Addis Ababa University

Addis Ababa Institute of Technology

School of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering

Instrumentation and Measurement

Chapter Two

Measurement error Analysis

By Tadele Libay January,

2021
 Introduction
 Any measurement system has an input variable which is the true value of the
quantity to be measured and an output variable which is the measured value.
Ideally, we would aim to make these two values identical, but in practice this is
not possible.

 One of the main aims in designing a measurement system is to minimize the error
between the true value and the measured value.

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 2.1 Definition of Terms

The following terms are often employed to describe the quality of an instruments
reading:
Measured Variable:
A quantity property or condition that is measured. Example: Temperature, Pressure,
rate of flow.

Measured Signal:
The electrical, mechanical, pneumatic or other variable applied to the input of a
device. It is the analog of the Measured Variable produced by a transducer.
Example:
In a thermocouple thermometer, the measured signal is an emf which is the electrical
analog of the temperature applied to the thermocouple.
In a flow meter, the measured signal may be a differential pressure which is the
analog of the rate of flow through the orifice.

Output Signal:
A signal delivered by a device, element or system
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 2.1 Definition of Terms
Range:
The region between the limits within which a quantity is measured.
Example: 0 to 150oF, 20 to 200 psi.
Span:
The algebraic difference between the upper and lower range values. For example:
a) Range 0 to 150 oF , span 150 oF.
b) Range -20 to 200 oF, span 220 oF.
c) Range 20 to 150 psi, span 130 psi.
Elevated Zero Range:
A range in which the zero value of the measured variable, measured signal, is greater
than the lower range value. Example: -25 to 50 psi.

Suppressed Zero Range:

A range in which the zero value of the measured variable is less than the lower range
value. Example: 20 to 100 psi.

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Accuracy: It is the 'closeness with which an instrument reading approaches the

true value of the quantity being measured.
• Thus accuracy of a measurement means conformity to truth.
• The accuracy may be specified in terms of inaccuracy or limits of error.

Precision: The difference between the instruments reported values during repeated
measurements of the same quantity.

Repeatability: Is the ability of an instrument to reproduce the same measurement

each time the same set of conditions is repeated. This does not imply that the
measurement is correct, but rather that the measurement is the same each time.

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Fig.2. Accuracy vs Precision – The Center of the Target is the Objective

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Sensitivity: The change of an instrument or transducer output per unit change in the
measured quantity. A more sensitive instrument reading changes significantly in
response to smaller changes in the measured quantity. Typically an instrument with
higher sensitivity will also have better repeatability and higher accuracy.
Threshold:
When the input to a transducer is increased gradually from zero, there is a minimum
value below which no output can be detected. This minimum value of the input is defined
as the threshold of the transducers.
Resolution:
The smallest increment of change in the measured value that can be determined from
the instrument readout scale.

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Dead Zone:
It is defined as the largest change of input quantity for which there is
no output of the instrument.

Hysteresis:
An instrument is said to exhibit hysteresis when
there is a difference in readings depending on
whether the value of the measured quantity is
approached from above or below. Hysteresis
results from the inelastic quantity of an element
or device. In other word, it may be the result of
mechanical friction, magnetic effects, elastic
deformation, or thermal effects. Hysteresis is
expressed in percent of span. Dead band term is
included in the hysteresis.
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 2.2. The Uncertainty of Measurements

 The process of evaluating uncertainty associated with a measurement

result is often called uncertainty analysis or error analysis.

 Without an uncertainty estimate, it is impossible to answer the basic

scientific question:
“Does my result agree with a theoretical prediction or results from other
experiments?”

 As we make measurements by different methods, or even when making

multiple measurements using the same method, we may obtain slightly
different results
So how do we report our findings for our best estimate of this elusive true
value?

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Example:
 Suppose you want to find the mass of a gold ring that you would like to sell to
a friend. You do not want to jeopardize your friendship, so you want to get an
accurate mass of the ring in order to charge a fair market price. By simply
examining the ring in your hand, you estimate the mass to be between 10 and
20 grams, but this is not a very precise estimate. After some searching, you
find an electronic balance that gives a mass reading of 17.43 grams. While this
measurement is much more precise than the original estimate, how do you
know that it is accurate, and how confident are you that this measurement
represents the true value of the ring’s mass? Since the digital display of the
balance is limited to 2 decimal places, you could report the mass as
m = 17.43 ± 0.01 g.

