01 TUTORIAL QUESTIONS ON MEASUREMENT

Students are provided with solutions to Q 1, 4, 9.

Base quantities:

1. Find the base unit of k in the following equations:

(a) velocity = k x density
(b) force = k x radius x velocity [kg-1 m4 s-1, kg m-1 s-1]

 v  m s1
 a  v  k   k  = =  kg1m4s1
   kg m 3

F  = kg m s2  kg m1 s1

 
b F  krv   
k =
r v  m m s1 

2. Find the base units of R in the gas equation pV = nRT where n is the number of moles of a
given gas. [kg m2 s-2 mol-1 K-1]

 PV  kg m s m  m
2 2 3

pV  nRT  R  = =  kg m2 s 2 mol1 K 1
nT  mol K

3. Which of the following could be the correct expression for the velocity of ocean waves in
terms of  the density of sea water, g the acceleration of free fall, h the depth of the ocean
and  the wavelength?

g 
A A B  gh C g D
 h

C. [gλ]  m s  m  m s
-2 -1

Estimates of physical quantities:

4. Give reasonable estimates for:

(a) the volume of a wooden metre rule found in a school laboratory,
(b) the energy to supply light for 1 hour of reading,
(c) the heat to make a cup of hot tea.

(a) volume = lbt =100 3 0.5  150 cm3

(b) energy = P t  =40  3600  1.4  105 J

(c) Heat  mc = 0.3  4200 100 - 28   9.1 105 J

1
5. Which of the following estimate is realistic?

A The kinetic energy of a bus traveling on an expressway is 30000 J.

B The power of a domestic light is 300 W.
C The temperature of a hot oven is 300 K.
D The volume of air in a car tyre is 0.03 m 3.

D. 0.03 m 3 is about 30 litres.

Accuracy and precision:

6. A voltmeter connected across a resistor in a circuit gives readings which have high
precision but low accuracy. Which of the following best describes the likely error in
readings taken with this voltmeter?

random error systematic error

A high high
B high low
C low high
D low low

C.

7. 2010 H2 P1 Q1
An object falls freely from rest and travels a distance s in time t. A graph of t2 against s is
plotted and used to determine the acceleration of free fall g.

The gradient of the graph is found to be 0.204 s2 m-1.

Which statement about the value obtained for g is correct?
A It is accurate but not precise
B It is both precise and accurate
C It is neither precise nor accurate
D It is precise but not accurate

A.

2
Calculation of uncertainties:

8. Given that a = 12.26 ± 0.08

b = 0.25 ± 0.05
c = 1256 ± 8
d = 0.004 ± 0.001
e = 1.2 ± 0.2
Evaluate the following functions and give your answers with uncertainty.

(a) y=a+d+e
(b) p = 3e – b
ab
(c) z5
e
c
(d) h
a
1
 a2  4
(e) k   [13.5 ± 0.3, 3.4 ± 0.7, 13  5, 10.12 ± 0.07, 0.56  0.03]
 ce 

(a) y  a  d  e  12.26  0.004  1.2  13.464

y  a  d  e  0.08  0.001  0.2  0.3 (to 1 s.f.)
 y  13.5  0.3

(b) p  3e – b  3 1.2 – 0.25  3.35

p  3e  b  3  0.2  0.05  0.7 (to 1 s.f.)
 p  3.4  0.7

ab  12.26  0.25 
(c) z5  5  =12.77
e  1.2 
z a b e
  
z a b e
z 0.08 0.05 0.2
   
12.77 12.26 0.25 1.2
 z  5 (to 1 s.f.)
 z  13  5

c 1256
(d) h  =10.122
a 12.26
h 1  c a 
  
h 2 c a 
h 1 8 0.08 
   
10.12 2  1256 12.26 
 h  0.07 (to 1 s.f.)
 h  10.12  0.07

3
 1 1
 a2  4  12.262  4
(e) k      0.562
 ce   1256  1.2 
k 1  a c e 
 2  
k 4 a c e 
k 1 0.08 8 0.2 
  2  
0.562 4  12.26 1256 1.2 
 k  0.03 (to 1 s.f.)
 k  0.56  0.03

