Question

Ms. Joule knew that the masses of the unknowns she had given out were all less than 15 grams. She noted that the mass that Mike and Sarah had recorded for their unknown was 18.2 grams. She also noted that Mike and Sarah, who had recorded their lab results in pencil, had erased and changed what they had recorded for the final temperature. What would have been the ethical thing for Mike and Sarah to do?

Answer 1

Mike and Sarah should have reported their actual observations and discussed the discrepancies with their instructor. They should not have altered their results, as ethical scientific practice requires accurately reporting all measurements, even if unexpected.

Step-by-step explanation:

The ethical thing for Mike and Sarah to do would have been to report the actual measurements they observed during their experiment, even if those results were unexpected or outside of the predicted range. This means that if their unknown had a recorded mass of 18.2 grams, which is greater than what Ms. Joule specified as the maximum possible mass of 15 grams, they should have communicated with their instructor about the discrepancy instead of altering the measurement. Similarly, changing the recorded final temperature is dishonest and against scientific integrity; the correct approach would be to report the initial value measured and discuss potential sources of error that could have affected their results.

Understanding the concept of uncertainty in measurements is crucial in scientific reporting. For instance, when adding two quantities measured with different precisions, such as 16.7 g and 5.24 g, the sum must be reported with the same decimal places as the least precise measurement, resulting in 21.9 g instead of 21.94 g. Honesty in scientific investigations ensures the reliability and reproducibility of experimental outcomes, which is foundational to the progression of scientific knowledge.