Resistance Propagation of Error

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SUMMARY

The forum discussion centers on the analysis of resistance measurements in a lab setting, specifically focusing on the discrepancies between calculated and measured resistances for series, parallel, and combination circuits. The measured resistances were 33.3 ohms, 101.6 ohms, and 219 ohms for individual resistors, with total resistances of 351.8 ohms (series), 22.5 ohms (parallel), and 101.5 ohms (combination). The user seeks clarification on how to interpret the uncertainty in their measurements and determine the significance of discrepancies, particularly highlighting a significant error of 0.2 ohms in the parallel setup.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of Ohm's Law (R = V/I)
  • Familiarity with series and parallel resistor configurations
  • Knowledge of uncertainty propagation techniques
  • Ability to calculate standard deviations for error analysis
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the master rule for uncertainty propagation in measurements
  • Learn how to calculate standard deviations for experimental data
  • Explore methods for comparing calculated and measured values in electrical circuits
  • Study the significance of measurement errors in experimental physics
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for physics students, electrical engineering students, and educators involved in laboratory experiments focusing on resistance measurements and error analysis.

mb85
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We recently did a Resistance in Circuits lab.

My coded resistances were
33, 100 and 220.
The measured resistance was
33.3, 101.6 and 219

So we did 3 setups. (Series, Parallel and Combination)

Series = 351.8 measured ohms
Parallel = 22.5 measured ohms
Combinations = 101.5 measured ohms

The links below are scanned images of my work.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/bozym618/seriesandparallel.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v600/bozym618/combination.jpg



I am confused on what i am comparing.
I find the calculated Req with the uncertainty... so I am comparing that to the measured, but i am confused on what to do with the uncertainty.
I need to find the discrepancy and say if it is signi. or insigni.

For Parallel i found, 22.5 -22.3 = 0.2 and the error was 0.141
So its Sig. But the rest confused me.

I hope someone can help me understand.
thanks in advance.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
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anyone have any ideas?
 
What equations did you use? There would be a couple ways to measure resistance, and a couple ways to find the error. If you used [tex]R = \frac{V}{i}[/tex] or any number of other equations for resistance then you would be able to find the uncertainty with the master rule for uncertainty, which is [tex]\pd q = \sqrt{(\frac{\partial q}{\partial x}\delta x)^2 +... + (\frac{\partial q}{\partial z}\delta z)^2[/tex] for whatever variables you have.

You could also use standard deviations for uncertainty, which would be my suggestion.
 
Last edited:

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