9. In an experiment, the external diameter d1 and internal diameter d2 of a metal tube are
found to be (64 ± 2) mm and (47 ± 1) mm respectively. What is the percentage uncertainty
in (d1 - d2)? [18 %]

d1 – d2   64  2 –  47  1 = 17  3 mm

 d 1  d 2  3
Percentage uncertainty  100   100  18%
d1  d 2 17

10. A body, dropped from a tower, is timed to take (2.0 ± 0.1) s to fall to the ground. If the
acceleration of free fall is taken as 10 m s-2, the calculated height of the tower should be
quoted as

A (20 ± 0.1) m B (20 ± 0.2) m C (20 ± 1) m D (20 ± 2) m

1 2
[Hint: Use h  at where h is height, a is acceleration and t is time]
2

1 2 1
gt  10  2.0   20 m
2
D. h 
2 2
h  t  h  0.1 
 2    2   h  2 m
h  t  20  2.0 
 h  20  2 m

11. The formula for the period of a simple pendulum is T  2 L . Such a pendulum is used to
g
determine g. The fractional uncertainty in the measurement of the period T is ±x and that
in the measurement of the length L is ± y. The fractional uncertainty in the calculated value
of g is no greater than

A x+y B x-y C 2x + y D 2x - y

L L L
C. T  2  T 2  4 2    g  4 2 2
g g T

g L T
  2  y  2x
g L T

4
12. A student makes measurements from which he calculates the speed of sound as 327.66
m s-1. He estimates that his result is accurate only to ±3%. Which one of the following
gives his result reduced to the appropriate number of significant figures?

A 300 m s-1 B 328 m s-1 C 327.7 m s-1 D 330 m s-1

v
D.  0.03
v
v
  0.03
327.66
 v  10 m s 1 (to 1 s.f.)
Thus v  330  10 m s 1

13. The manufacturers of a digital voltmeter give, as its specification,

“accuracy ± 1 % with an additional uncertainty of ± 10 mV”.

The meter reads 4.072 V. How should he record his reading, together with its uncertainty?
[4.07 ± 0.05 V]

v  0. 014. 072  0. 01  0. 05 V(to 1 s.f.)

Thus v  4. 07  0. 05 V

14. To find the density of an aluminum sheet, the mass, length and breadth were determined
within 1%. Its mean thickness was found by folding it twice to give a stack of four sheets,
the thickness of which was measured to be 11.2 ± 0.4 mm and the zero reading of the
screw gauge was recorded as 1.2 ± 0.4 mm. Calculate the percentage uncertainty of its
density. [11%]

4t  11.2  0.4  – 1.2  0.4  = 10.0  0.8 mm

 t  2.5  0.2 mm
t 0.2
  0.08
t 2.5
M

xbt
 M x b t
    
 M x b t
 0.01  0.01  0.01  0.08  0.11
Percentage uncertainty = 11%

5
15. The length of a piece of paper is measured as 297 ± 1 mm. Its width is measured as 209 ±
1 mm.
(a) What is the fractional uncertainty and percentage uncertainty in its length?
(b) What is the area of one side of the piece of paper? State your answer with
uncertainty. [0.0034, 0.34%, 62100  500 mm2]

l 1
(a)   0.0034
l 297
Percentage uncertainty = 0.34%

b A  lw  297( 209 )  62073 mm2

A l w
 
A l w
A 1 1
  
62073 297 209
 A  500 mm2 (to 1 s.f.)
 A  62100  500 mm2

16. The equation governing the volume rate of flow, V , of a fluid under streamline conditions
t
V  r 4
through a horizontal pipe of length L and radius r is  where  is the pressure
t 8LY
difference across the pipe and Y is the viscosity of the fluid. In an experiment to find Y for
water, a student quotes his result as 1.137 x 10-3 kg m-1 s-1. He estimates the percentage
V
uncertainties in his measurements of , , L and r as ±3%, ±2%, ±0.5% and ±5%
t
respectively. How should he have written the result? [(1.1  0.3) x 10-3 kg m-1 s-1]

