Question

Explain the following terms as used in experimental physics.
Error
Precision
Range
Accuracy
Sensitivity

Answer 1

Answer:

Error (or uncertainty) is defined as the difference between a measured or estimated value for a quantity and its true value, and is inherent in all measurements.

Precision is a measurement of the repeatability, or consistency, of a measurement. It is possible to have a very precise measurement without scatter (or noise) that is repeatable and would be considered precise (repeatable), however, it can be inaccurate because of an instrument error.

Range : The range of the motion is fixed by the condition y=0. Using this we can rearrange the parabolic motion equation to find the range of the motion:

R=

u2⋅sin2θ

g

Accuracy refers to the agreement of the measurement and the true value and does not tell you about the quality of the instrument. The instrument may be of high quality and still disagree with the true value.

Sensitivity analysis is the study of how the uncertainty in the output of a mathematical model or system (numerical or otherwise) can be divided and allocated to different sources of uncertainty in its inputs.