Question

John collected the following volumes when doing a titration experiment: 24.30 mL, 24.35 mL, 24.70 mL, 24.00 mL, and 24.60 mL. The actual volume for the titration required to neutralize the acid was 24.50 mL. Would you say that John's data was accurate? Precise? Both accurate and precise? Neither accurate nor precise? Explain.

a) Accurate
b) Precise
c) Both accurate and precise
d) Neither accurate nor precise

Answer 1

John's titration data is both accurate and precise as the measurements are close to the actual volume required for neutralization, and they are consistently close to each other.

Step-by-step explanation:

John's collected titration volumes were 24.30 mL, 24.35 mL, 24.70 mL, 24.00 mL, and 24.60 mL, while the actual volume for titration required to neutralize the acid was 24.50 mL. These results indicate that John's data has a bit of variation but is close to the actual volume, showing that it is somewhat accurate. Moreover, the measurements are close to each other, showing good precision.

The definition of accuracy refers to how close the measurements are to the true or accepted value. In John's case, since his measurements are not far off from the actual volume of 24.50 mL, his data is considered accurate. Precision refers to the repeatability of the measurements or how close the measurements are to each other, regardless of the actual value. Considering that John's measurements are consistently close to one another, we can deduce that his data is precise as well.

Thus, considering both concepts, John's data would be evaluated as both accurate and precise.