In: Math
You plan to calculate the volume of a tall, thin cylinder from measurements of its radius and height. Which dimension should you measure more carefully? Give reasons for your answer.
The volume of the cylinder with radius "r" and height "h" is given by
If the error in height is then
Similarly if the error in radius be
Then the error in its volume
Since the product of are smal we can ignore them
Dividing both sids by
Hence the maximum relative error in volume
As we can see the relative error in radius contribute more to relative error in volume
So radius of the wire is to be measured more accurately to minimize the error in Volume.