Question

Jay, Kip, and Tia are each measuring the concentration of a solution. They are doing experiments separately. They are all are using a colorimeter—a device used for measuring colors. Jay repeats the experiment five times and takes the average measurement, while Kip performs the experiment once. Tia repeats the experiment three times but chooses one of the measurements instead of the average.

The measurements taken by (BLANK) are least likely to contain random errors.

Please fill in the blank.

Answer 1

The measurements taken by Jay are least likely to contain random errors, as averaging multiple measurements can improve the reliability of the experiment's results.

Step-by-step explanation:

The measurements taken by Jay are least likely to contain random errors, as Jay repeats the experiment five times and takes the average measurement of the concentration of the solution. Averaging multiple measurements is a common practice in experiments to reduce the impact of random errors and increase the reliability of the results. This approach is preferable to both taking a single measurement, as Kip does, which offers no error-checking, and to taking multiple measurements but then not using them effectively to minimize errors, which is what Tia does by arbitrarily selecting one of her results instead of averaging.

Accuracy and precision are critical concepts in scientific experiments. Although repeating an experiment multiple times does not guarantee accuracy—if all measurements are systematically off from the true value—it does improve precision and helps to identify outliers caused by random errors that might otherwise skew a single result. By reporting the average, Jay is more likely to reflect a value close to the actual concentration, provided that the colorimeter was calibrated correctly and used consistently throughout the experiments.

Answer 2

Tia is least likely to have measurements that contain random errors compared to Jay and Kip due to her method of selecting one of the measurements instead of taking an average.

Step-by-step explanation:

Tia is least likely to have measurements that contain random errors.

The question states that Jay repeats the experiment five times and takes the average measurement, while Kip performs the experiment once. Tia repeats the experiment three times but chooses one of the measurements instead of the average.

By taking the average, Jay is reducing the effect of any random errors that may occur in his measurements. Kip, on the other hand, only performs the experiment once, so there is no opportunity to correct for random errors. Tia falls in between - by repeating the experiment three times, she has a chance to identify and discard any measurements that contain random errors, but since she chooses one of the measurements instead of the average, her final result is more susceptible to random errors compared to Jay's average.