Chemistry in Society

CHM/110
July 23, 2012

Chemistry in Society

The differences between accuracy and precision
“In the field of science accuracy is the form of measurement that calculates the degree of closeness of a quality to its true value. Precision is a unit of measurement that is also referred as the ability to reproduce the same results multiple times” (Taylor, 1997). The differences are within the description, it all depends on what you are looking for within the results of a test for the proper use of these two units of measurements.

Society depends upon the accuracy and precision of measurements for products sold by the retail industry Today’s society depends on the accuracy and precision of measurements for products sold by the retail industry, such as a gallon of gasoline, the weight of potato’s , or a gallon of oil. These measurements have to be precise and accurate when it relates to how farmers sell their products such as tomatoes, soybeans, milk, peanuts, and cotton, by weight and or in a bulk sale. Like food products gasoline, water, oil, and several other liquid goods sold in quantity and if the measurements not accurately sold per gallon, then the United States government will not retain a profit from the barrel of oil, water, E-85, and several other liquid goods that purchased from other countries. I would have to say that this really is about supply and demand and the ability to generate a profit from the accuracy and precision of the weight and how much to sell an item for in most situations. Other ways society depends on the accuracy and precision of measurements is within the food industry. If a chef ordered 500 pounds of potatoes because 500 pounds of potatoes will last until the next month and the delivery company only delivers 490 pounds of potatoes then there might be an issue for the restaurant and recipes that a chef can make. The chef also depends on the accuracy and precision of the proper measurement of each ingredient that added to the recipe. If the chef is inaccurate on their measurements then the chef has just wasted products and time due to the inaccuracy of the measurements.
Compare and contrast the accuracy and precision of at least three types of measurements used in your everyday life To accurately compare and contrast the accuracy and precision of at least three types of measurements that I have used in my life. The first I will talk about is what I use at work. I work at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, we order our linen by the dozen, and we depend on accuracy of the amount we order to show up. For an example, we order three hundred dozen thermal blankets and only get one hundred twenty dozen of them, when we have to service sixty-five units and clinics. That will make us short and when we would have to give each unit of the hospital twelve to fifteen we would not be able to give each unit about six to ten. The other measurement, which I use to calculate my fuel mileage, gas mileage or fuel economy, is the distance a car can travel on a certain amount of gas. The better a car's gas mileage, the less money you will spend to get around. While EPA estimates for specific makes and models' gas mileage found easily online, your actual gas mileage when driving on the road can vary significantly based on factors like driving habits and road conditions. Even if your car does not have a built-in fuel economy gauge, you can measure your gas mileage based on a few fill ups. Step one, is go to a gas station and fill your gas tank until the pump stops on its own, indicating that the tank is full. Step two; Reset your car's trip odometer. There should be a button somewhere on the dashboard display, near the odometer readout, that resets the trip odometer. If you cannot find it, simply write down the current mileage on your odometer. Step three; Drive your car normally until you need to get fuel again.
Step four, Fill up your tank until the pump stops and record the amount of fuel you put in the car. The pump should display an exact amount in gallons. Step five, Check your trip odometer and divide the amount of miles traveled by the number of gallons you recorded from the pump. If you wrote down your full mileage rather than setting your trip odometer at zero, first subtract the new odometer reading from the original reading, then divide the result by the number of gallons you pumped into the car. If you are even off by one or two numbers, it will mess up you mileage and you never know the right amount you have used. The third measurement is when I am cooking a dish. How to convert the Units of cooking measurements by getting the right measurements of ingredients when cooking is vital to the success of the dish. If you have a cookbook with measurements that are not familiar to you such as the metric measurements used in Europe as opposed to the imperial measurements used in the United States. You can convert a measurement such as volume or weight to your chosen system by using a formula to get the correct measurement. Step one, convert pints to liters. One pint (U.S.) is the equivalent of 0.57 liters. For example, to find the liter equivalent of two and a half pints you would need to multiply 2.5 by 0.57. 2.5 x 0.57 = 1.425 liters. To go from liters to pints, divide by 0.57. Step two, Convert ounces to grams. One ounce is the equivalent of 28.35 grams. For example, to find the gram equivalent of 30 ounces, multiply 30 by 28.35. 30 x 28.35 = 850.5 grams. To go from grams to ounces, divide by 28.35. Step three; convert fluid ounces to milliliters, one fluid ounce (U.S.) is the equivalent of 29.57 milliliters. For example, to find the equivalent of 100 fluid ounces, multiply 100 by 29.57. 100 x 29.57 = 2957 milliliters. To find fluid ounces, divide by 29.57. Step four, Convert quarts to liters (U.S.). One quart is equivalent to 0.95 liters. For example, to find out how many liters four and a half quarts are, multiply 4.5 by 0.95. 4.5 X 0.95 =4.275. To find quarts from liters, divide by 0.95. Step five, Convert pounds to kilograms. One pound is the equivalent of 0.45 kilograms. For example, to find the equivalent of 20 pounds in kilograms, multiply 20 by 0.45. So, 20 x 0.45 = 9 kilograms, to convert from kilograms to pounds, divide by 0.45. When cooking it is very important that you are accuracy and precision in cooking cause if you put the wrong amount of a ingredients it can make the recipe taste horrible, it’s also important that we are accuracy in checking mileage so that you can make sure you’re getting the most gas for your money.

References

Taylor, J. R. (1997). An Introduction to Error Analysis: The Study of Uncertainties in Physical Measurements (2nd ED.). Sausalito, CA: University Science Books.

Grenada Bureau of Standards. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.gdbs.gd/News.html

Slingo, M. (2012). How to Convert the Units of Cooking Measurements. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/how_8425598_convert-units-cooking-measurements.html

Hamel, G. (2012). How to Measure Gas Mileage. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/how_5871670_measure-gas-mileage.html