Physics and chemistry Unit 1: Scientific activity
Unit 1. Scientific activity
Index
1. The scientific method....................................................................................................2
2.- Measurement................................................................................................................4
2.1 Unit transformation......................................................................................................4
2.2. Scientific notation.......................................................................................................6
3. Working in the lab..........................................................................................................7
Practice exam ....................................................................................................................9
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Physics and chemistry Unit 1: Scientific activity
1. The scientific method
1. Observation
This step could also be called "research." It is the first stage in understanding the
problem you have chosen. After you decide on your area of science and the specific
question you want to ask, you will need to research everything that you can find about
the problem. You can collect information on your science fair topic from your own
experiences, books, the internet, or even smaller "unofficial" experiments. This initial
research should play a big part in the science fair idea that you finally choose.
2.Formulation of hypothesis
The next stage of the Scientific Method is known as the "hypothesis." This word
basically means "a possible solution to a problem, based on knowledge and research."
The hypothesis is a simple statement that defines what you think the outcome of your
experiment will be.
3. Experiments
This is the part of the scientific method that tests your hypothesis. An experiment is a
tool that you design to find out if your ideas about your topic are right or wrong.
It is absolutely necessary to design a science fair experiment that will accurately test
your hypothesis. The experiment is the most important part of the scientific method. It's
the logical process that lets scientists learn about the world.
When you do the experiment it can be very useful express your data in charts and/ or
graphs
4. Conclusion
The final step in the scientific method is the conclusion. This is a summary of the
experiment's results, and how those results match up to your hypothesis.
This is an important point. You can not PROVE the hypothesis with a single
experiment, because there is a chance that you made an error somewhere along the way.
What you can say is that your results SUPPORT the original hypothesis.
If your original hypothesis didn't match up with the final results of your experiment,
don't change the hypothesis. Instead, try to explain what might have been wrong with
your original hypothesis. What information did you not have originally that caused you
to be wrong in your prediction? What are the reasons that the hypothesis and
experimental results didn't match up?
Remember, a science fair experiment isn't a failure if it proves your hypothesis wrong or
if your prediction isn't accurate. No one will take points off for that. A science fair
experiment is only a failure if its design is flawed. A flawed experiment is one that (1)
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Physics and chemistry Unit 1: Scientific activity
doesn't keep its variables under control, and (2) doesn't sufficiently answer the question
that you asked of it.
When a hypothesis is confirmed you can communicate it to the rest of the scientific
community with Laws and theory
Observation All of the first stage of the Scientific Method -- the
observation, or research stage -- is designed to
help you express a problem in a single question
("Does the amount of sunlight in a garden affect
tomato size?")
Hypothesis. Propose an answer to the question based on what
you know.
( "I believe that the more sunlight a tomato plant
receives, the larger the tomatoes will grow.)
Experiments The experiment that you will design is done to test
the hypothesis.
(Remember: if you changed the amount of light,
AND changed the amount of water each plant
received, you wouldn't know if the bigger
tomatoes were because of the light, or the water!
So it's absolutely critical to have everything be as
close to identical or "controlled" as you can get it.)
Conclusions You have two options for your conclusions: based
on your results, either
(1) you CAN REJECT the hypothesis, or
(2) you CAN NOT REJECT the hypothesis.
1.- Do the graph of the following data:
Position (m) 0 5 15 20 35
Time (s) 0 1 3 4 7
a) Can you find a relationship between position and time? What is this?
b) When the time is 6 s, what is the distance? If the position is 40 m, what is the time?
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Physics and chemistry Unit 1: Scientific activity
2.- Measurement
Physics and Chemistry are based on the study of the properties of bodies that can be
quantified, measured. Those properties are called physical quantities. Each physical
quantity is always followed by a unit.
There are two types of physical quantities:
- Base quantities: they are self-defined, they can be worked out independently.
- Derived quantities: they are obtained from a combination of the base
The International System of Quantities (SI) lists seven base quantities:
Quantity name unit symbol
length metre m
mass kilogramme kg
time second s
temperature kelvin K
electric current ampere A
luminous intensity candela cd
amount of substance mole mol
Some derived quantities are:
area square metre m2
volume cubic metre m3
density kilogramme/cubic metre kg/m3
speed metre/second m/s
acceleration metre/second squared m/s2
2.1 Unit transformation.
Writing of very high or low numbers can be simplified by using multiples and
submultiples of the units, thus avoiding numbers with many digits. The mathematical
procedure to be used is to convert these numbers using conversion factors.
Tables of multiples or submultiples.
