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    Chapter1 Summary v6

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    charlie
    This document discusses measurement, units, and problem solving in physics. It introduces mathematical models used to describe experimental observations and defines measurements as numerical values with corresponding units. Experiments are repeated to obtain measurements as close as possible to the actual value, and the average and error are calculated. Significant figures and units are important in all steps of calculations to obtain accurate results.

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    Chapter1 Summary v6

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    charlie
    16 views2 pages
    This document discusses measurement, units, and problem solving in physics. It introduces mathematical models used to describe experimental observations and defines measurements as numerical values with corresponding units. Experiments are repeated to obtain measurements as close as possible to the actual value, and the average and error are calculated. Significant figures and units are important in all steps of calculations to obtain accurate results.

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    This document discusses measurement, units, and problem solving in physics. It introduces mathematical models used to describe experimental observations and defines measurements as numerical values with corresponding units. Experiments are repeated to obtain measurements as close as possible to the actual value, and the average and error are calculated. Significant figures and units are important in all steps of calculations to obtain accurate results.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    16 views2 pages

    Chapter1 Summary v6

    Uploaded by

    charlie
    This document discusses measurement, units, and problem solving in physics. It introduces mathematical models used to describe experimental observations and defines measurements as numerical values with corresponding units. Experiments are repeated to obtain measurements as close as possible to the actual value, and the average and error are calculated. Significant figures and units are important in all steps of calculations to obtain accurate results.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 2

    CHAPTER 1: MEASUREMENTS, UNITS & PROBLEM SOLVING

    From College Physics by A. Giambattista, 5th Edition


    Summary (Self-study!) P. Vaandrager, v.7 03/02/2020

    1. A Mathematical model describes observations made in an experiment.


    2. The measurement of a physical quantity is expressed as a numerical value and a
    corresponding unit.
    3. The experiment is repeated to obtain a value as near as possible to the actual value of a
    physical quantity. The average value of all the experiments is calculated, as well as the
    experimental error.
    4. Example: the length of an object is measured 3 times:

    𝑙1 = 10.12 𝑐𝑚
    𝑙2 = 10.32 𝑐𝑚
    𝑙3 = 10.01 𝑐𝑚

    The average is:

    𝑙1 + 𝑙2 + 𝑙3 10.12 𝑐𝑚 + 10.32 𝑐𝑚 + 10.01 𝑐𝑚


    𝑙𝑎𝑣 = = = 10.15 𝑐𝑚
    3 3

    The error is determined by calculating the difference in each pair of measured values, and
    taking the absolute value thereof:

    |𝑙1 − 𝑙2 | = |10.12 − 10.32| = |−0.2| = 0.2 𝑐𝑚


    |𝑙2 − 𝑙3 | = |10.32 − 10.01| = |0.31| = 0.31 𝑐𝑚
    |𝑙3 − 𝑙1 | = |10.01 − 10.12| = |−0.11| = 0.11 𝑐𝑚

    The largest of these values is the error. (Why don’t we calculate |𝑙2 − 𝑙1 | ???)
    The value of the measurement is finally given as follows:

    (𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 = 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 ± 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟)


    (𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 = 𝑔𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑑 ± 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑡)

    𝑙 = 10.15 ± 0.31 𝑐𝑚

    5. In this course, we generally ignore the error when calculations are performed.
    6. Significant figures are VERY IMPORTANT in the laboratory sessions, and the lab manual has a
    detailed description of the principles of applying significant figures.
    7. Significant figures should also be used in semester tests and examinations, but students will
    not be penalised if they do not do so. Giving the FINAL answer with two decimal places will
    be sufficient (please don’t write something like 45.384759239739724 ... 45.38 is fine!)
    8. ALL digits must be used with the in-between steps of calculations: using rounded-off values
    will result in errors in the final answer.
    9. Units must be indicated in ALL STEPS of calculations, as well as the final answer, naturally.
    10. Scientific notation and relevant prefixes (centi c, micro μ, kilo k) are very important: all of
    the natural sciences make use of them. It is strongly recommended to use scientific notation
    or an appropriate prefix if an answer is smaller than 0.01 or larger than 100. Ensure that you
    can convert the value correctly, for example:
    Radius of hydrogen atom:
    r = 0.000 000 000 053 m = 5.3 Χ 10-11 m = 0.053 nm = 53 pm

    11. Table 1.2 on page 9 of the textbook gives a number of common prefixes.
    12. In Physics, quantities without units do exist (like the constant of friction). Yet all
    MEASUREMENTS must have an appropriate unit.
    13. We use the SI metric system. The base-units are given in Table 1.1 on page 9.
    14. All other units can be given in terms of the base-units, for example:
    1 J = 1 N.m
    1 N = 1 kg.m.s-2
    ∴ 1 J = kg.m2.s-2
    15. Correctly converting units can be difficult, but there are methods to simplify matters. For
    example, what is 10 cm2 in km2?

    1𝑚 1𝑚 1 𝑘𝑚 1 𝑘𝑚
    10 𝑐𝑚2 = 10 𝑐𝑚 × 𝑐𝑚 = 10 𝑐𝑚 × 1 𝑐𝑚 × × × ×
    100 𝑐𝑚 100 𝑐𝑚 1000 𝑚 1000 𝑚
    = 1.0 × 10−9 𝑘𝑚2

    16. When values are added or subtracted, the quantities MUST BE OF THE SAME UNIT
    (DIMENSION). One cannot add FORCE to ENERGY in calculations, for example. If such an
    instance arises, something is TERRIBLY WRONG.
    17. Calculations must be done step-by-step. Section 1.7 on page 12 gives the best practice for
    solving Physics problems (see textbook).

    END

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