UNIT 1:

MEASUREMENT AND ERROR

Prepared by:
Noraini Binti Kamisman
Electrical Engineering Department
Politeknik Sultan Idris Shah
 Learning Outcomes
At the end of this class, you will be able to
 Explain the measurement process and element of
measurement system
 Differentiate the following types of error: Gross error,
systematic error, random error, absolute error and relative
error.
 Determine absolute error and relative error
 Explain the terms: accuracy, precision, resolution and
significant figure
 Describe the standard: International standard, Primary
standard, Secondary standard and Working Standard

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 Instrumentation
• A device for determining value/magnitude of a
quantity or variable
• Devices used in measurement system

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 Instrumentation
• Instruments can be:
– Analog Instruments
– Digital Instruments

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 Measurement Definition
• Measurement is the process by which physical parameters
can be converted to meaningful numbers.

• Measurement is the process of comparing an unknown

quantity with an accepted standard quantity.(Kalsi, 2006)

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Measurement Definition

Block Diagram of Measurement Process

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 Elements of Measurement System

Primary Variable Data

Measurand sensing manipulation presentation Observer

element element element

Measurand – physical quantity to be measured e.g. temperature, pressure, current etc

Primary sensing element – sense (transducer) and converts the desired input to a more
convenient and practicable form to be handled by the measurement system

Variable manipulation system - manipulating/processing the output of the transducer

in suitable form. E.g. Filter, amplifier, Analogue-Digital Converter

Data presentation element – giving the information about the measurand or measured
variable in the quantitative form. E.g. analog indicator, digital display, graphical display,
printed output. 7
• a. Primary Sensing Element : The quantity under measurement
makes its first contact with the primary sensing element of a
measurement system.

• b. Variable Manipulation Element : It converts the output of the

primary sensing element into suitable form to preserve the
information content of the original signal.

• c. Data Presentation Element : The information about the

quantity under measurement has to be conveyed to the personnel
handling the instrument or the system for monitoring, control or
analysis purpose.

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 Terminology
• Scale
– A scale is an organized set of measurements,
all of which measure one property.

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 Terminology
• Range (Julat)
– Range of measurement is the ratio between the
smallest and largest possible values of a
changeable quantity
– Within this range, the measurement has a well-
defined accuracy or applicability
– Any number that is between these two values is
said to be within the range

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 Error in Measurement
• Definition of error
– Error is defined as the difference between the measured
value and expected value (true value) of the quantity.

• Types of error
– Gross Error
– Systematic Error
– Random Error
– Absolute Error
– Relative Error

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 Error in Measurement
• Gross Error
– Due to : human mistakes
– Example : incorrect reading, incorrect recording,
improper use of instruments, etc
– To minimize: take proper care in reading &
recording

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 Error in Measurement
• Systematic Error
– Due to : instrument’s problem or environmental effects
or observational errors
– Example : defective or worn parts, ageing, parallax error
and wrong estimation reading scale
– To minimize :
• Instrumental error : proper maintenance, use, and handling of
instruments
• Environmental error : air conditioning, using magnetic shields
• Observational error: To avoid parallax errors, the position of the
eye must be in line with the reading to be taken, as in position

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 Error in Measurement
• Random Error
– Due to : unknown causes.
– Example : Errors that remain after gross and
systematic errors have been substantially reduced
– To minimize : be treated mathematically (take at
least 3 separate reading)

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 Error in Measurement
• Absolute Error
– Definition : the difference between the measured
value and expected value
– It gives us the exact number with the units of the
quantity that is deviated from the true one

Eabsolute = |Xexpected – Xmeasured|

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 Error in Measurement
• Relative Error
– Definition : Relative error is defined as the
absolute error divided by the expected value
– relative error is expressed in percentage
– it helps us to compare how incorrect a quantity is
from the value considered to be true

Erelative = Eabsolute
X expected

% Erelative = Erelative x 100%

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 Determine Absolute Error
Example:
Expected value = true value = 0.1mA
Measured value = observed value = 0.17mA

Find,
i. Absolute error

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 Determine Relative Error
Example :
Expected value = true value = 50V
Measured value = observed value = 47.5V

Find,
i. Absolute error
ii. Relative error
iii. Percentage of relative error

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 Characteristic of Measurement
• Accuracy
– The degree of exactness (closeness) of a
measurement compared to the expected value

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 Characteristic of Measurement
• Precision
– A measure of the consistency or repeatability of
measurement

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 Characteristic of Measurement
• Resolution
– The smallest change in a measured variable to
which an instrument will respond.
– ability to detect quickly a small change in the
value of a measurement.

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 Characteristic of Measurement
• Significant Figure (Angka bererti)
– An indication of the precision of the measurement is obtained from
the number of significant figures in which result is expressed.
Significant figures convey actual information regarding the magnitude
and the measurement precision of a quantity.
– More the significant figures, greater the precision of measurement.
– Example : The significant figure of 0.0005 is 4 and the significant figure
for 0.05 is 2. So 0.0005 is more precise than 0.05 since it has more
significant figures.