Prefix Symbol Value Description Decimal Value
tera (T) 1012 trillion 1 000 000 000 000
giga (G) 109 billion 1 000 000 000
mega (M) 106 million 1 000 000
kilo (k) 103 thousand 1 000
hecto (h) 102 hundred 100
deka (da) 101 ten 10
100 one 1
deci (d) 10-1 tenth 0’1
centi (c) 10-2 hundredth 0’01
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Physics and chemistry Unit 1: Scientific activity
milli (m) 10-3 thousandth 0’001
micro (µ) 10-6 millionth 0’000 001
nano (n) 10-9 billionth 0’000 000 001
pico (p) 10-12 trillionth 0’000 000 000 001
E.g. :
3600 s
2 hours into seconds = 2 hours · = 7200 s
1 hour
Activities:
2. Transform the following units by means of conversion factors:
a) 345 g into kg
b) 2954 s into days
c) 8560 mm into km
d) 22 m2 into cm2
e) 0.0065 g into mg
f) 7.85 mm3 into dm3
g) 32 min into hours
Sol: a) 0.345 b) 0.034 c) 0.008 560 d) 220 000 e) 6.5 f) 0.000 00785 g) 0.533
3. Write down :
a) In centimeters a TV of 42 inches (1 inch = 2,54 cm)
b) In square metres the surface of a kitchen table measuring 12000 cm2.
c) The distance between two cities (7 miles) in km (1Km is equivalent to 0.6214
miles.
Sol: a) 106,68 b) 1.2 c) 11,26 km
4. Express in SI units
a) 45 hm
b) 234.5 g
c) 125 dm3
d) 4 days
e) 45 mA
Sol: a) 4 500 m b) 0.2345 kg c) 0.125 d) 345 600 s e) 0.045 A
For complex units we use two conversion factors:
E.g.
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Physics and chemistry Unit 1: Scientific activity
1000 m 1 hour
90 Km/h a m/s= · 90 Km/ h · . · = 25 m/s
1 Km 3600 s
5. Transform the following units:
a) 135 km/h into m/s
b) 10 m/s into km/h
c) 8400 kg/m3 into g/cm3
d) 7.6 g/ cm3 into kg/m3
e) 108 km/h into m/s
Sol: a) 37.5m/s b) 36km/h c) 8.4 g/cm3 d) 7600 kg/m3 e) 30 m/s
2.2. Scientific notation.
The result of a measurement can produce a very small or very big number, which is
usually hard to read or uncomfortable to write.
In order to express these figures simply we resort to scientific notation, meaning that we
write a given figure by means of a decimal number with just one integer digit -the unit-
and a power of ten with a positive or negative exponent.
E.g.
- The distance between the Earth and the Sun is 150 000 000 m = 1.5 . 108 m
- The mass of a hydrogen atom is 1.67 . 10-27 kg
6- Express the following figures in scientific notation:
a) 20 000 000 m
b) 0. 000 035 kg
c) 7 820 000 000 m
d) 0.000 001 cm
e) 2500 A
7- Express the following figures in scientific notation and give the result with three
significant digits, applying rounding rules when necessary:
a) 240 000 000
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Physics and chemistry Unit 1: Scientific activity
b) 407 000
c) 23 567
d) 0.000 000 03
e) 0.05678
f) 34527.89
g) 0.00897654
h) 0.00453
i) 566789890
j) 678 900 000 000 000 000 000
3. Working in the lab
Material lab:
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Physics and chemistry Unit 1: Scientific activity
Activities
9. Label the following
10. Complete the table
material Use drawing
Watch glass
beaker
spatula
dropper
Volumetric cylinder
flask
funnel
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Physics and chemistry Unit 1: Scientific activity
11. Label the following
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Physics and chemistry Unit 1: Scientific activity
Practice exam
1.- Define physical quantity. What is the difference between base quantities and derived
quantities? Write three examples of base quantities and their units in the S.I.
2.-Transform the following units by means of conversion factors, to SI units:
a) 83.2 km f) 360 mm
b) 6 hours g) 20 mA
c) 720 cm h) 15 mg
d) 14,2 dam i) 112 hm
e) 72 g j) 2 weeks
3º Transform the following units by means of conversion factors:
a) 50 m/s a km/h
b) 400 km/h a m/s
2 2
c) 124 mm a dm
3 3
d) 7630 kg/m a g/cm
4º Name the stages of scientific method and explain briefly each one. Give an example.
5º Express the following figures in scientific notation and give the result with three
significant digits, applying rounding rules when necessary:
a) 635372 d) 0.0000234 g) 1967.52
b) 352.3 e) 180 000 000 h) 0.003574
c) 0.001878 f) 0.00000006 i) 0.9037
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Physics and chemistry Unit 1: Scientific activity
Answers to the practice exam:
2ºa) 83200 m b) 21 600 s c) 7.2 m d) 142 m e) 0.072kg f) 0.360 m g) 0.02 A
h)0.000 015 kg i) 11200 m j) 1209600 s
2 3
3ºa) 180 km/h b)111.1 m/s c) 0.0124 dm d) 7.630 g/cm
5º
a) 635372 = 6.35·105 d) 0.0000234= 2.34·10-5 g) 1967.52= 1.97·103
b) 352.3 = 3.52· 102 e) 180 000 000= 1.80·108 h) 0.003574= 3.57·10-3
c) 0.001878= 1.88·10-3 f) 0.00000006= 6.00·10-8 i) 0.9037= 9.04·10-1
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