Question

the accepted value is 29.35. which correctly describes this student’s experimental data?

trial	measurement
2	28.97
3	29.27

options:
a) accurate but not precise
b) precise but not accurate
c) both accurate and precise
d) neither accurate nor precise

Explanation:

1. Define Accuracy and Precision: Accuracy refers to how close a measurement is to the accepted (true) value. Precision refers to how close multiple measurements are to each other.
2. Analyze Accuracy: The accepted value is \( 29.35 \). The measurements are \( 29.48 \), \( 28.97 \), and \( 29.27 \). Let's find the differences from the accepted value:

• For \( 29.48 \): \( |29.48 - 29.35| = 0.13 \)
• For \( 28.97 \): \( |28.97 - 29.35| = 0.38 \)
• For \( 29.27 \): \( |29.27 - 29.35| = 0.08 \)

These differences (errors) are relatively large, so the measurements are not very accurate.

1. Analyze Precision: Calculate the differences between each pair of measurements:

• Between \( 29.48 \) and \( 28.97 \): \( |29.48 - 28.97| = 0.51 \)
• Between \( 29.48 \) and \( 29.27 \): \( |29.48 - 29.27| = 0.21 \)
• Between \( 28.97 \) and \( 29.27 \): \( |28.97 - 29.27| = 0.30 \)

These differences are relatively large, meaning the measurements are not close to each other (not precise).

1. Conclusion: Since the measurements are not close to the accepted value (not accurate) and not close to each other (not precise), the data is neither accurate nor precise.

Answer:

D) neither accurate nor precise