Physics Unit 1 Review Solutions
Physics Unit 1 Review Solutions
2. If a measurement is uncertain by some amount, then which number do you graph!? What happens to the appearance of a graph when you graph different values in the uncertainty range? Give an example. Graphing the averages of your trials is a good technique, as long as you indicate how much uncertainty there is in the average. You could do this by putting small uncertainty bars above and below the averaged point you graph. Or you could graph a small range or zone instead of just a single point. This gives us a better idea of what the pattern in the graph might be. If you graph the upper limit of the uncertainty range, the graph could shift up and/or right depending on which variable (vertical or horizontal) is being graphed at the upper limit.
3. Based on your experience with the bouncy ball lab, describe which tasks you did that you would consider to be part of the experiment and which things you developed you would consider to be a model. In the pendulum lab the experiment - changing the length and measuring time for one swing, changing angle and measuring time, etc. The model - as length increases so does time for one swing (in a curved pattern), angle below 10 degrees doesnt matter, mass doesnt matter, etc. What is an experiment? Experiment - the doing, the measuring and controlling of variables, graphing, etc. What is a model? Model - the rules for the phenomena we studied we develop after the experiment. Think of the board game analogy here.
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4. a)Explain at what points during the unit you were using a model to make real predictions about the world. Pendulum music challenge, and bouncy ball Rectangle of doom challenge b) Why would a scientist consider a model to be useful instead of correct? Is it important to make this distinction? Useful because they can be applied to other situations to make predictions. They are not always perfect and will not predict perfectly what will happen, so saying they are correct may be misleading. Secondly a model may be modied or improved (think pendulum lab) so that it is MORE useful but still not correct. 5. Create a properly scaled and labeled graph of the data below. If it is linear, draw a best t line, calculate and describe the meaning of the slope, and describe the meaning of the y-intercept. Write a math equation to describe the data and point out which parts of the equation are variables, numbers, and units.
b) Using the information above...How much money would 10 CDs would cost? How much would 1 cost? Approximately 135 dollars for 10 cds. Approximately 15 dollars for 1 cd. c) Using the information above...approximately how many CDs you can get for $250?
Approximately 19 cds. d) You and your friend are buying CD's. You notice that your stack is three times as tall as your friend's stack of CD's. How much more will your's cost? 3 times as much.
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