its and Measurements UNITS AND MEASUREMENTS jitude: Order of magnitude of a quantity is the power of 10 which gives us a value nearest to the actual value of the quantity. For this a number less than 5 is treated as 1 and a number between 5 and 10 is treated as 10. Eg: 1. Radius of earth = 6400 km =6.4 x 10°m = 10 x 10° = 10” hence the order of magnitude of size of earth is 7. 2. Average height of a man = 1.8m = 1.8x 10° = 1 x 10°m hence the order of magnitude of height of man is zero. Measurement of length: The moderate length can be measured directly with the help of a meter rod, a vernier calipers, a screw gauge etc. The minimum distance or length measured by these instruments is known as the least count of the device. For Eg: A metre scale is used for lengths from 10° to 10’m. The L.C of meter scale is 1mm. To measure very large and very small distances we cannot use these instruments. For such measurements of length, indirect methods are used. Measurement of large distances: Parallax method is used to measure the large distances such as the distance of planets and stars from earth To measure the distances of a far away planet P, by the parallax method, we observe it from two different positions A and B on the earth separated by AB= b at the same time. The angle between the two directions is called the parallax angle. By taking AB as on arc of length b [ since @ is very small] and distance S as the radius then b = $ ©. > . b “$= e e When S is known, the diameter or size of the planet can be determined by using the equation d = $ © where © is the angle Subtended by the diameter of the planet at the observation Point on earth. A 5Units and Measurements Measurement of small distance: Size of a molecule: To find the size of a molecule of oleic acid. 1cm’ of oleic acid is mixed with 500 cm? of alcohol so that solution of oleic acid in alcohol with concentration equal to 1/500 is prepared. Put n drops of this solution on the surface of water so that a film of oleic acid is formed. This film is stretched so that its thickness is just equal to the molecular size. After some time, alcohol is evaporated and a thin layer of oleic acid is formed on the surface of water. The area of this layer is measured with a tracing paper and a graph sheet. Volume of oleic acid in n drops of solution = nv x 1/500 cm? : ___ Volume of film Now thickness of the film = ‘Area of film since thickness of film is equal to the molecular size and hence size of the molecule can be calculated. Practical units of length: The following units are used to measure very large distances Astronomical unit(AU): The average distance between sun and earth 1 AU = 1.496 x 10" m. Light year: Distance travelled by light in one year 1ly = 9.46 x 10m Parsec: Distance at which average radius of earth’s orbit subtends an angle of 1 arc sec. 1 parsec = 3.08 x 10m The following units are used to measure very small distances Micron =lpm =10°m Nanometre 10°m Angstrom 10° m Fermi =1fm =10°%m Measurement of mass: The mass of a body is the quantity of matter contained in it. It is a basic property of matter. It does not depend on the temperature, pressure or location of the body in space. The SI unit of mass is kilogram. Mass of common objects can be measured by the common balance. Large masses like planets, stars etc can be measured by using gravitational methods. Very small masses like atomic or sub-atomic particles can be measured with the help of mass spectrograph. Unified atomic mass unit is used to measure atomic and nuclear masses. It is defined as “ 1/12 th the mass of one atom of carbon 12 isotope”. Mass of objects vary over a wide range. They vary from tiny mass of order 10° kg of an electron to the huge mass of about 10° kg of the universe. Measurement of time: Time is simply what a clock reads. Any phenomenon that repeats itself after equal intervals of time can be used as a time standard. ————————Units and Measurements —————— Eg: Beating of human heart, revolution of earth around the sun. Period of vibration of cesium atomic clock etc. Cesium atomic clocks are very accurate. Second is the unit of time. Other units of time are: 1 shake = 108s Lunar month = 27.3 days 1day = 24 hours 1 year = 365,25 days Accuracy, precision of instruments and errors in measurement: The closeness of the measured value to the true value of the physical quantity is known as the accuracy of measurement. The extent or limit to which the physical quantity is measured is called precision. Precision is determined by the least count of the measuring instrument. The smaller the least count, greater is the precision. Let the true value of the particular length is 3.678 cm. If this length is measured in an instrument having resolution 0.1 cm, it is found to be 3.5 cm. If this length is measured in an instrument having resolution 0.01cm, it is found to be 3.38cm. The first measurement has more accuracy because it is closer to the true value but less precision while the second measurement is less accurate but more precise because its resolution is more. Errors: The difference between the true value and the measured value of a physical quantity is called error. Errors are classified into systematic errors and random errors. Systematic erro! The error which occurs according to a definite pattern is known a systematic error. Systematic errors are of three types: 1. Instrumental errors: These occur due to use of faulty or inaccurate instruments, zero error in the instrument etc. 2. Imperfection in experimental technique or procedure: These occur due to the limitations of the experimental arrangement. For eg: error due to the radiation loss in heat experiments. 