Doubt-Free Uncertainty In Measurement An Introduction for Engineers
This volume presents measurement uncertainty and uncertainty budgets in a form accessible to practicing engineers and engineering students from across a wide range of disciplines. The book gives a detailed explanation of the methods presented by NIST in t
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Colin Ratcliffe • Bridget Ratcliffe
Doubt-Free Uncertainty In Measurement An Introduction for Engineers and Students
Colin Ratcliffe United States Naval Academy Annapolis Maryland USA
Bridget Ratcliffe Johns Hopkins University Baltimore Maryland USA
ISBN 978-3-319-12062-1 ISBN 978-3-319-12063-8 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-12063-8 Library of Congress Control Number: 2014955354 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
Every time anyone takes a measurement, the only certainty is that the measurement is not exact. This is even true if you are a highly skilled and qualified metrologist; all measurements have some amount of uncertainty associated with them. For example, if we state that the temperature in a room is 70 °F, we do not mean that the temperature is exactly 70 °F. We probably mean it is close to 70 °F. Also, we do not mean that the temperature everywhere in the room is 70 °F. There may be hot spots close to radiators or running electrical equipment and cold spots near air conditioning vents. Even “accurate” measurements have some degree of uncertainty. Take, as an example, the problem of weighing yourself on a bathroom scale. You may step on the scale once, or 10 times, or 100, or 1000. Let us assume that every time you step on the scale you record almost exactly the same weight. You may come to the conclusion that since all of the measurements were very close, you know your weight “accurately.” But it is most likely that the bathroom scale has an error (for example, a zero offset) and you have very accurately got the wrong answer! The concept of uncertainty is that there is always some doubt about a measurement. We can never remove all doubt, but we can aim to estimate and understand it. The theory and examples presented in this booklet aim t
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