- Current section: Introduction
- Learning outcomes
- 1 Measurement in science
- 2 Probability and descriptive statistics
- 2.1 Preamble
- 2.2 Chance and probability
- 2.3 Calculating probability
- 2.4 Probability and common sense
- 2.5 Expressing probability
- 2.6 Combining probabilities
- 2.8 Descriptive statistics
- 2.9 Repeated measurements
- 2.10 The distribution of repeated measurements
- 2.11 Using a calculator for statistical calculations
- 2.12 How likely are particular results?
- 2.13 Different types of ‘average’
- 2.14 Samples and populations
- Acknowledgements
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Maths for Science
Observation, measurement and the recording of data are central activities in science....
Observation, measurement and the recording of data are central activities in science. Speculation and the development of new theories are crucial as well, but ultimately the predictions resulting from those theories have to be tested against what actually happens and this can only be done by making further measurements. Whether measurements are made using simple instruments such as rulers and thermometers, or involve sophisticated devices such as electron microscopes or lasers, there are decisions to be made about how the results are to be represented, what units of measurements will be used and the precision to which the measurements will be made. In this unit we will consider these points in turn.
After completing your work on this unit you should be able to:
- demonstrate understanding of the terms emboldened in the text;
- convert quantities expressed as integers or in decimal notation to scientific notation and vice versa;
- use prefixes in association with the SI base units and convert between prefixes;
- express a given quantity as an order of magnitude;
- state the number of significant figures in any given quantity;
- express a given quantity to any stipulated number of significant figures.
- calculate the probability of a particular outcome from information about possible outcomes;
- express a probability as a fraction, a decimal number or a percentage;
- combine probabilities appropriately from information about possible outcomes;
- interpret data in which the relative values of quantities are expressed as ratios;
- calculate the mean, mode and median for a set of data;
- calculate the standard deviation sn for a set of repeated measurements of a particular quantity;
- calculate the estimated standard deviation of a population, sn−1, from a set of measurements made on a sample drawn from the population.
- Duration: 14 hours
- Published on: Thursday 21st July 2011
- Level: Introductory
- Posted under: Mathematics Education
Contents
Maths for Science
Introduction

The unit that follows presents two sections from different parts of the Maths for Science teaching text – a course designed to help OU students acquire the knowledge and skills to tackle the mathematical aspects of science courses they are likely to go on to study. The first (Section 1), covering the first six of the learning outcomes, is about measurement. Observation, measurement and the recording of data are central activities in science. Whether measurements are made using simple instruments such as rulers and thermometers, or involve sophisticated devices such as electron microscopes or lasers, there are decisions to be made about how the results are to be represented, what units of measurements will be used and the precision to which the measurements will be made. The second selection from the course (Section 2) is about probability and descriptive statistics, where you will learn something of the statistical techniques that are used to make sense of data of the type often gathered from measurements of the type discussed in Section 1.
This unit is an adapted extract from the course Maths for science (S151) [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]
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- Creative-Commons: The Open University is proud to release this free course under a Creative Commons licence. However, any third-party materials featured within it are used with permission and are not ours to give away. These materials are not subject to the Creative Commons licence. See terms and conditions. Full details can be found in the Acknowledgements section.
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