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 • Accuracy, Precision, Resolution, and
Significant Figures
– Accuracy (A) and Precision
• The measurement accuracy of 1% defines how close
the measurement is to the actual measured quality.
• The precision is not the same as the accuracy of
measurement, but they are related.

Accuracy = Relative Accuracy

Accuracy  1  %Error

Precision  1
xn  xn
xn 
x
xn n

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a) If the measured quantity increases or decreases by 1 mV,
the reading becomes 8.936 V or 8.934 V respectively.
Therefore, the voltage is measured with a precision of 1
mV.
b) The pointer position can be read to within one-fourth of
the smallest scale division. Since the smallest scale
division represents 0.2 V, one-fourth of the scale division
is 50 mV.
– Resolution
• The measurement precision of an instrument
defines the smallest change in measured quantity
that can be observed. This smallest observable
change is the resolution of the instrument.
– Significant Figures
• The number of significant figures indicate the
precision of measurement. 27
Example 2.1: An analog voltmeter is used to measure voltage
of 50V across a resistor. The reading value is 49 V. Find
a) Absolute Error
b) Percent Error
c) Accuracy or Relative Accuracy
d) Percent Accuracy
Solution

a) e  X t  X m  50V  49V  1V
Xt  Xm
b) % Error   100%
Xt
50V  49V
  100%  2%
50V
c) A  1  % Error  1  2%  0.98
d) % Acc  100%  2%  98%

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Example 2.2: An experiment conducted to measure 10 values
of voltages and the result is shown in the table below.
Calculate the accuracy of the 4th experiment.

No. (V) No. (V)

1 98 6 103
2 102 7 98
3 101 8 106
4 97 9 107
5 100 10 99

xn 
x x1  x2  ...  x10

Solution n 10
98  102  101  97  100  103  98  106  107  99

10
 101.1
x n  xn 97  101.1
Precision  1   1  0.959  96%
xn 101.1
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 Calibration
Calibration(Penentukuran)
• adalah proses membandingkan dan membetulkan keluaran
sesuatu instrumen dengan nilai piawai.

Calibration(Penentukuran)
• Juga suatu proses pembandingan antara nilai keluaran
peralatan yang hendak diuji dengan peralatan yang telah
diketahui ketepatannya menggunakan nilai masukan yang
sama dibekalkan kepada kedua-dua peralatan tersebut 
• Prosedur ini dilakukan untuk julat masukan yang mencakupi
semua julat ukuran yang bolehdiukur oleh peralatan terbabit

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 Standards of Measurement
• A standard is physical representation of a unit
of measurement
• Categories
I. International standard
II. Primary standard
III. Secondary standard
IV. Working standard

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 Standards of Measurement
• International Standard
– Defined by international agreements
– These standards (international system of unit) are
maintained at the International Bureau of Weight and
Measures in Paris, Frances
– They are periodically evaluated and checked by absolute
measurements in term of the fundamental units of physics
– They represent certain units of measurement to the
closest possible accuracy attained by the science and
technology of measurement and used for comparison with
primary standards

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 Standards of Measurement
• Primary Standard
– The main function of the primary is the verification and
calibration of the secondary standards.
– Are maintained at institution in various countries around
the world, such as the National Bureau of Standard on
Washington D.C, SIRIM in Malaysia
– The primary standards are not available for use outside
the national laboratories
– Their principle function is to calibrate and verify the
secondary standards
– Also known as National Standard

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 Standards of Measurement
• Secondary Standard
– Used as the basic reference standards used by
measurement & calibration laboratories in the industry
– Each industrial laboratory is completely responsible for its
own secondary standards
– Each laboratory sends its secondary standards to the
national standards ( primary standards) laboratory for
calibration
– After calibration, the secondary standards are returned to
the industrial uses with the certification and checked
periodically

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 Standards of Measurement
• Working Standard
– Working standard is the principle tools of a measurement
laboratory and the lowest level of standards
– Used to check and calibrate the instruments used in the
laboratory or to make comparison measurement in
industrial application
– Example: the standard resistor, capacitors, inductor which
usually found in an electronics laboratory are classified as
working standards.

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Standards of Measurement

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• Standards
– International Standards
• Defined by international agreements and maintained
at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures
in France
– Primary Standards
• Maintained at institutions in various countries around
the world
• Main function: Checking the accuracy of secondary
standards
– Secondary Standards
• Employed in industry as references for calibrating
high-accuracy equipment and components and for
verifying the accuracy of working standards
– Working Standards
• Used as measurement references on a day-to-day
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basis in all electronics lab
 Remember!!!

Eabsolute = |Xexpected – Xmeasured|

Erelative = Eabsolute
X expected

% Erelative = Erelative x 100%

% Accuracy= 100% - %Erelative

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 Example 1.1
The expected value of the voltage across a resistor is 5.0
V. However, measurement yields a value of 4.9 V.
Calculate:
a) absolute error
b) percentage of relative error
c) percentage of accuracy
d) relative accuracy

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 Example 1.2

Calculate the % error and % of accuracy when

ammeter reading is 12mA.

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