Date:

Experiment #: 1
Topic: Measuring length

Objective:
The aim of this experiment is to:
1. Learn how the number of significant figure in a measured value depends on the smallest
division of the measuring instrument.
2. To practice the proper way to express the value of a measured quantity.
3. Determine experimentally the density of a substance.

Equipment:
Electronic beam
balance
Vernier caliper
Metre rule
Micrometer
Steel ball bearings
Background:
1. What is density? (a measure of the combination of how compressed the material is and
how much its atoms or molecules weigh per unit volume; commonly use units of density is
g cm-or kg m-3 ).
2. How can the density of a substance be obtained? (by measuring the mass and volume
of a sample of a substance and calculating the ratio m/V).
3. Describe the 3 most length measuring instrument in terms of their precision. (Most
lengths are measured using a metre rule. However, for more accurate and precise
measurements, vernier calipers or micrometers are often used, particularly in
measurements involving small objects).The precision of the metre rule is 0.1cm, 0.01cm
for the vernier caliper and 0.10mm for the micrometer screw gauge.
4. What instrument is used for measuring mass? (Beam balance).

Method:

1. Use the digital balance to measure the mass of a single ball bearing.
2. Use the digital balance to measure the total mass of 10 ball bearings.
3. Record the smallest sub-division of the digital balance. (0.01g)
4. Use the metre rule to measure the diameter of a single ball bearing.
5. Use the metre rule to measure the total length across 10 ball bearings.
6. Record the smallest sub-division of the metre rule. (0.1cm)
7. Use the vernier caliper to measure the diameter of a single ball bearing.
8. Record the smallest sub-division of the vernier caliper. (0.01cm)
9. Use the micrometer to measure the diameter of a single ball bearing.
10. Record the smallest sub-division of the micrometer. (0.01mm)

Data Collected:
Record your data in a suitable form
mass of 1 a single ball bearing = (1.00 ± 0.01)g
the total mass of 10 spheres, measured all at once = (10.40 ± 0.01)g
smallest sub-division of the beam balance = 0.1g
 the diameter of 1 a single ball bearing, measured with the metre rule
= (1.64 ± 0. 05)cm – (1.00 ± 0. 05)cm
= (0.64 ± 0. 1)cm

the total length across 10 ball bearings: P = (1.00 ± 0.05)cm, Q = (7.40 ± 0.05)cm
smallest sub-division of the metre rule = 0.1cm
diameter of a single ball bearing, measured with the vernier caliper = (0.640 ± 0.005)cm
smallest sub-division of the vernier = 0.01cm
diameter of a single ball bearing, measured with the micrometer = (6.395 ± 0.005)mm
smallest sub-division of the micrometer = 0.01mm

Data Analysis:
Discussion:
Write a suitable discussion. (Every measurement has an inherent uncertainty, i.e. no
measurement made is ever exact. These uncertainties may be due to: the limitations inherent in
the construction of the measuring instrument; variations in how the measurements are made
(eg, parallax errors, environmental conditions like pressure and temperature changing); the
conditions under which the instrument was made (eg, bad calibration).

Consequently, in reporting the measurements made during an experiment it is necessary to

indicate the degree of uncertainty, as far as it is known.

When more than one quantity has to be measured, and the results then used to obtain the value of
another quantity, one should aim to reach a similar accuracy for each quantity. There is little point
in measuring one quantity with great care and accuracy if another quantity can only be measured
roughly and very inaccurately. So the choice of an instrument for taking measurement depends
upon both the size of the object to be measured and the accuracy of the measurements required. In
any experiment, equipment should be chosen so as to enable measurement to be made to roughly
the same percentage error. The choice of an instrument depends upon the accuracy, the precision
and the range. The number of significant figures recorded in a measured quantity depends upon
the smallest sub-division of the instrument used. The value of a small quantity can be measured for
an higher degree of precision with an instrument that is only modestly precise, by obtaining the
total value for a large number of quantity taken together, since the uncertainty of the measuring
instrument is spread among the number of spheres.)

When a measurement is made it is possible to describe two fundamental types of error

that may occur. Differentiate between these two types of errors. (Random errors are due
to the accuracy of the equipment and systematic errors are due to how well the equipment
was used or how well the experiment was controlled. A random error makes the measured
value both smaller and larger than the true value. Chance alone determines if it is smaller or
larger. Reading the scales of a balance, a metre rule, etc. produces random errors. In other
words, you can weigh a ball bearing on a balance and get a different answer each time simply
due to random errors. They cannot be avoided; they are part of the measuring process.

Uncertainties are measures of random errors. These are errors incurred as a result of making
 measurements on imperfect tools which can only have certain degree of precision. They are
predictable, and the degree of error can be calculated. Generally they can be estimated to be
half of the smallest division on a scale. For a digital reading such as an electronic balance
the last digit is rounded up or down by the instrument and so will also have a random error of
± half the last digit.

A systematic error makes the measured value always smaller or larger than the true value, but not
both. An experiment may involve more than one systematic error and these errors may nullify one
another, but each alters the true value in one way only. Accuracy (or validity) is a measure of the
systematic error. If an experiment is accurate or valid then the systematic error is very small.