3. Personal errors: These occur due to carelessness of an observer, lack of attentiveness, habits etc. Note: Systematic errors can be minimised by improving experimental techniques, selecting better instruments, correcting personal habits. Etc Random errors: The errors which occur irregularly are called random errors. These can arise due to random and unpredictable variations in experimental conditions. Eg: temperature, pressure etc and also due to personal errors of the observer. They can be minimised by repeating the observation number of times and taking the arithmetic mean of all the observations.Units and Measurements Least count errors: The smallest value that can be measured by the instrument is called least count. It is the error associated with the resolution of the instrument. Eg: A metre scale has a least count of 1 mm, the error in its reading will be half of its value ie + 0.5 mm. Magnitude of errors: This is classified into: 1. Absolute error: the difference between the true value and the individual measured value is called an absolute error. The mean value am of the measured valued is taken as the true value. The absolute error in the measured values are given by 2. Mean absolute error: The arithmetic mean of the magnitude of the absolute errors is called the mean absolute error. les} n 3. Relative error or fractional error: The ratio of mean absolute error to the mean value of the quantity measured is called the relative error or fractional error. Relative error = Aav/ am Relative error when expressed in percentage is called the percentage error a, Percentage error = aa 100% Combination of errors: 1. Error due to a sum or difference: When two quantities are added or subtracted, the absolute error in the final result is the sum of the absolute error in the individual quantities. 2. Error due to a product or quotient: When two quantities are multiplied or divided, the relative error in the result is the sum of the relative errors in the individual quantities. 3. Error in case of a measured quantity raised to a power: The relative error in a physical quantity raised to the power p is p times the relative error in the individual quantity. Significant figures: The number of digits upto which we are sure about their accuracy are called significant figures. The reliable digits plus the first uncertain digits are known are significant figures. Rules for counting significant errors: 1. Allnon zero digits are significant X= 1234 has four significant figures. 2. All zeros occurring between two non zero digits are significant irrespective of the decimal point. X= 1004 has four significant figures X= 1.0905 has five significant figuresits and Measurements 3. If the number is less than one, the zeros on the right of decimal point and to the left of first non zero digit are not significant. X= 0.007504 has four significant figures. 4. Ina number without a decimal point the terminal or trailing zeros are not significant X= 3240 has three significant figures. In a number with decimal point, the trailing zeros are significant. Xx = 0.007800 has four significant figures. 5. Change of units does not change the number of significant figures. X= 5.608 cm = 56.08 mm = 0.05608 m has four significant figures. 6. The digit 0 conventionally put on the left of a decimal for a number less than 1 is never significant. x = 0.3670 has four significant figures. Note: In determining the number of significant digits every measurement must be expressed in scientific notation ie in power of 10 and putting the decimal point after the first digit. X= 4.700 m = 4.700 x 10? cm = 4.700 x 10’mm = 4.700 x 10%km has four significant figures. ion, the final result should retain as many as significant figures as are there in the original number with the least significant figures. Let x=3.8 & y=0.125 475 = 0.48 is rounded off to two significant figures because in the given data least significant figures is 2. When m = 4.237 gm and v = 2.51 cm’, density = 7= re 1,688047= 1.69 gm? 2. In addition or subtraction, the final result should retain as many decimal places as are there in the number with the least decimal places. Eg: sum of 2.1, 1.78 &2.046 is 5.926 which is rounded off to 5.9 because in the given data least decimal place is one If x = 12.587 and y = 12.5 then x — y = 0.087 = 0.1 rounded off to the smallest number of decimal places in y Rounding off the measurement 1. If the digit to be dropped in a number is less than 5, then the preceding digit remains unchanged. Eg: 8.64 = 8.6 2. If the digit to be dropped in a number is greater than 5, then the preceding digit is raised by 1. Eg: 8.66 = 8.7 3. If the digit to be dropped in a number is 5 then the preceding digit remains unchanged, if it is even. Eg: 16.250 = 16.2Units and Measurements 4. If the digit to be dropped in a number is 5 then the preceding digit is raised by one if it is odd. Eg: 3.750 = 3.8