V  r 4  r 4
 Y 
t 8LY V 
8L  
t 
Y  r L V /t 
 4  
Y  r L V /t
Y
  0. 02  40. 05   0. 005  0. 03
1. 137  10 3
 Y  0. 3  10 3 kg m-1 s -1 to1 s.f. 
Y  1. 1  0. 3   10 3 kg m-1 s -1

6
17. 2012 H2 P1 Q2.
The equation connecting object distance u, image distance v and focal length f for a
1 1 1
lens is  
u v f
A student measures values of u and v, with their associated uncertainties. These are
u = 50 mm  3 mm
v = 200 mm  5 mm
He calculates the value of f as 40 mm. What is the uncertainty in this value?
A  2.1 mm B  3.4 mm C  4.5 mm D  6.8 mm

A.
Note: There are some circumstances where the uncertainty in the final value is best
found by working the problem through twice, once with the readings as taken and
once with the limiting values which will give the maximum result.

Estimation of s.f. and d.p.:

18. This question gives you practice on the estimation of the number of significant figures.
Given that a = 0.87
b = 23.0
c = 1453.00
d = 0.0008
e = 1.85 x 105
f = 1.11
Evaluate the following functions, giving your answers with the appropriate number of
significant figures.
(a) Y=b+c–d (e) M = sin a (assuming a is in degrees)
(b) Z=cxe (f) N = (c x e)1/2
e (g) P = b2 – a2
(c) K (h) Q = log10 b
ad
3b (i) R = log10 a
(d) L (j) S = log10 f
c
[1476.0, 2.69 x 108, 2.7 x 108, 4.75 x 10-2, 0.0152, 1.64 x 104, 528, 1.362, –0.060, 0.045]

(a) Y  b  c – d  23.0  1453.00  0.0008  1476.0 (to 1 d.p.)

(b) Z  c  e=1453.00  1.85  105 =2.69  108 (to 3 s.f.)

e 1.85  105
(c) K  =2.7  108 (to 2 s.f.)
ad 0.87  0.0008

3b 3  23.0 
(d) L  =4.75  102 (to 3 s.f.)
c 1453.00

7
 (e) M  sin  a   sin  0.87  0.0152 (to 3 s.f.)
1

 
1
(f) N   c  e  2  1453.00  1.85  105 2
 1.64  104 (to 3 s.f.)

(g) P  b2  a2  23.02  0.872  529  0.757  528 (to zero d.p.)

(h) Q  log10 b  log10 23.0

 1.362 (corrected to to 3 d.p. to follow 23.0 with 3 s.f.)

(i) R  log10a  log10 0.87

 0.060 (corrected to 3 d.p. as 0.87 is close to 1.00 which has 3 s.f.)

(j) Q  log10f  log101.11

 0.045 (corrected to to 3 d.p. to follow 1.11 with 3 s.f.)

Scalars and Vectors:

19 2011 H2 P1 Q1
A picture frame is hung by a cord form a nail.

Which vector trainagle represents the resultant R of the two tension forces T in the cord?

B.

8
20. An object has an initial velocity of 20 m s-1 at an angle of 180o to OX. At a later time, its
velocity is 20 m s-1 at an angle of 120o to OX. (Directions are indicated by measuring
angles anticlockwise from the direction OX.)
20 m s-1

20 m s-1 180o 120o

O X

(a) Sketch a vector diagram to show the initial velocity, final velocity and the change in
velocity of the object.
(b) Find the change in velocity. [20 m s-1 at 60o to OX]

(a) –vi

v vf
v
vf
60o 60o
vi
v  v f -v i  v f  -v i 

(b) From the vector diagram, v  20 m s1 at an angle of 60o to OX.

21. A car travels due east with speed of 50 km h-1. Rain is falling vertically relative to Earth.
The traces of rain on the side windows of the car make an angle of 60o with the vertical.
Find the velocity of the rain relative to (a) the car and (b) the Earth.
[57.7 km h-1, 28.9 km h-1 downwards]

(a) v RC  v R  vC  v R  (vC )
vC 50
From the vector triangle, sin60o = 
v RC v RC
VRC
 v RC  57.7 km h1 at 60o with the vertical 60o
VR

vC 50
(b) From the vector triangle, tan60o =  -VC= 50 km h-1
vR vR
 v R  28.9 km h1 downwards