FACULTY OF SCIENCE

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY

MODULE CET2BQA
CHEMICAL QUALITY ASSURANCE

CAMPUS DFC

TEST 1, SEMESTER 2

DATE: 03/09/2018 SESSION: 08:00 – 0940

ASSESSOR(S) DR C ZVINOWANDA

EXTERNAL EXAMINER Dr M MUJURU

EXTERNAL MODERATOR PROF M MUJURU

DURATION 1HR 40 MIN FULL MARKS = 80

NUMBER OF PAGES: 7 PAGES

INSTRUCTIONS: CALCULATORS ARE PERMITTED (ONLY ONE PER STUDENT)

REQUIREMENTS: ANSWER SCRIPTS

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
1. PLEASE ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS
2. STUDENTS WILL BE PENALIZED FOR OMITTED OR INCORRECT UNITS
3. STUDENTS WILL BE PENALIZED FOR INCORRECT USE OF SIGNFICANT
FIGURES

Page 1 of 7
SECTION A [20]

Question 1
Which one of he following statements is correct about “Random Errors”
A. Affect outliers
B. Caused for determinate errors
C. Data scattered approx. symmetrically about a mean value
D. Detectable by carrying out sufficient replicate measurements
E. Caused by several possible sources

Question 2
Which one of the statements below is not correct about systematic errors?
A. Can be estimated by using replicate measurements
B. Produce bias
C. Cause all results to be affect in one sense
D. Can be corrected using standard methods and materials
E. Caused by both humans and equipment

Question 3
Which one of the following is not a source of systematic errors?
A. Instrument Error
B. Method Error
C. Personal Error
D. Environmental condition
E. Random fluctuations from the instrument

Question 4
Which one of the following is a measure of dispersion?
A. mean
B. Variance
C. Median
D. Average
E. Mode

Question 5
Which one of the following statements describes the “confidence level
“correctly?
A. Interval around the mean that probably contains µ
B. The magnitude of the confidence limits
C. Range defined as the difference between the upper and lower limit
D. Fixes the level of probability that the mean is within the confidence limits
E. The acceptable limits for research

Question 6
Which one of the following statements correctly describe the F-Test?
A. Test whether there is a significance between the averages of two methods
B. Test whether there is a significance difference between the precision of the
two methods
C. Test if the is an outlier in a set of replicate data
D. Used to test the accuracy of analysts
E. Used to test the centrality of replicate data
Question 7
Which of the following test is used to test for outliers in a set of replicate data?

Page 2 of 7
A. Grubb’s Test
B. F-Test
C. Student t - test
D. Regression analysis
E. Analysis of variance (ANOVA)

Question 8
Two students (A and B) were instructed to analyse the same sample as part
of their proficiency test. Student A made 6 replicates and Student decided to
make 10 replicates. What is the overall degree of freedom of this test?
A. 15
B. 16
C. 3
D. 8
E. 14

Question 9
In which order should the statistical tools for data quality assurance be
applied?

A. F-test, Student t - test, Q - test

Question 10
Under which statistical conditions will the student t – test should be carried
out?
A. When there is a significant difference between the precision of the methods
B. When there is no significant difference between the precision of the methods
C. When there is a significant difference between the means of the methods
D. When there is no significant difference between the means of the methods
E. when the Q-test has managed to identify the outliers in the replicate data

Page 3 of 7
SECTION B

QUESTION 1 [20]

1.1 The following set of chloride analyses on separate aliquots of a pooled serum
were reported: 103, 106, 107, and 114 meq/L. One value appears suspect.
Identify this value and determine if it can be ascribed to accidental error, at
95% confidence level? (4)
1.2 Differentiate between the terms repeatability and reproducibility as they are
used in analytical chemistry (8)
Repeatability refers t the variability in a series of results obtained for a given
measurement carried out:
Reproducibility refers to variability in a series of results obtained for a given
measurement carried out:.
1.3 In a method for determining arsenourea in water, the following values were
obtained for tap water samples spiked with 50 ng/ml-1 of arsenourea:
50.4, 50.7, 49.1, 49.0, 51.1 ng/ml-1.
Is there evidence of a systematic error? (8)

QUESTION 2 [20]

2.1 A student was given a blind sample of a reference dust sample to analyse for
total iron content in it. The student reported 25.288 µg/g Fe in the blind
sample. The true content in the blind sample was 24.745 µg/g Fe.
2.1.1 What was the absolute error in the student’s result? (2)
2.1.2 What was the relative error in the student’s result? (3)
2.2 A student carried out titrimetric analysis of vitamin C in a juice concentrate
obtained the following repetitive end points (ml), as shown in the following
table.

n 𝑥𝑖 (𝑥𝑖 - 𝑥̅ ) ( 𝑥𝑖 - 𝑥̅ )2
1 10.08
2 10.11
3 10.09
4 10.10
5 10.12
Totals

2.2.1 Complete the given table and calculate the mean, standard deviation, variance
and relative standard deviation of the data. (10)

Page 4 of 7
2.3.1 The standard-normal-curve area between 0 and z is 0.4484 (2)
2.3.2 The standard-normal-curve area to the left of z is 0.9868 (3)

QUESTION 3

3.1 The following replicate magnesium determination on a plant extract using

Amperometric Colorimetric
method (mg/dm3)
(mg/dm3)
10.9 10.5
10.3 9.8
10.7 11.4
10.1 11.5
9.8 9.4
11.3 10.2
11.3
9.2
3.1.1` Determine the mean and standard deviation of each of the method used. (4)
3.1.2 Is there a significant difference between the precisions of the two methods at
95% confidence level? (4)
3.1.3 Calculate the pooled standard deviation of the two methods. (3)
3.1.4 Is there a significant difference between the means of the two methods at
95% confidence level? (4)
3.2 Atomic absorption analysis for cobalt concentration in aircraft engine oil gave
a value of 7.45 µg Co/mL. Pooled results of many analyses showed s ∞=
0.32 µg Co/mL.
3.2.1 Calculate 90% and 99% confidence limits if the above result were based on
(a) 1, (b) 4, (c) 16 measurements. (5)
[20]

Appendices

Page 5 of 7
Appendix 2: Values of z for determining Confidence Limits

Appendix 3: Values of t for various levels of probability

Appendix 4: 2-tailed F-Test

Page 6 of 7
Appendix 6: Rejection Coefficient test ratios

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