APPLICATION OF STATISTICAL CONCEPTS IN THE DETERMINATION OF WEIGHT

VARIATION IN SAMPLES
Submitted By: Frances Abegail G. Quezon

INTRODUCTION
This experiment introduces how Statistics can be incorporated into Chemistry and
how to use it to report data obtained from the experiments. In particular, the experiment
familiarizes the students in reporting data mean, standard deviations, relative standard
deviations, range, relative range, and confidence limit. It also familiarizes the students in
performing the Q-test to know which data are outliers.

RESULTS
The standard deviation correlates how close the data are to the mean. A lower value
of standard deviation means that the data are closer to the mean. It also means that the data
collected are more precise. For data set 1, the standard deviation value is 0.06 and 0.05 in
data set 2. This shows that the data collected are close to the mean and to each other. The
formula used for this is:

(1)

The confidence limit presents a range of values containing the mean. For example, in
data set 1, the confidence limit is 3.60 0.06. For the computation of the confidence limit,
95% was the level used. This means that there is a 95% certainty that the mean lies within
the range 3.60 0.06 even if you repeated the tests for random values from the same
population. For the data set 2, the confidence limit is computed to be 3.59 0.04. The
formula for the computation of the confidence limit is:
CL = x ts (2)
n
The Q-test is done first before any other statistical computations. This is done so
that outliers in the data set could be eliminated. This is computed with the formula:
Q = | suspect value value closest to suspect| (3)
highest value lowest value
The suspects for both data set 1 and 2 are both 3.6842 and 3.5054. The Q in both tests are
0.361 and 0.299 respectively. This is less than 0.625 which is the Q in the table for a data set
with 6 items and 0.466 which is the Q in the table for a data set with 10 items. This means
that there are no outliers.
Since data set 1 is just a subset of data set 2 and the range is the same for both sets,
the standard deviation for data set 2 is lower meaning that data set 2 is more precise than
data set 1. This is proven by the lower value of standard deviation for data set 2.
According to the Widener University College of Arts and Sciences, When several
small sets have the same sources of indeterminate error (ie: the same type of measurement
but different samples) the standard deviations of the individual data sets may be pooled to
more accurately determine the standard deviation of the analysis method. This is the
pooled standard deviation. It is important because it gives a more accurate standard
deviation value.
There are three types of errors. These are systematic, random, and gross errors.
Systematic errors are those whose sources can be pinpointed. A source of error in the
experiment could be, on the second trial, the beaker containing the coins was placed on the
table. The sources of random errors cannot be determined. Gross errors are errors that
affect the precision of the experiment. This did not happen in the experiment, but an
example of a gross error is weighing a beaker of different coins, and not purely 25-centavo
coins.
According to Capistrano, the Gaussian/normal distribution, also known as the bell
curve, is defined by the formula:

(4)
The requirements for a data set to have a normal distribution are: the mean must be equal
to its median and mode, the normal distribution must be symmetric about its mean, and is
non zero over the entire real line. Real valued random variables whose distributions are not
known are assumed to follow normal distribution. This can be applied in almost any field of
science that involves random variables.
Crucible tongs were used for handling the coins so that the person conducting the
experiment would not accidentally contaminate the beaker with dust or other particles that
might contribute to the beakers weight. This is also the rationale behind refraining to place
the beaker on any surface and the using of paper tongs in the experiment.

CONCLUSION
The experiment determines the weight of the 25-centavo coins with the method
weighing by subtraction. The theoretical weight of the coin according to Philippine Money
and Currency, is 3.6g. The mean from data set 1 is 3.5975 0.0001 and from data set 2 is
3.59129 0.00009. These values are very close to the theoretical value.
The experiment was also successful in acquainting the students with statistical
concepts and how to compute and interpret these data. Based from the values of standard
deviation that was computed, it could be concluded that the data set with more members,
data set 2, has better precision. But based from the calculated mean values, the mean from
data set 1 is closer to the theoretical value, therefore data set 1 has better accuracy.

REFERENCES
Laerd Statistics. https://statistics.laerd.com/statistical-guides/measures-of-spread-
standard-deviation.php (accessed April 20, 2013).
WiseGeek. http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-standard-deviation.htm (accessed April 20,
2013).
Institute of Chemistry. Quantitative Inorganic Analysis Laboratory Manual.
About. http://sociology.about.com/od/Statistics/a/Confidence-Intervals-And-Confidence-
Levels.htm (accessed April 20, 2013).
University of Delaware. http://udel.edu/~mcdonald/statconf.html (accessed April 20,
2013).
Widener University. http://science.widener.edu/svb/stats/descript.html (accessed April 20,
2013).
Philippine Money and Currency. http://www.philippinecountry.com/philippine_money/
(accessed April 20, 2013).
Wikimedia.https://upload.wikimedia.org/math/d/6/d/d6dba07916b9397a07f3399d037a
126c.png (accessed April 20, 2013).
Capistrano T. et al. Elementary Statistics. UP Press Diliman: Quezon City, 2010.
CALCULATIONS

DATA SET 1: DATA SET 2:

Q-test Q-test
Q = |3.6842 3.6197| Q = |3.6842 3.6197|
3.6842 3.5054 3.6842 3.5054
= 0.36074 = 0.36074
Q = |3.5054 3.5588| Q = |3.5054 3.5588|
3.6842 3.5054 3.6842 3.5054
= 0.29866 = 0.29866

x x
x = 3.59751667 x = 3.59129
Uncertainty Uncertainty
= 0.00032 (6) = 0.00032 (10)
6 10
= 0.0001 = 0.00009

S S
S = 0.060411105 S = 0.50440712

RSD RSD
RSD = 0.060411105 x 1000 RSD = 0.50440712 x 1000
3.597516667 3.59129
= 16.97 = 14.045

R R
R = 3.6842-3.054 = 0.1788 R = 3.6842-3.054 = 0.1788
Uncertainty Uncertainty
= 0.00032 (2) = 0.00032 (2)
= 0.0004 = 0.0004

RR RR
RR = 0.1788 x 1000 RR = 0.1788 x 1000
3.59751667 3.59129
= 49.7 = 49.8
Uncertainty Uncertainty
= 49.7 0.00012 + 0.00042 = 49.8 0.000092 + 0.00042
3.598752 0.17882 3.591292 0.17882
= 0.1 = 0.1

CL CL
= (2.57)(0.060411105) = (2.57)(0.050440712)
6 10
= 0.06 = 0.04