Which is the major source of random error, measurement of voltage or mesurement of current?

Question

In a physics experiment i measured voltage using a digital voltmeter and current using an ammeter so that i could calculate a resistor's resistance and i would like to know what is the major source of error, either voltage or current. your help would highly be appreciated!!!!

Answer 1

Did you use the same meter for measuring the Voltage and current? If yes, the source of error is the same meter. If you used different meters, the sources of error or now 2. Which of them is larger depends upon the make, the specified accuracy etc. Normally such values are expressed in + or - some percentage of the measured value subject to a minimum error.

There are two errors, random and systematic. Suppose you measured the same voltage 10 times. The spread among the values if any is random error. But suppose a 6V battery is read consistently as 6.5 V, the error of 0.5 V is systematic error or bias error.

Random errors tend to get nullified when you take many measurements, but systematic errors don't get averaged and if a series of them occur at various stages, they may add up.

Your question is not having enough data for a better answer.

Answer 2

the significant source of mistakes is neither the voltage or the present. the significant source of mistakes is the resistor you're measuring. a sturdy volt and present day meter has about a + or - 0.a million% mistakes, besides the undeniable fact that the resistor has a color band (or no longer) that shows the resistor's % of mistakes. (The 4th band) 20% mistakes = (no color band) 10% mistakes = Silver 5% mistakes = Gold 2% mistakes = red a million% mistakes = Brown So regardless of a theoretically suitable voltage and present day meter, the resistor itself has a a lot higher % of mistakes. Which in-turn, is the significant source of mistakes.

Answer 3

the biggest problem is the variances of the resisitor