APPLICATION OF STATISTICAL CONCEPTS IN

THE DETERMINATION OF WEIGHT VARIATION

IN SAMPLES
L. BENIG
NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, DILIMAN, QUEZON CITY 1101, PHILIPPINES
DATE SUBMITTED: 3 FEBRUARY 2015
DATE PERFORMED: 29 JANUARY 2015

INTRODUCTION

number, xi is the sample weight, x

A common problem when dealing with

measurements is that one or two of
the measurements are off [1]. To
remove the outlier, Grubbs Test was
applied to the measurements. Grubbs
Test omits one value that was deemed
as an outlier based on a certain
calculations.

the data set mean, and s is the

standard deviation. The calculated Gexp
was compared to the G values found
in the appendix.

In the experiment, 10-25 centavo

coins were used. Each coin was
weighed. An outlier was omitted using
Grubbs Test before calculating
different statistics for the data sets.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Among the data found in appendix,
the highest and the lowest were
chosen for each data set.
For both data sets, sample 1 is the
lowest while sample 6 is the highest.
Between the two, the one with the
highest difference to the data set
mean was subjected to Grubbs Test.
For both data sets, sample 6 was
chosen.
Grubbs Test equation (1) was used to
determine whether sample 6 is an
outlier or not, where i is the sample

Gexp=

is

max |x ix|

i=1 n

(1)

Table 1 below shows the result of the

Grubbs Test
Table 1. Grubbs Test
Dat
a
Set
1

Suspect
Values

Gtab

Gexp

Conclus
ion

H:3.760
2
L:3.564
8
H:3.760
2
L:3.564
8

1.887
2

1.92

Reject
Retain

2.900

2.66

Reject
Retain

Table 4 below show the calculated

statistical values for both data set.
Table 3. Reported Statistical Values
Dat
a

RSD

RR

CL

Set
1

3.60
0

0.02
7

7.39
5

0.06
9

19.1
7

3.60
4

0.02
0

5.44
9

0.06
9

19.1
4

3.600
0.0
17
3.604
20.
043

Give the significance of Grubbs

Test
Grubbs Test was done so that an
outlier can be omitted from the data
set. An outlier needs to be omitted
because the outlier can cause gross
deviation even though it may agree
with the rest of the data [2].
Give the significance of the mean
and standard deviation
Standard deviation measures the
precision of the data. It calculates how
close the values are to the mean. The
mean is the measure the distribution
of the samples. [3]
Give the significance of the
confidence interval
The confidence interval is the interval
where the population mean is
expected to lie. Confidence interval
because an infinite number of values
is required to compute for the true
value of the population mean [3]
How do the statistics calculated
from data set 1 differ from those
obtained from data set 2?
Since both data sets have the same
outlier, their statistical values do not
differ greatly. Only the Relative
Standard Deviation (RSD) has a
relatively huge difference and that is
because it is based on the mean and
the standard deviation of the data
sets.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

The outlier for both data sets is the
same. The calculated statistics for
each data set do not differ that much
because the outlier is the same. Since
an outlier was found the application of
Grubbs Test and different statistics
were successful.
REFERENCES
[1] Stats Tutorial - Instrumental
Analysis
and
Calibration.
(n.d.).
Retrieved February 2, 2015, from
http://www.chem.utoronto.ca/co
ursenotes/analsci/stats/Outliers.html
[2]Grubbs, F. (1969, February 1).
Procedures for Detecting Outlying
Observations in Samples. Retrieved
February
2,
2015,
from
http://spider.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/fma
sci/home/statistics_refs/OutlierProc_19
69.pdf
[3]Skoog, D., & West, D.
(1996).Fundamentals of analytical
chemistry (7th ed.). Fort Worth:
Saunders College Pub.

APPENDIX
Table
Samp
le No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

N-1
T90%
T95%
T99%

1
6.31
12.7
63.7

N
G95%
G99%

Table
2
2.92
4.3
9.92

3
1.1543
1.1547

1. Weight
Weight,
g
3.5843
3.6130
3.6063
3.5648
3.6338
3.7602
3.6101
3.6138
3.6010
3.6107

of Samples

Dat
a
Set
2

Dat
a
Set
1

2. Values of t for various levels

3
4
5
6
2.35
2.13
2.02
1.94
3.18
2.78
2.57
2.45
5.84
4.60
4.03
3.71

of probability
7
8
1.90
1.86
2.36
2.31
3.50
3.36

Table 3. Critical Values for the Grubbs Test

4
5
6
7
8
1.4812 1.7150 1.8871 2.0200 2.1266
1.4962 1.7637 1.9728 2.1391 2.2744
Mean, m

xi

x = i=1
n

Standard Deviation, s

s=

(x i x )2
i=1

n1
Relative Standard Deviation, RSD

s
RSD= 1000 ppt
x
Range, R

R= X highest X lowest

9
1.83
2.26
3.25

9
2.2150
2.3868

10
1.81
2.23
3.17

10
2.900
2.4821

Relative Range, RR

R
RR= 1000 ppt
x
Confidence Interval, CI

Confidence limit=x

ts
n

Sample Calculations

x =

3.5843+ 3.6130+3.6063+3.5648+3.6338
=3.60044 3.600
5

RSD=

0.027
1000 ppt=7.395
3.600

R=3.63383.5648=0.069

RR=

0.069
1000 ppt=19.17
3.600