For a little context: yes, I'm a high school student, doing IB Diploma Standard Level Physics. This is for my main piece of coursework: an investigation into how beta radiation from a Sr-90 source attenuates in paper. In the end, we are marked on our overall process, and an inaccuracy in the...
Yes, approximately.
EDIT: and although right at this moment I do not have the data to hand, the total counts were obviously between approx. 9600-12600.
BvU and haruspex: I am so grateful for your help - thank you! Incidentally, the link you give is the same document I've been using as a guide for much of this.
OK, I understand why linear addition won't work. I'm afraid that the Gaussian functions are a little beyond me, at the moment.
You've...
Hi! Thank you very much for your answer - it is very useful. I've never been taught the formula you give; instead, my textbooks all say that the absolute uncertainty when adding or subtracting is simply the individual uncertainties added together.
I appreciate that this may be an...
Does the absolute uncertainty in A+B-C equal √A+√B+√C? If so, this is larger than the value of A+B-C. Surely that can't be right?
For this investigation, I have been working from a lab script from my local uni physics department. This suggested that calculating this actually required a method...