Scribd
Upload
37 views19 pages

Week 1 Physics Lesson

The document outlines measurement techniques in physics, including the use of rulers, measuring cylinders, and micrometers for determining length and volume. It explains how to measure the volume of liquids and irregular shapes and emphasizes the importance of averaging multiple readings for accuracy. Additionally, it covers fundamental and derived physical quantities, along with their definitions.

Uploaded by

tourayabubacarr2009
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
37 views19 pages

Week 1 Physics Lesson

The document outlines measurement techniques in physics, including the use of rulers, measuring cylinders, and micrometers for determining length and volume. It explains how to measure the volume of liquids and irregular shapes and emphasizes the importance of averaging multiple readings for accuracy. Additionally, it covers fundamental and derived physical quantities, along with their definitions.

Uploaded by

tourayabubacarr2009
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 19

IGCSE

PHYSICS
MEASUREMENT
LESSON OBJECTIVES
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:
▪ Use and describe the use of rules and measuring cylinders to find a
length or a volume.

▪ Use and describe the use of clocks and devices, both analogue and
digital, for measuring an interval of time.

▪ Obtain an average value for a small distance and for a short interval of
time by measuring multiples (including the period of a pendulum).

▪ Understand that a micrometer screw gauge is used to measure very


small Distance.
What is measurement?

It is the act of determining size, capacity, or quantity.

The instruments provide accurate measurement


Distance & Volume
•Rulers can be used to measure small distances of a few cm. They are able to
measure to the nearest mm
•When measuring larger distances (of a few metres) a tape measure is more
appropriate or, when measuring even larger distances, a trundle wheel.

Trundle wheels can be used to measure large distances


MEASUREMENT OF VOLUME

• Volume is the quantity of space occupied by a substance.


• The volume is measured in cm3 or m3.
• Volume of regular shapes.
• Volume of liquid
• Volume of irregular shapes.
VOLUME OF LIQUIDS

• Volume of liquids can be measured by a measuring cylinder.


• When reading the volume of liquid in a cylinder, always view the bottom of the meniscus
VOLUME OF IRREGULAR SHAPES

To measure the volume of irregular shapes the following steps must be followed.
1. Pour a quantity of water in a measuring cylinder and note the volume of the
water as V1
2. Tie the object (e.g. a stone) to a light string and gently lower it into the water.
The water level rises. Measure the new volume of the water and the object as V 2
3. The volume of the object is the new volume (volume of water and object)
minus the volume of water only. V = V 2 - V1
•
•Measuring cylinders can be used to measure the volume of liquids or, by
measuring the change in volume, the volume of an irregular shape.

Measuring cylinders can be used to determine the volume of a liquid or an irregular shaped solid
VOLUME OF REGULAR SHAPES
• The volume of regular shapes can be measured by calculation using
mathematical formulae.

• Volume of a cuboid = L X B X H;

• Volume of a cylinder = πr2h etc.


Multiple Readings
•Suppose you have to measure the thickness of a sheet of paper.
The thing that you are trying to measure is so small that it would
be very difficult to get an accurate answer.

•If, however, you measure the thickness of 100 sheets of paper


you can do so much more accurately.

•Dividing your answer by 100 will then give an accurate figure


for the thickness of one sheet.
•This process of taking a reading of a large number of values and
then dividing by the number, is a good way of getting accurate
values for small figures, including (for example) the time period
of a pendulum – measure the time taken for 10 swings and then
divide that time by 10
Micrometer Screw Gauge
•When measuring very small distances (less than a centimetre) a
micrometer is the most appropriate instrument

Micrometers can be used to measure very small distances


Time
•Stop-clocks and stopwatches can be used to measure time
intervals.

•An important factor when measuring time intervals is human


reaction time. This can have a significant impact upon
measurements when the measurements involved are very short
(less than a second).
analogue stopwatch
Digital stopwatch
SI units
SI" STANDS FOR "SYSTEM INTERNATIONAL" AND IS THE SET OF PHYSICAL UNITS AGREED UPON BY
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION.
The physical quantities which do not depend on any other physical quantities for their measurements are called
fundamental quantities or base quantities.
Definitions:
• Mass - is the amount of substance or material in an object.
• Length - is the distance between two points.
• Time - is the duration between two instants or events.
• Current - is the flow of electrons from a high potential to a low potential.
• Temperature - is the measure of how hot or cold an object or substance
is based on a comparative scale.
• Amount of Substance - is a measure of the amount of elementary entities
such as atoms, molecules and other particles.
• Luminous Intensity - is a measure of the amount of light that a point
source radiates in a given direction
DERIVED QUANTITIES
Definitions:
• Displacement - is how far off an object is from its rest position, usually a straight line distance.
• Speed - is how fast an object is moving.
• Velocity - is how fast an object is moving in a specific direction.
• Acceleration - is the change in velocity of a period of time. Acceleration could be positive,
negative (retardation) or zero (no change in velocity).
• Force - is a push or a pull which may speed up, slow down, change direction or shape of an
object.
• Energy - is the ability to do work.
• Density - is the amount of matter in a given volume of an object or substance.
• Moment - is the turning effect of a Force.
• Power - is the rate at which work is done.
• Work - is a force of 1 N displacing an object by 1 m in the direction of the force.
• Momentum - is the quantity of motion of a moving body, measured as a product of an object's
mass and velocity.
• Pressure - is the force acting on a surface per unit area.

You might also like