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Date November 2012 Marks available 1 Reference code 12N.1.SL.TZ0.2
Level Standard level Paper Paper 1 Time zone Time zone 0
Command term Question number 2 Adapted from N/A

Question

Aiming for the centre of a target, an archer fires arrows which produces a pattern of hits as shown below.

The pattern suggests the presence of

A. random and systematic uncertainties.
B. random uncertainties but no systematic uncertainties.
C. systematic uncertainties but no random uncertainties.
D. neither random nor systematic uncertainties.

Markscheme

A

Examiners report

Option C was more popular than the correct response A. Candidates failed to recognize that the spread shown indicated that there were random errors in addition to the clear systematic error.

Syllabus sections

Core » Topic 1: Measurements and uncertainties » 1.2 – Uncertainties and errors
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