Topic I.2 · HL only
Collecting and processing data: notes and practice questions
Summary
- This topic extends uncertainty propagation to calculations involving exponents.
- For a quantity , the fractional uncertainty is .
- This rule applies to powers and roots, where can be any real number.
- The absolute uncertainty can then be calculated from the fractional uncertainty.
How it is examined
The core of Paper 1B. Data tables in the stem, then processing and interpretation. May 2025 HL Paper 1B TZ1 gave a mixture of iron, sand and salt with masses and asked for percentage composition (1 mark for both values together), then asked why the iron percentage was misleading (1 mark, answer about density). Expect graph reading, gradient, and "identify the anomalous result" parts at 1 to 2 marks each.
Key ideas
- Identify and record relevant qualitative observations.
- Collect and record sufficient relevant quantitative data.
- Identify and address issues that arise during data collection.
- Carry out relevant and accurate data processing.
Guiding questions
- None given.
Linking questions
- Structure 1.3 In the study of emission spectra from gaseous elements and of light, what qualitative and quantitative data can be collected from instruments such as gas discharge tubes and prisms?
- Structure 1.4 How can a calibration curve be used to determine the concentration of a solution?
- Structure 3.1 What experimental data demonstrate the physical properties of metals, and trends in these properties, in the periodic table?
- Reactivity 3.2 What observations can be made when metals are mixed with aqueous metal ions, and solutions of halogens are mixed with aqueous halide ions?
Practice questions
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Where marks are lost
- Reaching for "human error" or "only one trial." A source of error has to be a specific step in the method, not a general apology for the result.
- Joining the dots instead of drawing a curve.
- Naming a chemical instead of the property that distinguishes it, or vice versa. Answering with the nearest fact that comes to mind rather than the fact the command term and stem jointly ask for is a recurring way to answer a question that was not, quite, the one asked.
