Question

The melting point of potassium thiocyanate determined by a student in the laboratory turned out to be 174.5 oC. The accepted value of this melting point is 173.2 oC. What is the percent error in this reading?

Answer 1

Answer:

0.75%

Explanation:

Measured value of melting point of potassium thiocyanate = 174.5 °C

Actual value of melting point of potassium thiocyanate = 173.2 °C

Error in the reading = |Experimental value - Theoretical value|

= |174.5 - 173.2|

= |1.3|

Percentage error = (Error / Theoretical value) × 100

= (1.3 / 173.2)×100

= 0.75 %

∴ Percentage error in the reading is 0.75%