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If your speedometer has an uncertainty of 2.0 km/h at a speed of 90 km/h, what i

ID: 1654044 • Letter: I

Question

If your speedometer has an uncertainty of 2.0 km/h at a speed of 90 km/h, what is the percent uncertainty? (b) If it has the same percent uncertainty when it reads 60 km/h, what is the range of speeds you could be going? A person's blood pressure is measured to be 120 plusminus 2 mm Hg What is its percent uncertainty? (b) Assuming the same percent uncertainty, what is the uncertainty in a blood pressure measurement of 80 mm Hg? A person measures his or her heart rate by counting the number of beats in 30 s If 40 plusminus 1 beats are counted in 30.0 plusminus 0.5 s what is the heart rate and its uncertainty in beats per minute?

Explanation / Answer

19. (a) % uncertainty = (2 / 90) x 100

= 2.2 %


(b) Uncertainty = 60 x 2.2 / 100 = 1.3 km/h

so speed range = 60 - 1.3 to 60 +1.3

= 58.7 km/h to 61.3 km/h

20. (a) % = (2 / 120) x 100 = 1.7%

(b) uncertainty = 80 x 1.7 / 100

= 1.3 mm Hg

21. heart rate = (40)/30 = 1.33 beats per sec

uncertainty = 1.33 sqrt[ (1 /40)^2 + (0.5/30)^2]

= 0.04


heart rate = 1.33 +- 0.04 beats /s

per min = 80.0 +- 2.4