P1 Experimental techniques for Physics

Question 1

What can be used to measure length of a small distance ?

Answer 1

• Ruler can be used to measure small distances of a few centimetres (cm)
• They are able to measure to the nearest millimetre (mm)

Question 2

What can be used to measure length of tens of centimetres ?

Answer 2

A tape measure is used to measure lengths of tens of centimetres

Question 3

What is used to measure lengths of tens of metres ?

Answer 3

A trundle wheel is used to measure lengths of tens of metres

Question 4

What can be used to measure the volume of liquids and its other functions ?

Answer 4

• Measuring cylinder
• By measuring change in volume, measuring cylinder can also determine volume of an irregular shape

Question 5

What can be used to measure time ?

Answer 5

• Stop-clocks and stopwatches are usually used to measure time intervals

Question 6

What is an important factor to consider when measuring time intervals ?

Answer 6

Human reaction time is an important factor when measuring time intervals

Question 7

What is the standard reaction time for an alert person and why is human reaction time an important factor to consider when measuring time intervals?

Answer 7

• Standard human reaction time for an alert person is 0.25 s
• This can have significant impact upon measurements when the measurements involve are very short

Question 8

How to measure the thickness of one single sheet of paper ?

Answer 8

• Measuring the thickness of 1 single sheet of paper would be very difficult to get an accurate answer
• Measure the thickness of 100 sheets of paper
• Dividing the answer by 100 gives an accurate figure for the average thickness of one sheet of paper

Question 9

How to measure the time period of a simple pendulum ?

Answer 9

• Measure the time taken for 10 swings of the pendulum
• Dividing the answer by 10 gives a more accurate figure for the average time taken for one swing

Question 10

Why need to measure the time period of a pendulum using multiple readings ?

Answer 10

Because measuring the time period of a simple pendulum would incur human reaction time error at the start and at the end of the measurement
- If the measurement is small => the uncertainty in the measurement is huge

Question 11

What is a fiducial marker ?

Answer 11

A visual reference point such as line or dot which can be used when measuring oscillations

Question 12

How to use the fiducial marker and its impact ?

Answer 12

• The marker is added to the point at which the measurement is taken e.g equilibrium position of an oscillating pendulum
  => easier to see when the pendulum passes this point, reducing the error in starting or stopping the timer