Practice Questions on Accuracy and Precision
Q1: A student experiment measured to measure the acceleration due to gravity using a pendulum. The true value of gravity is approximately 9.81 m/s². The student records five measurements: 9.78 m/s², 9.79 m/s², 9.77 m/s², 9.79 m/s², and 9.78 m/s². Are these measurements accurate, precise, both, or neither? Explain your answer.
Q2: You have three thermometers. Each was used to measure the temperature of boiling water. The temperatures recorded were:
Thermometer A: 100°C, 100°C, 101°C
Thermometer B: 98°C, 98°C, 98°C
Thermometer C: 95°C, 100°C, 105°C Which thermometer is the most accurate? Which is the most precise?
Q3: In a physics lab, students use a ruler to measure the length of a metal rod. The actual length of the rod is 20.0 cm. Each student records their measurement. Student 1 records 20.0 cm, student 2 records 19.8 cm, and student 3 records 20.2 cm. Discuss the accuracy and precision of these measurements.
Q4: Explain how you would increase both the accuracy and precision of an experiment designed to measure the speed of sound in air using a standard stopwatch and two microphones spaced a known distance apart.
Q5: A group of students measured the period of a simple pendulum multiple times to calculate the gravitational constant. Their measurements show little variation between them, but the calculated value for gravity is significantly different from the accepted value of 9.81 m/s². Discuss potential reasons for the high precision but low accuracy of their results.
Accuracy and Precision in Measurement
Accuracy means how close a measurement comes to the true value while precision refers to how consistently one can repeat a measurement. Every measurement contains some uncertainty in them. It may be due to limitations in measurement tools, observer variation, or environmental factors. This affects both the accuracy and precision of measurements. In this article, we are going to learn about accuracy and precision in detail, along with their examples and differences.
Table of Content
- Accuracy
- Precision
- Accuracy and Precision Examples
- Difference between Accuracy and Precision
- Solved Examples on Accuracy and Precision