Given
The average time it takes a pendulum to swing is 3.5 seconds. What absolute uncertainty must your measurement have to keep the relative uncertainty below 1%?
Procedure
The relative uncertainty or relative error formula is used to calculate the uncertainty of a measurement compared to the size of the measurement. It is calculated as:
relative uncertainty = absolute error / measured value
3.5*1% = 0.035
3.5 +/- 0.035
The absolute uncertainty would be +/- 0.035