- #1
NihalRi
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Homework Statement
Some Background - We are calculating the amount of acetylsalicylic acid in a sample using spectrophotometry. We were told to make sure to include the error in our answer. So first to calculate the moles of acetylsalicylic acid in a measured mass.
0.1620 ± 0.0005g measured using a digital balance
180.2gmol-1 (molar mass of acetylsalicylic acid given in book)
2. Homework Equations
Mass/molar mass = moles
3. The Attempt at a Solution
0.1620 ± 0.0005g/180.2gmol-1
I know that we divide the number and error by the fixed value but the error has way too many numbers so I am not sure how much to keep. My first guess is one more decimal place than the value but this does not make sense to me because is seems like there are too many significant digits in the answer for such a large error.
8.990±0.0277×10-4mol
Calculating errors has always been a nightmare for me especially when the numbers are not pretty, I'd like to get this thing down so I would greatly appreciate your help.