Ten independent timings of the period of a mass-spring oscillator
PHYSICS · Multi-part · Fermi University Physics · Scientific Practice & Experimental Methods · Uncertainty in measurement · Uncertainty in measurement
Mathematical Methods for Physics, Ch Estimation, fitting and hypothesis testing
Problem
Ten independent timings of the period of a mass-spring oscillator, taken by the same observer with the same stopwatch, give (in seconds): 1.98,2.02,1.95,2.05,2.00,1.97,2.03,1.99,2.01,2.00.
((a)) Compute the sample mean μ^.
((b)) Compute the sample standard deviation σ^, using the divisor that accounts for the mean itself being estimated from the data.
((c)) Compute the standard error of the mean.
((d)) State the conditions on the ten timings under which this standard error correctly measures the uncertainty on μ^.