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1.1 Fundamental (Base) Quantities and Their Units: 13/03/2019, 22?42 Page 1 of 6

1. This document discusses fundamental quantities and units in physics, including the seven base SI units of mass, length, time, amount of substance, temperature, electric current, and luminous intensity. 2. Prefixes are provided for orders of magnitude, from tera (1012) down to femto (10-15). 3. The types of errors in measurement are defined as measurement error, anomaly, random error, and systematic error. Random errors average out with more measurements, while systematic errors require a different technique or equipment to identify.

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77 views6 pages

1.1 Fundamental (Base) Quantities and Their Units: 13/03/2019, 22?42 Page 1 of 6

1. This document discusses fundamental quantities and units in physics, including the seven base SI units of mass, length, time, amount of substance, temperature, electric current, and luminous intensity. 2. Prefixes are provided for orders of magnitude, from tera (1012) down to femto (10-15). 3. The types of errors in measurement are defined as measurement error, anomaly, random error, and systematic error. Random errors average out with more measurements, while systematic errors require a different technique or equipment to identify.

Uploaded by

sureshthevan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1.

1 Fundamental (base) quantities and their units

Fundamental Quantity SI Unit


Mass Kilogram, kg
Length metre, m
Time second, s
Quantity of matter mole, mol
Temperature Kelvin, K
Electric current Ampere, A

NB there is a 7th one for light intensity (the Candela) but its
not on the AQA spec.

1.2 Prefixes

PREFIX SYMBOL MEANING ORDER OF


MAGNITUDE
Tera T 1 000 000 000 000 1012
Giga G 1 000 000 000 109
Mega M 1 000 000 106
kilo k 1 000 103
centi c 1 /100 10-2
milli m 1 /1 000 10-3
micro µ 1 /1 000 000 10-6
nano n 1 /1 000 000 000 10-9
pico p 1 /1 000 000 000 000 10-12
femto f 1 /1 000 000 000 000 000 10-15

1.3 Errors

· measurement error
The difference between a measured value and the true value.

· anomaly
This is a freak result – judged to not fit the main trend. It should be rejected and the
reading repeated.

· random error
These cause readings to be either above or below the true value.

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Random errors are present when any measurement is made, and cannot be corrected.

The effect of random errors can be reduced by making more measurements and
calculating a new mean.

· systematic error
These cause readings to differ from the true value by a consistent amount each time a
measurement is made.

Sources of systematic error can include the


environment,

methods of observation or instruments used


(typically a zero error)

Systematic errors cannot be dealt with by simple repeats. If a systematic error is


suspected, the data collection should be repeated

using a different technique or a different set of equipment, and the results compared.

· accuracy
The closer you are to the true value the more accurate the measurement:

· precision
Precise measurements are ones in which there is very little spread about the mean value
ie. not much random error –

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it gives no indication of how close results are to the true value.

A precise scale will have a high resolution:

The resolution of the instrument is the smallest change in the quantity that can be
measured. For example the resolution of a stop clock is 0.01s,
and the resolution of a digital voltmeter is 0.01V.

A sensitive instrument is one that responds to a small change of input with a large change
in output.
· Repeatability a measurement is repeatable if the same person repeats using the
same method and apparatus

· Reproducibility a measurement is reproducible if another person does the


experiment and gets the same results

(or the same person uses a different method/apparatus).

1.4 Uncertainty

If measurements are repeated, the uncertainty is calculated by finding half the range of
the measured values.

For example these measurements taken from a vernier caliper:

Range = max.reading – min.reading = 10.32 – 10.22 = 0.10 , so uncertainty = 0.10 / 2 =


0.05

So we would quote: Mean distance: (10.26 ± 0.05) mm

If instead the measurements had all been the same:

Repeat 1 2 3 4
Distance/mm 10.26 10.26 10.26 10.26

Then to get the uncertainty we examine the resolution of the instrument, for Skinners’
vernier calipers this would be 0.02mm.

So we would quote: Mean distance: (10.26 ± 0.02) mm

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NB. Comparing the two methods it is quite typical for the resolution of the instrument
to produce a small percentage error.

1.5 Combining Errors

You must know the rules:

For sum and difference simply add the absolute errors

Eg. X = 20 ± 1, Y = 10 ± 2

sum X + Y = 30 ± 3, difference X - Y = 10 ± 3

For product or quotient you must add the percentage errors NOT the absolute errors:

Eg. % error in X = 1/20 = 5%, % error in Y = 2/10 = 20%

So % error in Product X.Y = 25%, % error in X / Y = 25% also,

So, X.Y = 200 ± 25% = 200 ± 50, X/Y = 2 ± 25% = 2 ± 0.5

For powers, multiply the percentage uncertainty by the power:

Eg. X3 = 8000, so % error in X3 = 3 x % error in X = 15%

So, X3 = 8000 ± 1200

OR, X3/2 = 89, so % error in X3/2 = 3/2 X 5% = 7.5%

so, X3/2 = 89 ± 7 (approx.)

1.6 Error bars on graphs

· Having correctly drawn your graph including a best fit line, you
will need to insert error bars:

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· Next you need to draw a second graph line – a best fit line of maximum
gradient as shown above (in
the example above a 3rd line of minimum gradient has been drawn too - strictly
this one is not needed.
· Next you calculate the gradient of the best fit line AND also the gradient of the
steeper line.
· Now the percentage uncertainties in both the gradient and the y-intercept can
be found:

1.7 Estimating

You will be expected to make reasonable estimations / approximations of some


quantities.

Egs.
· Mass of an apple ~ 100g (from a weight of 1N)
· Mass of a car 1 000 kg (from 1 tonne)
· Mass of a person say, 75 kg
· Volume of air in a room. To do this one, estimate dimensions of room in m, then
multiply them together.
· The above case could be extended to mass of air in room if you estimate the
density of air to be 1 kg/m3
· Density of water is about 1 000 kg/m3
· One pace is about a metre

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· Electricity: air breakdown is about 1 million volts/m. So about 1 million volts
would make a spark jump across a distance of 1m
· If an apple falls a distance of 1m, then 1 J of work is done
· Speed of light is about a million X more than the speed of sound.
· Speed of air molecules is about same as the speed of sound (330 m/s)
· Atmospheric pressure is about 100,000 Pa

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