MALAYSIAN POLYTECHNIC

MATHEMATICS,SCIENCE AND COMPUTER DEPARTMENT

LAB REPORT


EXPERIMENT:PHYSICAL QUANTITIES
MEASUREMENTS



EXPERIMENT 1:PHYSICAL QUANTITIES AND MEASUREMENT
OBJECTIVE
At the end of the experiment,student should be able to:
1.Use the metre ruler,vernier caliper and micrometer screw gauge correctly
2.To obtain derived quantities form a base quantities
3.Understand the consistency,accuracy and sensitivity


INFERENCES
1.Base quantities are the quantities that cannot be defined in terms of other
quantities
2.Derived quantities are physical quantities derived from the base quantities
through multiplication,division or both
3.Density of substances,Density,

) (

)


HYPOTHESIS
1.Measuring physical quantities precisely
2.Differentiate between base and derived quantities

Experiment 1a
Apparatus


1.Wooden block-1 2.Vernier Callipers-1

3. Electronic balance-1 4.Magnifying lenses-1

PROCEDURE
1.Measure the dimension of the wooden block by using the meter rule
2.Weigh the mass of the wooden block by using the Electronic Balance
3.Each measurement should be done at least three times and record the readings
in Table 1.0

Instrument : Meter rule

Zero error : 0.00 cm
Wooden Block Readings
Average



Actual Value :

1 2 3
Height : h (cm) 4.8 4.9 4.9

4.87
4.87 cm
0.0487 m
Width : w (cm) 4.55 4.6 4.6

4.58
4.58 cm
0.0458 m
Length : l (cm) 4.8 4.9 4.9

4.87
4.87 cm
0.0487 m
Mass : m (g)
100.62

100.63

100.62

100.62
100.62 g
0.10062 kg
Volume : v (cm)
wxhxl
104.832

wxhxl
110.446
wxhxl
110.446

108.57
108.57 cm
1.0857 m
Density : (g/cm)

0.96

0.91

0.91

0.93
0.93 g/cm
0.093 kg/m
Table 1.0





Experiment 1b
APPARATUS

1.Coin 50 cent-1 2.Micrometer screw1


3.Electronic Balance-1 4.Magnifying lenses-1


PROCEDURE
1.Measure the diamension of the coin by using the micrometer screw gauge
2.Weigh the mass of the coin by using the electronic balance
3.Each measurement should be done at least three times and record the readings
in Table 2.0
Note:Volume, V =

x
Where v=volume , l=length , D=diameter



Instrument : Micrometer Screw Gauge
Zero error : mm

50 Cent
Readings
Average


Actual value
1 2 3
Diameter :D(mm) 22.66 23.42 22.66

22.91
22.91 mm
2.2x

m
Thickness : t(mm) 0.35 0.35 0.35

0.35
0.35 mm
3.5x

m
Mass : m(g) 5.61 5.62 5.62

5.62
5.62 g

kg
Volume : v(mm)
wxhxl
141.15

wxhxl
150.78
wxhxl
144.28

145.4
145.4 mm
0.1454 m
Density : (g/mm)

0.039

0.037

0.039

0.038

0.038 g/mm
3.8x

kg/m
Table 2.0


*Actual value:Reading - Zero error



Experiment 1c
APPARATUS

1.100ml beaker-1 2.Vernier caliper -1


3.Electronic balance-1 4.Magnifying glass-1

PROCEDURE
1.Measure the dimension of the beaker by using the vernier calliper
2.Weigh the mass of the beaker by using the electronic balance
3.Each measurement should be done at least 3 times and record the readings in
Table 3.0

Instrument : Vernier Calliper
Zero error : mm

100 ml Beaker
Readings
Average

Actual Value
1 2 3
Outer Diameter:
D(mm)
50.84 50.84 50.98

50.91
50.91 mm
0.05091 m
Inner Diameter:
D(mm)
47.48 47.54 47.44

47.49
47.49 mm
0.04749 m
Thickness :
t(mm)
3.36 3.3 3.54

3.4
3.4 mm
3.4x

m
Depth : d(mm) 70.78 70.58 70.18

70.51
70.51 mm
0.07051 m
Mass : m(g)

45.52


45.51


45.50

45.51

45.51 g
0.04551 kg
Table 3.0
*Actual value : Reading zero error

Note:Volume, V =

x l
Where v=volume , l=length , D=diameter






ANALYSIS :
The material is measured using the right tools like vernier calliper, micrometer
screw gauge and ruler. To avoid parallax error and zero error, the material is
measured three times and their average value have be calculated. Hypothesis is
accepted.


ERROR ANALYSIS :
It may from parallax error. It is happen because when taking the reading the eyes
are not parallel to the measuring tools .Also ,zero error may occur. This is because
the measuring tools have some systematic error.


QUESTION:
1.Why do we have to repeat measurements and find the average?
2.What do you understand with consisitency,accuracy and sensitivity?relate them
with the instrument used in experiment





ANSWERS:

1.We have to repeated the measurements to decrease the random error and
by taking the average value it can decrease the error.

2.Consistency of a measuring instrument is the ability to give the same reading
when the measurement made repeatedly. A set of measurements is
consistent if all the values are close to the mean value. Accuracy is the
degree of how close a measurement from the actual value recoded. An
accurate instrument is able to give reading closer or almost equal to the
actual value of a quantity. Sensitivity of a measuring instrument is its ability
to respond quickly to the small change in the value of the quantity to be
measured. Measuring instruments that has a scale with smaller division is
more sensitive. By that, the most consistent accurate and sensitive
measuring instrument is micrometre screw gauge because its accuracy is
0.001 cm, where vernier callipers is 0.01 cm and metre rule is 0.1 cm.





CONCLUSION
We have learned that each measuring instrument give a different measurement,
also each time when make a measurement it shows different reading but when
make the average measurement its give the actual reading of the measurement.

REFERENCE
1. Physics reference book. Whizz Thru SPM (Physics)