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 Suppose you use the same electronic balance and obtain several more readi
ngs: 17.46 g, 17.42 g, 17.44 g, so that the average mass appears to be in the
range of 17.44 ±0.01 g. By now you may feel confident that you know the
mass of this ring to the nearest hundredth of a gram, but how do you know
that the true value definitely lies between 17.43 g and 17.45 g?
 Since you want to be honest, you decide to use another balance that gives a
reading of 17.22 g. This value is clearly below the range of values found o
n the first balance, and under normal circumstances, you might not care, bu
t you want to be fair to your friend.
So what do you do now?

To help answer this question, we should first define the terms accuracy and pr
ecision:

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Precision is often reported quantitatively by using relative or fractional uncertainty:

Accuracy is often reported quantitatively by using relative error:

Note:
 The minus sign indicates that the measured value is less than the expected value.
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 2.3. Errors in a Measurement System
1. Systematic Errors: These are errors have a clear understood explanation within
the measurement system. Systematic error can be sub-divided into:
 Static errors caused by the static characteristics of the measurement system
(effectively the steady state characteristics).
 Dynamic errors caused by the dynamic response of the measurement system
(transient response of the device).
2. Random Errors: caused by unknown reasons.
3. Internal and external noise disturbances.

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 2.3.1 Common Sources of Error in Lab Exp’ts

1. Incomplete definition – (may be systematic or random)

 One reason that it is impossible to make exact measurements is that the
measurement is not always clearly defined. For example, if two different people
measure the length of the same rope, they would probably get different results
because each person may stretch the rope with a different tension. The best way
to minimize definition errors is to carefully consider and specify the conditions
that could affect the measurement.

2. Failure to account for a factor – (usually systematic)

 The most challenging part of designing an experiment is trying to control or
account for all possible factors except the one independent variable that is being
analyzed. For instance, you may inadvertently ignore air resistance when
measuring free-fall acceleration or you may fail to account for the effect of the
Earth’s magnetic field when measuring the field of a small magnet.
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 The best way to account for these sources of error is to brainstorm with your
peers about all the factors that could possibly affect your result. This brainstorm
should be done before beginning the experiment so that arrangements can be
made to account for the confounding factors before taking data. Sometimes a
correction can be applied to a result after taking data to account for an error that
was not detected.

3. Environmental factors - (systematic or random)

 Be aware of errors introduced by your immediate working environment. You may
need to take account for or protect your experiment from vibrations, drafts,
changes in temperature, and electronic noise or other effects from nearby
apparatus.

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4. Instrument resolution – (random)

 All instruments have finite precision that limits the ability to resolve small
measurement differences. For instance, a meter stick cannot distinguish distances
to a precision much better than about half of its smallest scale division (0.5 mm
in this case). One of the best ways to obtain more precise measurements is to use
a null difference method instead of measuring a quantity directly. Null or balance
methods involve using instrumentation to measure the difference between two
similar quantities, one of which is known very accurately and is adjustable. The
adjustable reference quantity is varied until the difference is reduced to zero. The
two quantities are then balanced and the magnitude of the unknown quantity can
be found by comparison with the reference sample. With this method, problems
of source instability are eliminated, and the measuring instrument can be very
sensitive and does not even need a scale.

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5. Failure to calibrate or check zero of instrument – (systematic)
 The calibration of an instrument should be checked before taking data
whenever possible. If a calibration standard is not available, the accuracy of
the instrument should be checked by comparing with another instrument that
is at least as precise, or by consulting the technical data provided by the
manufacturer. When making a measurement with a micrometer, electronic
balance, or an electrical meter, always check the zero reading first. Re-zero
the instrument if possible, or measure the displacement of the zero reading
from the true zero and correct any measurements accordingly. It is a good
idea to check the zero reading throughout the experiment.

6. Physical variations – (random)

 It is always wise to obtain multiple measurements over the entire range being
investigated. Doing so often reveals variations that might otherwise go
undetected. These variations may call for closer examination, or they may be
combined to find an average value.

