A steel rod was measured ten times with a metre scale of least count
PHYSICS · Multi-part · A Level · Physics · Measurements and their errors · Measurements and their errors
Problem
A steel rod was measured ten times with a metre scale of least count 0.01cm, giving the following lengths (in cm):
24.38, 24.36, 24.39, 24.40, 24.35, 24.37, 24.38, 24.36, 24.34, 24.41.
(i) Find the mean length of the rod.
(ii) Determine the absolute error for each reading and hence obtain the mean absolute error.
(iii) Calculate the relative error and percentage error in the measurement.
(iv) Express the final result for the length of the rod with its uncertainty in the form x±Δx, rounded to an appropriate number of significant figures.