One PDF, organized in the three sections below, with the parts labeled as shown (1a, 1b, and so on).
Purpose. Measure the same quantity ten times under the same conditions and see how much the readings vary. That variation is measurement error, and it is what the mean and standard deviation describe.
1. Measure. Pick a quantity you can measure ten times with something you own. From your project if possible: the voltage your battery delivers, the time your mechanism takes to cycle, the mass of a part on a kitchen scale. Otherwise anything real: how long a kettle takes to boil, the length of a room by pacing it. Reset between readings and measure again. Note that something like reading the same ruler ten times without moving anything does NOT count: that gives ten copies of one number, not ten measurements.
1a. What you measured, with what instrument, and how. Include a photo of your setup.
1b. All ten readings, including the one that looks wrong. Do not clean up your numbers.
1c. Mean and standard deviation. Show your work.
1d. Your result as mean ± standard deviation, with units. For example, 42.3 ± 0.6 s.
1e. Two or three sentences: where did the variation come from? The instrument, you, the environment, or the thing itself?
2. Convert.
2a. Convert your mean to the other unit system: SI if you measured in US customary units, US customary if you measured in SI. Show the conversion, then one sentence on whether the number is sane.
3. Plot. Any tool, but say which one and how you made each figure.
3a. Figure 1: your ten readings, in a chart that shows the spread honestly. If it is a project measurement, you can reuse this figure in your presentation and final report.
3b. Figure 2: the data below, the position of a ball dropped from a tall building. Show how position changes with time.
| Time (s) | Position (m) |
|---|---|
| 0 | 0 |
| 1 | -4.9 |
| 2.5 | -30.4 |
| 3 | -44 |
| 4 | -78.3 |
| 6 | -175.8 |
| 8 | -312.7 |
| 9.1 | -406.1 |
| 11.2 | -615.2 |
Each figure gets a caption of one or two sentences: what it shows, and why that chart type. Both figures need axis labels with units, legibility at the size you submit them, readability in grayscale, and no chart junk.
Submit one PDF.
Grading and the AI policy are in the syllabus.