Two teams measured the mass and volume of the same rubber duck. One team found the mass to be 65g and the volume to be 150ml. The other team found the mass to be 63g and the volume to be 149ml. What could explain these differences?
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
Correct Answer:
The differences in measurements could be due to small experimental errors such as variations in equipment calibration, human error in reading instruments, or environmental conditions like temperature or air bubbles during volume measurement.
Explanation:
When two teams measure the same object and get slightly different results, the most likely cause is experimental error. These are small variations that occur naturally during scientific measurements. In this case, the rubber duck is a single object, so its actual mass and volume should not change. However, how the teams measured those values could affect the results.
One possible explanation is equipment calibration. If the scales used to measure mass were not perfectly calibrated to zero, or if one was more sensitive than the other, this could result in small differences like 65g versus 63g. Similarly, the graduated cylinder or method used to measure volume might differ slightly. One team might have included a small air bubble, or may not have read the volume at eye level, resulting in a reading of 150ml instead of 149ml.
Another possible factor is human error. Small mistakes in reading measurements or recording data are common in experiments, especially when dealing with small differences. Environmental conditions, such as air temperature or humidity, can also affect the accuracy of measuring instruments, especially with liquids.
These differences are normal in scientific practice and highlight the importance of repeating experiments and averaging results. It’s also a good reminder that all scientific measurements have a degree of uncertainty. Scientists often include this uncertainty in their results by using tools like error bars or reporting values with an accepted range. In this case, both teams measured the duck with a difference of only about 1 to 2 percent, which is a relatively small and acceptable difference in most experiments.
