Uncertainty in Sound Recorder Measurements: Finding the Average and Range

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around calculating uncertainty in sound measurements from a lab report. The original poster is attempting to find the uncertainty using the formula (max + min) / 2, but is confused by the resulting values.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Conceptual clarification

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster questions the validity of using (max + min) / 2 for uncertainty, expressing concern over the large number obtained. They also explore using (max - min) / 2 as an alternative approach.

Discussion Status

Participants are exploring different methods for calculating uncertainty, with some suggesting that the original poster reconsider the formula used. There is a discussion about presenting the uncertainty alongside the average value, but no consensus has been reached on the best approach.

Contextual Notes

The original poster has a deadline for their lab report, which may be influencing their urgency in seeking clarification. There is also mention of potentially using standard deviation for a more accurate measure if more data were available.

Davronbek
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Homework Statement



I have this lab report due to tomorrow, but I'm stuck in this problem. My teacher asked me to find the uncertainty for the values, max+min/2. But, i get a huge number, how can that be the uncertainty?

Homework Equations



1- 154g 110 115 120
2- 208g 116 117 117
3- 137g 107 108 107
4- 145g 119 119 118
5- 155g 118 117 117
6- 149g 115 115 115

Those are my results for my experiment. 1,2,3 etc represent the blocks, and the numbers are the recording in decibel (dbl) sound recorder.


The Attempt at a Solution



If I do it according to her. Max+min/2 i should get for nr1. 120+110/2=115 ? is that ±115? How can that be the uncertainty? I also attempted to do Max-min/2 for nr1= 120-110/2= 5 so is that ±5?
 
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max+min/2
should be (max - min)/2
This is a rough calculation of the spread in the data.
If you had more data, it would be worth doing the standard deviation, a more sophisticated measure of the spread in the data.
 
So how do i present this uncertainty? +- (answer here) or?
 
Yes, you would state the best value (the average) plus or minus the uncertainty.
 

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