CHAPTER 2:

EVALUATION OF EXPERIMENTAL DATA

Key Equations
∑𝒏𝒏
𝒊𝒊=𝟏𝟏 𝑿𝑿𝑿𝑿
𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴, 𝒙𝒙� = 𝒏𝒏

𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫 = (𝑽𝑽𝑽𝑽𝑽𝑽𝑽𝑽𝑽𝑽 𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐𝒐 − 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 𝒗𝒗𝒗𝒗𝒗𝒗𝒗𝒗𝒗𝒗) �)

= (𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊 − 𝒙𝒙

𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅 (𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊 − 𝒙𝒙
�)
% 𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹 𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫 = 𝒙𝒙 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 = 𝒙𝒙 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏
𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 �
𝒙𝒙

𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆, 𝑬𝑬 = (𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊 − 𝒙𝒙𝒕𝒕 )

𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊 − 𝒙𝒙𝒕𝒕
𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹 𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆, 𝑬𝑬𝒓𝒓 =
𝒙𝒙𝒕𝒕
∑𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒊=𝟏𝟏(𝒙𝒙𝒊𝒊 − 𝒙𝒙
�)𝟐𝟐
𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺𝑺 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅, 𝒔𝒔 = �
𝒏𝒏 − 𝟏𝟏

𝒔𝒔
𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹 𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔𝒔 𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅𝒅, 𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹𝑹 =
�
𝒙𝒙
𝒕𝒕𝒕𝒕
� ±
𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪 𝑳𝑳𝑳𝑳𝑳𝑳𝑳𝑳𝑳𝑳, µ = 𝒙𝒙
√𝑵𝑵

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2.1 SIGNIFICANT FIGURES

1. Determine the number of significant figures in the following measurements:

a) 3.05 g
b) 0.147 m
c) 0.025 kg
d) 7.220 x 1022 atom
e) 3000 mL

2. Give the answer to the following equations in the correct significant figures.

a) 8.6 + 0.776
b) 15.4 – 0.21 + 4.06
c) 4.786 x 3.14 / 1.2239
d) (0.7662 + 14.7) / 3.27

2.2 TYPES AND SOURCES OF ERROR

1. Give three (3) determinate errors encountered during the chemical analysis.

2. Identify the sources of systematic error for the following:

a) A burette reading of 22.58 mL is written down as 22.85 mL.

b) A 250 mL volumetric flask only contained 248.23 mL solution.

3. Name two (2) examples of systematic error that may occur during preparation
of a standard solution.

4. Give two (2) examples of instrumental error.

5. Describe three (3) ways whereby method errors can be corrected.

2.3 PRECISION AND ACCURACY; MEAN, MEDIAN, DEVIATION,

STANDARD DEVIATION, RELATIVE STANDARD DEVIATION, Q-
TEST AND CONFIDENCE LIMIT

1. Define the term accuracy and precision.

2. During the standardization of hydrochloric acid solution with 0.1000 M pure

sodium carbonate standard solution, the results obtained are shown in the table
below.
6
 Trial I II III IV V VI VII
Volume of HCL 25.75 25.71 25.52 25.21 25.65 25.60 25.62
used (mL)

The actual value is 25.63 mL. Determine the:

a) mean
b) median
c) absolute error for trial I and VII
d) percentage error for trial II and VI
e) deviation for trial IV and V
f) percentage deviation for trial IV
g) range

3. The following results were obtained in the replicate determination of the lead
content of a blood sample: 0.752, 0.756, 0.752, 0.751 and 0.760 ppm.
Calculate the mean and standard deviation of this set.

4. A standard chloride compound obtained from the National Institute of Science

and Technology is known to contain 22.52% chloride. A gravimetric method
of analysis carried out to verify the chloride content give the following result.

Experiment. I II III IV
Percentage of Cl- 22.53 22.42 22.51 22.48

a) Determine if any value in the data set must be rejected at 90 % confidence

level.
b) Determine the confidence limit at 90% of the mean value.

5. Consider the data set:

39.25, 39.83, 39.61, 39.68.

a) Determine whether 39.25 is an outlier or otherwise at 95% confidence

level.
b) Determine 95% confidence limit for the mean.

7
Practice Exercises
1. The curves A and B below represent two data sets for an analyte in the same
sample analyzed by two different analysts.

B
A

Identify which data set is the more precise, A or B. Explain.

2. Three students carried out the same analysis and the following results were
obtained.

Run Aaron Bobby Chris

1 29.30 25.30 29.32
2 29.35 25.27 25.31
3 29.28 25.31 26.32
4 29.33 25.33 27.80
5 29.30 25.28 28.30

The true value for the analyte present in the sample is 29.30%. Comment on
the accuracy and precision of the results obtained by each student.

3. The concentration of bromide ions in a given sample is determined and the

results obtained are recorded in the table below:

Experiment I II III IV
no.
Concentration 0.2025 0.1399 0.2127 0.2135
of Br- (M)

a) Calculate the median for the above set of data.

Ans: 0.2076

b) Calculate the percent error in experiment II.

Ans: 31%

8
 c) In the above data set, there is one value that looks like an outlier. At 95%
confidence level, determine if the value can be rejected from the data set.
Ans: Qcal = 0.850, Q table < Q cal, the data must be rejected

d) Calculate the standard deviation and determine the 95% confidence

interval for the mean.
Ans: SD = 6.13 x 10-3, Cl = 0.2096 ± 0.0113

4. Given a set of data for the atomic mass of antimony:

121.771, 121.787, 121.803, 121.781

a) Determine the mean and the standard deviation of the data set.
b) Determine whether the 121.803 value is an outlier at 95% confidence
level.