that displays a number as a sequence of `digits.
tolerance or instrument limiting error
a fraction or percentage of the least count, up to
100%.
the meniscus effect.
This is where water creeps up the inside wall of the cylindrical glass tube,
Significant digits or significant figures are
all the digits you know for sure, plus one that you “guess” (or is in some way uncertain), when determining your best guess.
Accuracy
how close you are to the true value of your measurement,
Precision
how many significant figures you can legitimately write in your measurement
The correct understanding of accuracy and precision is stated this way:
It is necessary but not sufficient to be precise in order to be accurate.
a non-trivial systematic error
an inherent limitation in the equipment or the procedure of an experiment.
A physical unit
a standardized amount of a physical quantity.
conversion factors.
ratios equal to the number one, that are used to change one particular unit to another.
parallax or eyeball error
Parallax is a visual phenomenon whereby nearby objects appear to shift position relative to more distant objects, depending on which eye is being used for viewing.