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6. Parallax – (systematic or random)

 This error can occur whenever there is some distance between the measuring
scale and the indicator used to obtain a measurement. If the observer’s eye is not
squarely aligned with the pointer and scale, the reading may be too high or low
(some analog meters have mirrors to help with this alignment).

7. Instrument drift – (systematic)

Most electronic instruments have readings that drift over time. The amount of drift is
generally not a concern, but occasionally this source of error can be significant and
should be considered.

8. Lag time and hysteresis - (systematic)

 Some measuring devices require time to reach equilibrium, and taking a
measurement before the instrument is stable will result in a measurement that is
generally too low. 18
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 The most common example is taking temperature readings with a thermometer
that has not reached thermal equilibrium with its environment.

Personal Errors
 Personal errors come from carelessness, poor technique, or bias on the part of
the experimenter. The experimenter may measure incorrectly, or may use poor
technique in taking a measurement, or may introduce a bias into measurements
by expecting (and inadvertently forcing) the results to agree with the expected
outcome.
(Gross personal errors, sometimes called mistakes or blunders, should be avoided and corrected if
discovered. As a rule, gross personal errors are excluded from the error analysis discussion because it is
generally assumed that the experimental result was obtained by following correct procedures.)

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2.4. Estimating Uncertainty in Repeated Measurements

 Suppose you time the period of oscillation of a pendulum using a digital

instrument (that you assume is measuring accurately) and find: T = 0.44 seconds.
This single measurement of the period suggests a precision of ±0.005 s, but this
instrument precision may not give a complete sense of the uncertainty. If you
repeat the measurement several times and examine the variation among the
measured values, you can get a better idea of the uncertainty in the period. For
example, here are the results of 5 measurements, in seconds: 0.46, 0.44, 0.45,
0.44, 0.41.
 The best estimate of the period is the average, or mean, of these N independent
measurements, given by:

 Whenever possible, repeat a measurement several times and average the results.
This average is the best estimate of the “true” value. The more repetitions you
make of a measurement, the better this estimate will be.

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Example:
Consider, as another example, the measurement of the width of a piece of paper
using a meter stick. Being careful to keep the meter stick parallel to the edge of the
paper (to avoid a systematic error which would cause the measured value to be
consistently higher than the correct value), the width of the paper is measured at a
number of points on the sheet, and the values obtained are entered in a data table.
Note that the last digit is only a rough estimate, since it is difficult to read a meter
stick to the nearest tenth of a millimeter (0.01 cm).

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This average is the best available estimate of the width of the piece of paper, but it is
certainly not exact. We would have to average an infinite number of measurements
to approach the true mean value, and even then, we are not guaranteed that the mean
value is accurate because there is still some systematic error from the measuring tool,
which can never be calibrated perfectly. So how do we express the uncertainty in our
average value?
 One way to express the variation among the measurements is to use the average
deviation. This statistic tells us on average (with 50% confidence) how much the
individual measurements vary from the mean.

 However, the standard deviation is the most common way to characterize the
spread of a data set. The standard deviation is always slightly greater than the
average deviation, and is used because of its association with the normal
distribution that is frequently encountered in statistical analyses.
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 2.5. Standard Deviation

To calculate the standard deviation for a sample of 5 (or more generally N)

measurements:

The Standard Deviation is:

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In our previous example, the average width is 31.19 cm. The deviations are:

Note:
 The significance of the standard deviation is this: if you now make one more
measurement using the same meter stick, you can reasonably expect (with about
68% confidence) that the new measurement will be within 0.12 cm of the
estimated average of 31.19 cm. 24
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 In fact, it is reasonable to use the standard deviation as the uncertainty associated

  with this single new measurement. However, the uncertainty of the average value
is the standard deviation of the mean, which is always less than the standard
deviation.
Interpretation:
 Consider an example where 100 measurements of a quantity were made. The
average or mean value was 10.5 and the standard deviation was s = 1.83. The
figure below is a histogram of the 100 measurements, which shows how often a
certain range of values was measured.
 For example, in 20 of the measurements, the value was in the range 9.5 to 10.5,
and most of the readings were close to the mean value of 10.5. The standard
deviation s for this set of measurements is roughly how far from the average
value most of the readings fell. For a large enough sample, approximately 68% of
the readings will be within one standard deviation of the mean value, 95% of the
readings will be in the interval ± 2s, nearly all (99.7%) of readings will lie
within 3 standard deviations from the mean.

