- The importance of reporting errors
In physics, the word "error" does not have a negative connotation.
On the contrary! It is absolutely vital that you report
the precision of your values at all times.
In the example given previously, it is easy for everyone
to see what precision you have, because everyone knows what a ruler
looks like. Everyone knows that the average ruler has 1 mm divisions,
and therefore knows that your value can not be much more precise than
that. But what if you were using something less obvious to measure
distance?
Let me give you another example. Suppose you are trying
to measure the distance between yourself and a car. To do this,
you bounce a laser beam off the car, and measure the amount of time it
takes for the light to travel from you to the car and back. Now
how much precision do you have in the distance? It is not so clear
anymore, is it?
You might well ask: "Why should I care what precision I have in
this measurement?" Well, what if the device you just built was
intended to be part of a laser meter designed to catch speeders? It
makes a big difference if you can tell whether or not the car is going
at 55 mph or 57 mph!
You wouldn't buy something from the +/- 2 Arms Garment Co., would you? Error Analysis is sometimes part of quality control.
