Question

The period of oscillation of a simple pendulum in the experiment is recorded as 2.63 s, 2.56 s, 2.42 s, 2.71 s and 2.80 s respectively. The average absolute error is

• A. 0.1 s
• B. 0.11 s
• C. 0.01 s
• D. 1.0 s

Answer 1

Answer: (B)

0.11 s

Answer 2

Average value $= \frac{2.63 + 2.56 + 2.42 + 2.71 + 2.80}{5}$

$= 2.62\sec$

Now $|\Delta T_{1}| = 2.63 - 2.62 = 0.01$

$|\Delta T_{2}| = 2.62 - 2.56 = 0.06$

$|\Delta T_{3}| = 2.62 - 2.42 = 0.20$

$|\Delta T_{4}| = 2.71 - 2.62 = 0.09$

$|\Delta T_{5}| = 2.80 - 2.62 = 0.18$

Mean absolute error

$\Delta T = \frac{|\Delta T_{1}| + |\Delta T_{2}| + |\Delta T_{3}| + |\Delta T_{4}| + |\Delta T_{5}|}{5} = \frac{0.54}{5} = 0.108 = 0.11sec$