1. A stopwatch is usedto measure how long it takes a sprinter to run 100 meters.

Question

1. A stopwatch is usedto measure how long it takes a sprinter to run 100 meters. Thisstopwatch measures time intervals to hundredths of seconds. Usingthe stopwatch the timekeeper measures the sprinter’s time as9.88 seconds. The timekeeper then writes down the sprinter’stime as 9.88 ±0.005 s . What is wrong withthis? 2. The timekeeper isasked to reduce the uncertainty in his measurement. He respondswith “If I have 5 people with stopwatches simultaneouslymeasure the sprinter’s time this will lead to a more accuratemeasurement.”
a. Explain the problem with this method.
b. What will this method accomplish instead? 1. A stopwatch is usedto measure how long it takes a sprinter to run 100 meters. Thisstopwatch measures time intervals to hundredths of seconds. Usingthe stopwatch the timekeeper measures the sprinter’s time as9.88 seconds. The timekeeper then writes down the sprinter’stime as 9.88 ±0.005 s . What is wrong withthis? 2. The timekeeper isasked to reduce the uncertainty in his measurement. He respondswith “If I have 5 people with stopwatches simultaneouslymeasure the sprinter’s time this will lead to a more accuratemeasurement.”
a. Explain the problem with this method.
b. What will this method accomplish instead?

Explanation / Answer

1) The error is actually 0.01, because that's the smallestcounting unit used here. He should have written9.88±0.01. 2) No. Having five people will show how closely the resultscluster together. This gives us a more PRECISE measurement, but nota more accurate one. Remember, precison measures thereproducibility of a result. Accuracy is the degree of closenessthat a measurement has to the true value.

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