Uncertainty
Contents
Key Stage 4
Meaning
Uncertainty is the amount by which a reading may be different from the true value.
About Uncertainty
- Uncertainty is caused by random errors which take place during an experiment.
- The uncertainty in a reading can be found by repeating the reading and halving the range of those readings.
\(Uncertainty=\frac{range}{2}\).
- The uncertainty in a result is how far above or below the average result the true value may be.
Examples
 |
The range is found by subtracting the smallest from the largest value and the uncertainty can be found by halving that range.
The uncertainties in this results table are: 0/2 = 0 0.5/2 = 0.25 0.3/2 = 0.15 0.2/2 = 0.1 0.4/2 = 0.2 0.5/2 = 0.25 |
References
AQA
- Uncertainties, page 10, GCSE Combined Science; The Revision Guide, CGP, AQA
- Uncertainties, page 10, GCSE Physics; The Revision Guide, CGP, AQA
- Uncertainties, page 14, GCSE Combined Science Trilogy; Physics, CGP, AQA
- Uncertainties, page 15, GCSE Physics; The Complete 9-1 Course for AQA, CGP, AQA
- Uncertainties, pages 126-7, GCSE Chemistry, Hodder, AQA
- Uncertainties, pages 228-9, 289, GCSE Combined Science Trilogy 1, Hodder, AQA
- Uncertainties, pages 34-5, GCSE Physics, Hodder, AQA
- Uncertainty, of measurement, page 87, GCSE Physics; Student Book, Collins, AQA
- Uncertainty, page 10, GCSE Biology; The Revision Guide, CGP, AQA
- Uncertainty, page 11, GCSE Chemistry; The Revision Guide, CGP, AQA
- Uncertainty, page 15, GCSE Biology, CGP, AQA
- Uncertainty, page 15, GCSE Combined Science Trilogy; Biology, CGP, AQA
- Uncertainty, page 228-9, GCSE Biology; Student Book, Collins, AQA
- Uncertainty, page 270, GCSE Chemistry; Third Edition, Oxford University Press, AQA
- Uncertainty, page 283, GCSE Physics; Third Edition, Oxford University Press, AQA
- Uncertainty, pages 104-5, GCSE Chemistry; Student Book, Collins, AQA
- Uncertainty, pages 14, 15, 130, GCSE Chemistry, CGP, AQA
- Uncertainty, pages 15, 119, GCSE Combined Science Trilogy; Chemistry, CGP, AQA
Edexcel
- Uncertainties, page 10, GCSE Combined Science; The Revision Guide, CGP, Edexcel
- Uncertainties, page 11, GCSE Biology; The Revision Guide, CGP, Edexcel
- Uncertainties, page 11, GCSE Chemistry; The Revision Guide, CGP, Edexcel
- Uncertainties, page 15, GCSE Physics, CGP, Edexcel
- Uncertainties, pages 14, 15, GCSE Chemistry, CGP, Edexcel
- Uncertainty, page 15, GCSE Biology, CGP, Edexcel
OCR
- Uncertainties, page 10, Gateway GCSE Combined Science; The Revision Guide, CGP, OCR
- Uncertainties, page 17, Gateway GCSE Biology, Oxford, OCR
- Uncertainties, pages 17, Gateway GCSE Physics, Oxford, OCR
- Uncertainty, page 11, Gateway GCSE Chemistry; The Revision Guide, CGP, OCR
- Uncertainty, page 11, Gateway GCSE Physics; The Revision Guide, CGP, OCR
- Uncertainty, page 17, Gateway GCSE Chemistry, Oxford, OCR