Question

If the bathroom scale at home always measures a person’s weight to the nearest 0.2 pounds AND always weighs them 1.8 pounds heavier than they actually are:

3ci) Is this a random or systematic error on the part of the scale?

3cii) Can this error be corrected so that every time you weight yourself you know the

correct weight? If so how? If not, why not? Assume that you CANNOT alter anything on the scale itself. You cannot physically change anything on the scale.

3ciii) What is the precision of the measuring instrument, in this case the scale?

Answer 1

3ci) It is a systematic error,

A systematic error always affects measurements the same amount or by the same proportion. Here it 1.8 pounds...

Systematic errors are due to some thing wrong with the instrument or its data handling system, or because the instrument is wrongly used by the experiment

3cii) it is difficult to detect and therefore prevent systematic error. In order to avoid these types of errors, know the limitations of equipment and understand how the experiment works. Here measurements always read 1.8 pound heavier than actual reading so to correct readings reduce 1.8 pond from actual reading

3ciii) precision refers to the closeness of the mrsurments to each other. Here reading are precise ( if there is no random error) because readings same.