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Problem Sheet 1,2

This document contains two problem sheets from an Applied Mechanics department at the Indian Institute of Technology. Problem Sheet 1 contains problems regarding calculating uncertainties in measurements of time, resistance, length, and other physical quantities. Problem Sheet 2 contains additional problems involving statistical analysis of measurement data, including calculating means, standard deviations, densities, heights, and temperatures from sets of measurements.

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57 views1 page

Problem Sheet 1,2

This document contains two problem sheets from an Applied Mechanics department at the Indian Institute of Technology. Problem Sheet 1 contains problems regarding calculating uncertainties in measurements of time, resistance, length, and other physical quantities. Problem Sheet 2 contains additional problems involving statistical analysis of measurement data, including calculating means, standard deviations, densities, heights, and temperatures from sets of measurements.

Uploaded by

rohan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Applied Mechanics Department


APL103
Problem Sheet No. 1

1. The time period of a simple pendulum is given by, T = 2 l / g . If l is measured as 2.000 ±0.005m, find the
expected error in the time period, assuming g = 9.81m/s2.
2. Given 2 resistors, R1 = 100.0 ±0.1 , and R2 = 50.0 ±0.08 , find the combined resistance and the expected
error in the combined resistance for:
a) Series connection and b) Parallel connection.
3. The length of a pole is measured using a metallic tape and is found to be 35.153 m at 5oC. If the tape was
standardized at 30oC and if the thermal expansion of the tape (at 30oC) is 0.0000035 /oC, find the correct length
of the pole.
4. Given z = 4x, student A says Uz = 4Ux while student B says z = x + x + x + x and hence Uz = 2Ux. Who is right?
Why?
5. The height of a building, H, is estimated by measuring the length of its shadow on the ground, l, and the angle
subtended by the building on the ground, . If l is measured to be 32.55m ± 0.01m and if  is measured to be
65.0o ± 0.5o, find H and its uncertainty, UH. What happens to UH as  approaches 90o?
6. A land speed test is conducted over a track of length 1.00 km ± 0.001km. Car A traverses this distance in 11.532s
± 0.001s. What is the speed of car A and the uncertainty in this speed? If the accuracy of the measurement is to
be improved then would you concentrate on the length measurement or the timing system? How far can you
improve it without attending to both?

Problem Sheet No. 2

1. Show that  2 = x 2 − x 2  for the normalised histogram and the continuous distribution.
2. Starting from first principles determine the mean and standard deviation and adjusted standard deviation of Z if
a) Z = f(x) and b) Z = log(x), where, x is measured ‘n’ times. State the assumptions made.
3. 8 measurements of the volume of a block of iron yielded a mean value of 26.52cm3 and a mean square deviation
of 0.025cm6. Similarly, 15 measurements of a block of Aluminium yielded a mean value of 8.72cm3 and a mean
square deviation of 0.058cm6. The density of iron is 7.88 g/cm3 and that of Aluminium is 2.68 g/cm3. What is
the best estimate of the total mass of the two blocks and the precision of the measurement?
4. A simple theodolite set up exactly 10m from the wall of a building measures the angle subtended by the building
as i) 52.4o ii)52.6o iii) 52.9o iv) 52.1o and v) 52.5o. What is the best estimate of the height of the building and
the standard error in the best estimate? Do it by both by an analysis of angles and of heights.
5. The standard error of the mean of 25 measurements is 2.4 cm. If the measurement procedure and instruments are
unchanged, how many measurements should one make to reduce the standard error to 1.5 cm?
6. A room thermostat is set to go on at 23oC. Following complaints that the room is too warm an accurate
thermometer was installed to record the temperature each time the heater light went on. In one day the following
25 readings were taken:
24, 26, 26, 26, 25, 21, 22, 24, 26, 28, 24, 22, 20, 27, 25, 26, 25, 26, 23, 20, 23, 24, 27, 26 and 22.
What is the average temperature recorded? Calculate the dispersion and hence comment on the validity of the
complaint.

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