Question about Uncertainty in Velocity [ENDORSED]

[Alyssa Chan 3B]

When a problem says that ∆v is ± ____ m/s, why do you multiply the ∆v value by 2 when you're solving the uncertainty equation?

[Ashley Van Belle 2B]

∆v is change in velocity, and so the ± ____ m/s refers to the uncertainty of that value.

For example, say that the ∆v is 50 m/s ± 2. This means that there is an uncertainty in which your velocity could range from 48 to 52, because you added or subtracted 2 from 50. If you now notice, finding ∆v is the final velocity minus the initial velocity. 52 - 48 equals to 4.

Therefore, by simply multiplying your ± ____ m/s by 2, it is basically doing the same thing as finding the gap in which the velocity could lie.

I hope that this explanation helped and didn't confuse you!