In contrast to identical measurements of the same quantity, if you combine (add,

Question

In contrast to identical measurements of the same quantity, if you combine (add, subtract, multiply, or divide) measurements of two different quantities, each of which has an associated uncertainty, the uncertainty in the combined measurement is larger than the individual uncertainties. As an example, let's say I am getting hay delivered for my goats. The hay delivery man was in a hurry, so doesn't remember exactly how many bales he put on his truck: he says it's somewhere between 20 and 30 bales. How would you express the number of bales and its uncertainty? Write both numbers as whole numbers.

_________ +/-_________

Explanation / Answer

In order to inculcate the error in the measured quantities we have a concept of Uncertainty, It can be represented in the form of percentage of the measure value which is then subtracted and added to the measured value or it can be shown as an Absolute value that is subtracted and added to the measured value to get the upper and lower limit of the final value. The absolute uncertainty is always in the unit of measured quantity for but percentage uncertainty is only in the form of percentage. For the question, the number of bales and its uncertainty is given by 25 +/-5 bales.

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