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 The smooth curve superimposed on the histogram is the Gaussian or normal
distribution predicted by theory for measurements involving random errors. As
more and more measurements are made, the histogram will more closely follow
the bell shaped Gaussian curve, but the standard deviation of the distribution will
remain approximately the same.

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 2.6. Standard Deviation of the Mean

When we report the average value of N measurements, the uncertainty we should

associate with this average value is the standard deviation of the mean, often called
the standard error (SE).

This reflects the fact that we expect the uncertainty of the average value to get
smaller when we use a larger number of measurements, N. In the previous example,
we find the standard error is 0.05 cm, where we have divided the standard deviation
of 0.12 by 51/2. The final result should then be reported as:

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 2.7. Fractional Uncertainty

When a reported value is determined by taking the average of a set of independent

readings, the fractional uncertainty is given by the ratio of the uncertainty divided by
the average value. For this example,

 Note that the fractional uncertainty is dimensionless (the uncertainty in cm was

divided by the average in cm). The fractional uncertainty is also important
because it is used in propagating uncertainty in calculations using the result of a
measurement, as discussed in the next section.

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 2.8. Propagation of Uncertainty

 Since the quantity of interest in an experiment is rarely obtained by measuring

that quantity directly, we must understand how error propagates when
mathematical operations are performed on measured quantities. Suppose we have
a simple experiment where we want to measure velocity, V, by measuring
distance, d, and time, t.
 We take measurements and come up with measured quantities d ± δd and t ± δt.
We can easily estimate V by dividing d by t, but we also need to know how to
find δV.
 Below we investigate how error propagates when mathematical operations are
performed on two quantities x and y that comprise the desired quantity q.

1. Addition and Subtraction

If we are trying to find the uncertainty, δq, associated with q = x + y, we can look at
what the highest and lowest probable values would be. The highest value would be
obtained by adding the best estimates for x and y to the total uncertainty for both
values. Similarly, the lowest probable value would be obtained by adding the best
estimates for x and y and subtracting both associated uncertainties:
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A similar analysis as shown above

can be applied to any number of
quantities that are added or
subtracted, and we can state a
general rule:
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2. Uncertainty of a Product
We can perform a similar analysis as above for multiplication, but first we must
define fractional uncertainty of a quantity:

The fractional uncertainty (or, as it is also known, percentage uncertainty) is a

normalized, dimensionless way of presenting uncertainty, which is necessary when
multiplying or dividing.
A measurement and its fractional uncertainty can be expressed as:

For simplicity, hereafter the subscript ‘best’ will be omitted in the denominator of the
fractional uncertainty, but it is assumed. For q = xy, we have measured values for x
and y of the form:
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Once again we look at the largest and smallest probable values of q:

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Expanding to get …

We now must make the assumption that the fractional uncertainties are small (that
is, they are less than 1). This is a reasonable assumption since most well-designed
experiments will have fractional uncertainties that are 0.2 or less. If we can say
that the fractional uncertainties are less than one, then their product will be much
less than one and their contribution to the uncertainty negligible. From this
argument, we neglect the last term in the last equation and simplify to:

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Similarly, we simplify the equation for the lowest probable value to:

This gives a probable range of values for q of:

The equation for q is:

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and since qbest = xbest ybest, we conclude from the above equations:

Therefore, to find the uncertainty of two multiplied quantities, we add the

fractional
uncertainties.
3. Uncertainty of a Quotient
To estimate the uncertainty associated with the quotient q=x/y, we once again look
at the largest value of q we could expect:

……. Eq *

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We use a little bit of mathematical manipulation to simplify the above equation. The
term on the right has the form:

……. Eq **

The binomial theorem allows us to express the denominator term as an infinite

series:

Since b is assumed less than 1, b2 and all of the higher order terms will all be <<1.
These can be neglected and we can say that:

Then Eq. ** becomes:

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Once again we eliminate a*b because it is the product of two small numbers. We
substitute the fractional uncertainties for a and b and simplify Eq * to:

A similar procedure applied to the equation for the smallest value shows that:

Now we extend the separate results for multiplication and division to apply to any
number of quantities that are multiplied or divided:
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In summary, when any number of quantities are multiplied or divided,

their fractional uncertainties add.
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4. Summing Errors in Quadrature
The two rules we have defined so far state that for addition or subtraction, we sum
the uncertainties, and for multiplication and division, we sum the fractional
uncertainties. However, if the original uncertainties associated with the measured
quantities are independent and random, these rules will produce values of
uncertainty that are unnecessarily large. Thus we consider another method for
computing propagated error.

