From: Sai Prakash

To: Senior Lab Students

Subject: Error Analysis

This is a follow-up to the description on WebCT. It is important to realize the sources of error in
any experiment and distinguish between random sampling errors and instrument precision errors.
To determine precision errors and how they are propagated, use the general error equations as
shown in the WebCT file, i.e., if y is a continuous function of n independent variables,
y  y x1, x 2, , x n  , then

n  y 
dy   x dx i (1.1)
i 1 i

and the expected error is

2
 y 
n 

y    x 
 i  (1.2)
x i 
i 1 
 

while the maximum expected error is

n 
y 
max y     x i (1.3)
 x i 
i 1 

However, for sampling errors, one must determine the standard error,  , after determining the
standard deviation,  . The mean, x , standard deviation,  , and standard error,  , are defined
as

1 n
x  x
n i 1 i
(1.4)

 x x
2
i
 i 1
(1.5)
n 1


 (1.6)
n
Here is an example from the distillation experiment. Let’s say we have three data points of mass
fraction compositions, x 1  0.4713, x 2  0.4928, x 3  0.5479.

The mean, x  0.5040 , standard deviation,   0.03951 , standard error,   0.02281

Therefore, we must represent the composition with an error bar as
x  x    0.504  0.02281 .

Note that to see how the above sampling errors on variables propagate in a function, you must
again use the general equation, (1.2), or the maximum error equation, (1.3). However, as a
shortcut, it is easy to see intuitively (and by derivation, see below) that for sums and differences,
the errors of individual variables simply add up to provide a maximum error limit.

To continue on the distillation example, say we have determined the compositions on two trays,
from the above approach, to be x A  0.504  0.02281 and x B  0.6134  0.01459 . Then, it is
appropriate to say

x B  x A  x B  x A   A  B  (1.7)

i.e.,

x B  x A  0.6134  0.504  0.02281  0.01459  0.1094  0.0374 (1.8)

and

x B  x A  x B  x A   A  B  (1.9)

i.e.,

x B  x A  0.6134  0.504  0.02281  0.01459  1.1174  0.0374 (1.10)

This is useful when one needs to calculate Murphree efficiencies (numerator, denominator), etc.
However, for products and quotients, use (1.3) to calculate the maximum error.

Note that (1.7) and (1.9) should be derivable from (1.2), the general equation. From (1.2), the
error on x B  x A is given as (1.11) below, which is equivalent to (1.7), since A, B  0 .

 x B  x A   A2  B2    B   2AB  A  B

2
A
(1.11)

(1.7), (1.9) are also derivable in a straightforward manner from (1.3) and are equivalent.