INTRODUCTION TO ERRORS AND ERROR （介绍错误和错误）.pdfVIP

INTRODUCTION TO ERRORS AND ERROR ANALYSIS To many students and to the public in general, an error is something they have done wrong. However, in science, the word “error” means the “uncertainty” which accompanies every measurement. No measurement of any sort is complete without a consideration of this inherent error. We cannot avoid the “uncertainties” by being very careful. So how do we deal with the measurement errors? All we can do is to try to ensure they are as small as possible and to have a reliable estimate of how large they are. An important component of a science student’s education is to learn how to handle and interpret experimental data and results. This includes the development of methodologies needed to estimate the errors inherent in various types of measurements, and techniques for testing data to find out if these error estimates are valid, and the understanding of the way errors propagate through calculations made using experimental data. Learning how to handle experimental errors will be very useful also in other Sciences and Engineering. This document is a brief introduction to errors and how you approach them in the laboratory. Please read the entire document, but do not get desperate or disappointed if you do not understand all the details. Different experiments deal with different aspect of errors. Mastering error analysis requires extensive practice and will not happen overnight. Consider this document as a resource on how to handle the particular errors you face in your lab work. 1. PRECISION AND ACCURACY: TWO DIFFERENT TYPES OF ERRORS There are two main types of errors associated with an experimental result. They are referred to as precision and accuracy. The precision is usually related to the random error distribution associated with a particular experiment or even with a particular type of experiment (for example, in the experiments where the measured parameters have intrinsically large va