 We previously stated that the highest value we would expect for the quantity q =
x + y is xbest + ybest + (δx + δy). For this to be the actual value of q, though, we
would have had to underestimate both x and y by their full amounts δx and δy.
 Without detailed justification, we present an alternative way of calculating
uncertainty, assuming errors in measurement are governed by the normal (or
Gaussian) distribution and that measured quantities are independent of each
other. This method, called adding in quadrature, provides the following rules for
computing uncertainty in q.

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 Notice that the procedure of adding in quadrature will always produce values
smaller than using ordinary addition to sum uncertainties. Indeed, rules 1 and 2
are upper bounds for the uncertainty of a measured quantity. The uncertainty of q
will be no larger than the values produced by rules 1 and 2. Rules 3 and 4 are a
way uncertainty can be reduced under certain conditions.
 Another important consequence of using rules 3 and 4 is that small uncertainties
are made smaller when they are squared, making their contribution to the overall
uncertainty negligible.
Example:
 Say, for example, we are trying to measure the density of a gas using the ideal gas
law: ρ =P/RT, where ρ is the density of the gas, P is the pressure, R is the gas
constant, and T is the temperature. R is a constant known with much precision, so
we do not even consider its contribution to uncertainty. 41
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For temperature, we’re using a high-precision thermometer and we estimate that δT/|
T| is 2%. Our pressure gauge, though, doesn’t have very fine markings, and we
estimate δP/|P| is 10%. We then compute:

and find δρ/|ρ| = 0.1 or 10%. The small error associated with temperature made no
contribution to the overall error. This tells us that the best way to reduce the overall
uncertainty in an experiment is refine the measurement procedures for the quantities
with the highest individual uncertainties.
 A note of caution on assuming random and independent uncertainties: If we use
one instrument to measure multiple quantities, we cannot be sure that the errors
in the quantities are independent. If instrument calibration is the cause of the
error, the errors are not independent and put by summing in quadrature. 42
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5. General Formula for Error Propagation

Very often, the quantity being investigated in an experiment cannot be computed
through the simple mathematical operations discussed above. In many experiments,
we must understand how error propagates through more complex functions, such as
those that contain exponents, logarithms, and trigonometric functions.
 Let us examine a quantity q that is some function of a variable x (such as q=sinx
or q=x3). We also assume, as usual, that our measurement of x has the form x best
±δx. Then our best estimate of q is qbest=q(xbest). As we have done before, we
estimate the largest probable value of q. In this case, the maximum value of q is
qmax= q(xbest±δx).
 To determine what this value is, we must evaluate the function q at x best±δx. We
can do this by determining the slope of the function.
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From calculus, we know that for a continuous function q(x) and a small increment u,

Since δx is always small, we can say that:

The uncertainty in q is simply the difference qmax – qbest and we conclude that:
….. (*)

More generally, we can write a formula for computing the propagated error in a
function of several variables. The only major change from the single-variable
formula shown in (*) is that we must compute partial derivatives (i.e. ∂q / ∂ x) due to
the fact that q can be a function of multiple variables. 44
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 2.9. Significant Figures

• An indication of the precision of the measurement is obtained from the number of

significant figures in which it is expressed.

• Significant figures convey actual information regarding the magnitude and the
measurement precision of a quantity.

• The more the significant figures, the greater the precision of measurement.

For example, if a voltage is specified as 230 V its value should be taken as closer to
230 V than to either 231 V or 229 V.

If the value of voltage is specified as 230.0 V, it means that the voltage is closer to
230.0 V than it is to 230.1 V or 229.9 V.
In 230 there are three significant figures while in 230.0 V there are four.

The latter, with more significant figures, expresses a measurement of

greater precision than the former.
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 Thank You

Any Question?

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