Systematic error is the result of a mis-calibrated device, or a measuring technique, which cause
readings to be consistently too high or too low when compared with the accepted value.
Systematic error reduces accuracy. eg, inability to read the instrument beyond some fraction of
the smallest division. This type of error is not reduced or eliminated by repeating the
measurement. Random error occurs when repeated measurements of the same quantity.

Differentiate between accuracy and precision. (Accuracy refers to the closeness of a

measurement to the accepted value for a specific physical quantity. It is expressed as either an
absolute or relative (percentage) error. The uncertainty of a measurement may also be expressed
in terms of precision. Precision is the agreement among several measurements that have been
made in the same way. It tells how reproducible the measurements are and is expressed in terms
of deviation.)

A third way of indicating the precision of a measurement is by means of significant

figures. What is meant by the term ‘significant figures’? (those digits in a number that are
known with certainty plus the first digit that is uncertain.)

What determines the number of significant figure to which a measure quantity is

recorded? (least count of the instrument).

Differentiate between a graduated scale and a digital instrument? (a graduated scale has
markings or graduations: a metre rule is a graduated scale. A digital instrument has no scale; its
readings appear in a display window: a stop watch is a digital instrument.)

How is the precision of a measuring instrument determined? (precision is a characteristic of the

instrument: it depends upon the instrument’s design. The value represented by 1 sub-division of a
graduated scale is regarded as the precision of the instrument. For a digital instrument the precision
is the value to which it reads correct, commonly called it least count. The precision of the metre rule
is 0.1cm, 0.01cm for the vernier caliper, 0.1g for the beam balance and 0.01mm for the micrometer.)

What technique is used to assess the total error in a calculation? (when two quantities are to
be subtracted their absolute errors are added together to obtain the absolute error in the answer.
When two quantities are to be divided their percentage errors are added together to obtain the
percentage error in the answer. When a quantity is to be raised to a power, the percentage error
is multiplied by that power to obtain the percentage error in the answer.)
 Calculations:
1. Calculating the average diameter of 1 ball bearing, using the data obtained
with the metre rule
L = (7.40 ± 0.05) cm – (1.00 ± 0.05) cm
= (6.40 ± 0.1) cm
= 6.40 cm ± 1.6%
6.40𝑐𝑚 ± 1.6%
Average diameter of 1 ball bearings =
10
= = 0.64 cm ± 1.6%

2. Comparing the diameters obtained using the metre rule.

exact diameter of a single ball bearing = (0.64 ± 0.1) cm

= 0.64cm ± 15.9 %
Note that 15.9% is approximately 10 times 1.6%.

The measurement obtained when the total length across 10 ball bearings was measured and the
average diameter of 1 calculated is more reliable than measuring the exact diameter of 1 a single
ball bearing since the percentage error is much less. The error is reduced by a factor of 10.

3. Calculating the average mass of 1 ball bearing, using the digital balance.

mass of 10 ball bearings = (10.40 ± 0.01) g

= 10.40g ± 0.1 %

10.40g ± 0.1 %
Average mass of 1 ball bearing =
10

= 1.04g ± 0.1 %

4. Comparing the masses obtained using the beam balance.

exact mass of 1 ball bearing = (1.00 ± 0.01) cm

= 1.00 g ± 1.0 %

The measurement obtained when the total mass of 10 ball bearings was measured and the
average mass of 1 calculated is more reliable than measuring the exact mass of 1 ball bearing
since the percentage error is much less. The error is reduced by a factor of 10.
5. Showing that the density of the material from which the ball bearings is made can be
found using :
𝟔𝒎
𝝆=
𝝅𝒅𝟑

4
Volume of a single ball bearing, 𝑉 = 𝜋𝑟 3
3

𝑚
Density of the ball bearing material, 𝜌 = 𝑉

𝑚
= 4
3
𝜋𝑟 3

𝑚
= 4 𝑑 3
𝜋
3 2

6𝑚
=
𝜋𝑑 3

6. Obtaining a value for the density of steel, using the most reliable measurement for the
mass and diameter.

Most reliable value for m is 1.04 g ± 0.1 %

For the metre rule d = 1.04 g ± 0.1 %

For the vernier caliper d = 0.640cm ± 0.8 %
For the micrometer d = 0.639cm ± 0.1 %

Therefore, the most reliable value for d is 0.639cm ± 0.1 %

6𝑚
𝜌=
𝜋𝑑 3

6 1.04 ± 0.1%
= 3
𝜋 0.6395 ± 0.1

= 7.59g/cm3 ± 0.4 %
7. Comparing the experimental value for ρ with the accepted value.

The accepted value for the density of steel is 7.61g/cm3, The experimental value is
therefore accurate since the accepted value is within the range of the experimental
value.

Conclusion
Write a suitable conclusion based on what you have learnt. (Within the limit of experimental errors
the density of steel was found to be 7.59g/cm3 ± 0.4 %