APPLICATION OF STATISTICAL CONCEPTS IN THE
DETERMINATION OF WEIGHT VARIATION IN COIN
SAMPLES
Z.N. UCHIDA1 and J.R PESISMO1
1DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, DILIMAN, QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES
DATE PERFORMED: JANUARY 21, 2020
INSTRUCTOR’S NAME: VALDERRAMA, R.T.
1. DISCUSS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF
MEAN, STANDARD DEVIATION,
AND CONFIDENCE LIMITS.
The mean is the most basic yet
important statistic in data because it
serves as the basis of conducting and
understanding all other complex
statistics. This basic statistic carries a
piece of information from every
respondent and solving the mean of a
sample allows us to calculate other
statistical values. Standard deviation is
used to measure the dispersion around
the mean of a data set. This value is a
measure of preciseness. Greater values
of standard deviation may imply having
outliers in the data. Confidence limits are
used to bound the mean or standard
deviation. For example, a 95%
confidence interval is a range of values in
which you can be 95% certain that it
contains the true mean of the population.
And so, confidence limits bound this
interval and is used in formulating
conclusions; whether the value is
accepted or rejected.
2. WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF
USING GRUBBS’ TEST
Grubbs’ Test is used to find a single
outlier in a normally distributed data set.
The test specifically determines if the
minimum value or the maximum value is
an outlier. This test helps us decide
whether statistical parameters such as
the mean and the standard deviation
should be recalculated for a new data set.
3. WHAT DOES THE POOLED
STANDARD DEVIATION TELL US
ABOUT THE MEASUREMENTS?
The pooled standard deviation is
a method for estimating a single
standard deviation to represent all
independent samples or groups in a
study. It is a weighted average of each
group’s standard deviation. Thus, this
gives the larger groups a greater effect
on the overall estimate. This value can
be and indication for repeatability of
an experiment.
4. COMPARE THE STATISTICAL
PARAMETERS OBTAINED FOR
DATA SET 1 WITH THOSE
OBTAINED FOR DATA SET 2
The statistical parameters obtained
for data set 1 are relatively close to each
other except that one more outlier was
obtained in data set 2. This resulted to a
greater standard deviation and spread with
respect to the calculated value in data set 1.
 It also further deviated statistical REFERENCES
parameters of data set 2 from the true
Cohen, J. (1988), Statistical Power Analysis for
value. Nonetheless, both data set had the Behavioral Sciences, 2nd Edition. Hillsdale:
outliers which greatly diminished the Lawrence Erlbaum.
accuracy of the data. Since the masses of
coins are small, little differences obtained in Crouch, S.; Holler, F.; Skoog, D.; West, D.
the data will result to big changes. Fundamentals of Analytic Chemistry, 8th ed.;
Harris: Canada, 2004; p. 116
5. ENUMERATE AND EXPLAIN THE Harris, D. Quantitative Chemical Analysis,
THREE TYPES OF EXPERIMENTAL 7th ed.;W.H. Freeman and Company: New
ERROR. GIVE EXAMPLES OF EACH York, 2007; p. 53
TYPE.
Institute of Chemistry Analytical Chemistry
The three types of experimental error Laboratory Manual, 2017 edition; University
are Systematic Errors, Random Errors and of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City,
Blunder. Systematic Errors are due to 2020; pp. 8-12
identified causes such as instrumental
errors which can be eliminated. Examples of
systematic errors are poorly calibrated
instrument and parallax in a meter scale.
Random Errors are caused by the sudden
change in experimental conditions and noise
and tiredness in the working persons. These
errors are either positive or negative.
Examples are unexpected change in
temperature and unpredictable fluctuations
in voltage
6. WHAT IS THE NORMAL OR
GAUSSIAN DISTRIBUTION, AND
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR A DATA SET TO HAVE THIS
TYPE OF DISTRIBUTION?
The normal distribution is a probability
function that describes how the values of a
variable are distributed. It is a symmetric
distribution where most of the observations
cluster around the central peak. The
requirements for a data set to have this type
of distribution is that the mean, median and
mode are all equal.
7. WHY DO WE USE FORCEPS IN
HANDLING THE COINS?
Forceps were used to prevent adding extra
weight (e.g fingerprints, moisture) to the
coins.