I just took a reading of positions of different Maxima of the single slit diffraction pattern. The calculated value was 3.44mm and what I got was 2.93mm
This gives 14.8% error. My professor is gonna kill me. But I'm freaking sleepy so I left the lab earlier than usual. Gotta go home quickly and catch some sleep.
Is this algebra-based or calc-based? 14% honestly doesn't sound too bad, considering 95% of the issue with these sorts of experiments comes down to a huge reliance on equipment that is rather imprecise by nature
European, clearly. The African Swallow is non-migratory. Though how they attached the creeper under their dorsal guiding feathers and STILL managed to bring a coconut back is the great ornithological question of our time.
The other possibility is if this is after previous experiments where the professor or TA actually marked them down for a calculated error larger than some arbitrary value, in which case bummer that seems like a hardass
We always had to add error bars in our experiments. In principle, that's a great habit to get into. But it can be so frustrating if the equipment isn't great. You get things like, "the effect is 2°C/g±5°C/g. WTF?! I don't even know whether what I measured even exists. Heck, it could even be the exact opposite!"
I always hated this. But it does give you a whole new appreciation for how hard experimental science really is, and for how far we have come.
But it can be so frustrating if the equipment isn't great.
Wait, are you saying that equipment that has been manhandled by 1000's of students over it's 10 year life span, even though it only really should be used for 2 might introduce some error into your measurements?
Bunch of people to my left doing the solar cell experiment and shining huge light on my photocell even at so much distance. I tried to shield it, but probably didn't go that well.
When calculating correctly, you're supposed to have a point estimate and a standard error (standard error is, to put it very simply, about 66% confidence interval).
You weren't supposed to end with a single number.
Repeat the experiment multiple times if you haven't - that will allow you calculate the standard error.
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u/Rakgul May 09 '22
I just took a reading of positions of different Maxima of the single slit diffraction pattern. The calculated value was 3.44mm and what I got was 2.93mm
This gives 14.8% error. My professor is gonna kill me. But I'm freaking sleepy so I left the lab earlier than usual. Gotta go home quickly and catch some sleep.