WOLFRAM|DEMONSTRATIONS PROJECT

GUM versus Exact Uncertainty of sin(x) and cos(x) When x Is Normally Distributed

​
σ
0.7
sin
cos
mean
standard deviation
The mean and standard deviation of
sin(x)
and
cos(x)
, when
x
follows the normal distribution with mean
μ
and standard deviation
σ
, are shown on four plots to compare the approximate and exact solutions. The red curve is an approximation calculated by formulas given in GUM (Guide to Uncertainty in Measurement). The blue curve is exact, as calculated by Mathematica 8. The approximate means are independent of
σ
and all the approximations are better for small values of
σ
.