Ch:5 Measurement of Length and Motion

Question 1.
Would it be convenient to use the unit metre to measure larger lengths, such as the length of a
railway track between two cities, or to measure smaller lengths, such as the thickness of a page
of a book? (Page 83)
Answer:
Length and distance measurements are given in units and the number of units. For long
distances if small units like meters are used the number of units will be very large. This
becomes inconvenient. Therefore long distances like distances among two cities are measured
in kilometres.
Small thicknesses or lengths like the thickness of a page of book are measured in very small
units like mm. If this is measured in metres or km then number of units become very small
fractions inconvenient to handle.
Lengths like those of a room are measured in metres for convenience.

Question 2.
What do such kilometre stones indicate? How could Padma conclude that she was
getting closer to her destination? (See fig. NCERT Textbook, Page 89) (Page 89)
Answer:
Kilometre stones on the roads between cities and places indicate the distance left to
reach a place or city (the reference point). Padma saw that earlier kilometre stone
showed the distance to Delhi as 70 km and the next kilometre stone showed the
distance to Delhi as 60 km. She concluded that she was in motion and moving towards
Delhi (the reference point with respect to which she was changing her position with
time).

Question 3.
Does this mean that the position of Padma, with respect to the reference point, is
changing with time? When does the position of an object change with respect to a
reference point? Does it change when an object is moving? (Page 89)
Answer:

 Padma saw from the kilometre stones that the distance to Delhi is decreasing with
time. This means that with respect to Delhi (reference point here), she was
changing position with time.
 When the position of an object changes with time with respect to a reference point
the object is said to be in a state of motion or is moving.
 Padma was changing her position with time with respect to Delhi, means that she
was moving closer and closer to Delhi with time.
Let us enhance our learning (pages 97-99)

Question 1.
Some lengths are given in Column I of the following Table. Some units are given in
Column II. Match the lengths with the units suitable for measuring those lengths.

Column I Column II

Distance between Delhi and Lucknow kilometre

Thickness of a coin millimetre

Length of an eraser centimetre

Length of school ground metre

Answer:

Question 2.
Read the following statements and mark True (T) or False (F) against each.
(i) The motion of a car moving on a straight road is an example of linear motion.
Answer:
True

(ii) Any object which is changing its position with respect to a reference point with time is
said to be in motion.
Answer:
True

(iii) 1 km = 100 cm
Answer:
False

Question 3.
Which of the following is not a standard unit of measuring length?
(i) millimetre
(ii) centimetre
(iii) kilometre
(iv) handspan
Answer:
(iv) handspan

Question 4.
Search for the different scales or measuring tapes at your home and school. Find out
the smallest value that can be measured using each of these scales. Record your
observations in a tabular form.
Answer:

Type of Scale,
Smallest Value of Measurement
Tape, Device

15 cm Scale 1 mm
Flexible Tape 1 mm, 1 inch

Long Tape Roll 1 cm, 1 inch

Vernier Calliper
0.1 mm
(from School Lab)

Screw Gauge (from

0.01 mm
School Lab)

Question 5.
Suppose the distance between your school and home is 1.5 km. Express it in metres.
Ans.
∵ 1 km = 1000 metres
∴ 1.5 km = 1.5 × 1000
= 1500 metres

Question 6.
Take a tumbler or a bottle. Measure the length of the curved part of the base of glass or
bottle and record it.
Answer:
Hint: Use a flexible measuring tape or a piece of string to measure the length of the
curved part of the base of the tumbler, then measure the string against a ruler.

Question 7.
Measure the height of your friend and express it in
(i) metres
(ii) centimetres and
(iii) millimetres.
Answer:
Hint: Measure the height using a metre scale and express it in:
  Metres (e.g., 1.4 m)
 Centimetres (e.g., 140 cm)
 Millimetres (e.g., 1400 mm)

Question 8.
You are given a coin. Estimate how many coins are required to be placed one after the
other lengthwise, without leaving any gap between them, to cover the whole length of
the chosen side of a notebook. Verify your estimate by measuring the same side of the
notebook and the size of the coin using a 15-cm scale.

Answer:
Hint: Measure the diameter of the coin and the length of the notebook. Divide the length
of the notebook by the diameter of the coin to estimate the number of coins required.
Say the diameter of the coin is 2 cm and the length of the notebook is 18 cm. Then 182 =
9 coins can be placed side to side along the length of the notebook. Verify by placing
the coins end-to-end and measuring again.
Question 9.
Give two examples each for linear, circular and oscillatory motion.
Answer:

 Linear motion: A car moving on a straight road, an eraser dropping straight down.
 Circular motion: A merry- go-round, the motion of a whirling stone tied to a thread.

Size Objects

Thickness of a coin, thickness of a cardboard and diameter of a

mm
small screw
cm Length of a pencil, width of a book and height of a water bottle

m Height of a room, Width of a playground and height of a lamppost

 Oscillatory motion: A swinging pendulum, the motion of a metal strip pressed and
released.

Question 10.
Observe different objects around you. It is easier to express the lengths of some objects
in mm, some in cm and some in m. Make a list of three objects in each category and
enter them in the following Table.
Sizes of objects around us

Answer:
Classify objects by the convenience of measuring in mm, cm, and m:

ize Objects

Thickness of a coin, thickness of a cardboard and diameter of a small

mm
screw

cm Length of a pencil, width of a book and height of a water bottle

m Height of a room, Width of a playground and height of a lamppost

Question 11.
A rollercoaster track is made in the shape shown in Fig. A ball starts from point A and
escapes through point F. Identify the types of motion of the ball on the rollercoaster and
corresponding portions of the track.

Rollercoaster track
Answer:
Portions of the track and corresponding types of motion:

 A to B: Linear motion
 B to C: Circular motion (loop)
 C to D to E: Circular motion
 E to F: Linear motion

Question 12.
Tasneem wants to make a metre scale by herself. She considers the following materials
for it – plywood, paper, cloth, stretchable rubber and steel. Which of these should she
not use and why?
Answer:
Tasneem should not use stretchable rubber because it can change length when
stretched, leading to inaccurate measurements. Plywood, cloth, paper, and steel are
more suitable as they maintain consistent lengths.
Question 13.
Think, design and develop a card game on conversion of units of length to play with
your friends.
Answer:
Create cards with different lengths and corresponding units (mm, cm, m, km). Each card
can have a length in one unit and players must match it to its equivalent in another unit.
For example, a card with “100 cm” would match with “1 m”.