Striving+For+Accuracy+And+Precision

=Striving For Accuracy and Precision=

Accuracy is how close to the theoretical or predicted results the actual data is. Precision is how closely can you can reproduce the same results under the same conditions.

__Quarter 2__ During one of our labs, we were to react sodium bicarbonate and hydrochloric acid. The purpose was to observe the reactions and to see how accurate we could be.

Balanced Equation NaHCO 3(aq) + HCl (aq) --> NaCl (aq) + H 2 O (l) + CO 2(g)

This really was a test of how accurate we could be. After calculating the formula, we expected, with the amounts we used, for 1 gram of solid material to be left, after subtracting the mass of the ceramic bowl. Our end results were slightly off, but if we take into account various factors that could result in mass disappearing (falling out of the bowl, initial mass measurements not precise enough), then I believe our result fell within an acceptable range.

From this, I can tell that for future labs and experiments, I need to be very careful whenever measuring anything. Being lax in this could potential ruin any experiment at any stage. This wasn't that complicated a formula and reaction, which leads me to believe that in future reactions where there are more reactants or more complex compounds, the acceptable range of results may change, probably a larger range due to the added complexity of the theoretical formula.