Measurements and Uncertainty

Welcome to the 'Measurements and Uncertainty' simulation.

Measurements and uncertainty are foundational concepts for all scientists, but particularly physicists. As we try and make sense of the Universe, we record data, plot our results, and try and make conclusions based on our findings. But how much can we trust them? And how can we make sure we can be as confident in them as possible? These questions, now more than ever, are vitally important for scientists and professionals everywhere.

When scientists present their findings they quote their results and add an uncertainty value too, to give some indication as to how confident they are. So, for a scientist working out how many stars are in the sky, they might say 200 ± 5 billion trillion.