Physics 10

Chapter 1
MEASUREMENT
SI UNITS
SI units are based on the five basic
quantities: length, mass, time,
temperature and electric current. These
are listed in Table

Sometimes the basic units are either too

big or too small so we use prefixes to
alter the size of the unit.
Table shows some of the commonly
used prefixes

*Alternative unit is the degree Celsius (C). In this course

we will only use this unit.

All other units are made up from these

five basic units.

01. Write down the following in the basic

units.
A. 32 km

For example:
1 kilometre (1 km) = 1000 m
1 milliampre (1 mA) = 1/1000 A
1 microsecond (1 s) = 1/1000 000 s

F. 6400 g
02. Write down the following using the
most appropriate prefix.

B. 234 ms

A. 0.0048 m

C. 400 mg

B. 3540 g

D. 3500 A

C. 0.000 0032 s

E. 3.5 Mm

D. 8900 m

Standard form
Another method of showing the precision of a measurement is to use standard form. For
example, the distance of the Sun from the Earth is 150 000 000 km. In standard form this
is written as 1.50 108 km. This method of displaying readings has two advantages:

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Teacher: Javier Trigoso T.

Physics 10

1 It is much easier to read either very small or large numbers. For example, the mass of
an electron is 9.110-31 kg, that means 9.1 divided by 1 followed by 31 zeros. Try writing
that out in full!
2 It also clearly shows the precision to which the reading is taken. Above the mass of
the electron is shown to 2 significant figures, whereas a measurement of its mass taken
to 5 significant figures is written as 9.1095 10-31 kg.

03. Write the following in standard form.

04. Write the following in full.

A. 21 500 m

A. 3.0 108 m/s

B. 0.031 s

B. 1.7 10-4 m

C. 299 000 000 m

C. 5.12 10-3 s

D. 0.00256 kg

D. 5.28 x 105 g

WORKING WITH MEASURES

1 TIME

You need to know the units for time and the connections between them

05. A train left London at 08:25 and

arrived at Manchester at 12:02. How
many minutes did the journey take?

07. The time shown on this clock is in the

afternoon. Write the time using both
12-hour time and 24-hour time.

06. A boy is 9 years 2 months old. His

sister is 2 years 5 months younger.
How old is his sister?

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Teacher: Javier Trigoso T.

Physics 10

08. The two clocks below both show

times in the morning. What is the
time difference between the clocks?

2 TEMPERATURE
Temperature is usually recorded in degrees Celsius, although degrees Fahrenheit are
still sometimes used.

09. The thermometer shows the

maximum and minimum
temperatures recorded in
Moscow on a particular
day. What is the difference
between the maximum and
minimum temperatures?

10. What is the difference between the

two temperatures marked on this
thermometer?

3 LENGTH
You need to know the metric units for length and the connections between them.

11. Work out the distance between the two markers shown on the ruler.

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Teacher: Javier Trigoso T.

Physics 10

4 WEIGHT
You need to know the metric units for weight and the connections between them

12. What is the weight, in kilograms,

marked on this scale?

13. What is the reading on this scale, to

the nearest 1/2 kilogram?

5 CAPACITY

You need to know the metric units for capacity and the connections between them.

14. What is the reading on this scale, in

millilitres?

15. What is the difference between the

two marks on the scale, in millilitres?

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Teacher: Javier Trigoso T.

Physics 10

16. What is the volume of liquid in the

measuring cylinders?

17. A rectangular block of wood has

dimensions 240 mm 20.5 cm
0.040 m. Calculate this volume in
cm3
18. A metal block measures 10 cm 2
cm 2 cm. What is its volume? How
many blocks each 2 cm 2 cm 2
cm have the same total volume?

A.

B.

01. What is the SI base unit for measuring

A. 100 000

A. Length:

B. 3 500

B. Volume:

C. 504

C. Time:

D. 27 056

02. How many millimetres are there in

05. Write out the following in full:

D. 4 cm

A. 103

E. 0.5 cm

B. 2 10-6

F. 6.7 cm

C. 6.92 104

G. 1 m

D. 1.34 102

03. What are these lengths in metres:

06. Write these fractions as powers of

ten:

A. 300 cm
A. 1/1000
B. 87 cm,
B. 7/100 000
C. 100 mm
C. 1/10 000 000
04. Write the following as powers of ten
with one figure before the decimal
point:

D. 3/60 000

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Teacher: Javier Trigoso T.

Fsica 10 de secundaria

07. Express the following decimals as

powers of ten with one figure before
the decimal point:

13. What is the temperature

marked on this
thermometer?

A. 0.5
B. 0.084
C. 0.000 36
D. 0.001 04
08. A family plan to take a train which
leaves at 07:27. They need to allow
40 minutes to get from home to the
station. What time should they leave
home?
09. A telephone bill shows the longest
telephone call was 33 minutes 7
seconds and the shortest was 6
minutes 50 seconds. What is the
difference between the two times?

14. Work out the distance between the

markings on this metre scale.

10. A builder drives for 20 minutes to the

local DIY store. He is in the DIY store
for 1 3/4 hours and then drives to
work, which takes 1 1/2 hours. How
long does his journey take, in total?

15. What is the distance between the

two points marked on this scale?

11. The youngest child in a nursery is 1

year 9 months old. The oldest child is
4 years 5 months old. What is the
difference between these two ages?

16. What are the lengths of the following

items?

12. The diagrams show the times on a

stopwatch at the beginning and at
the end of an experiment.

A.

B.

C.

How long did the experiment take?

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Profesor: Javier Trigoso T.

Fsica 10 de secundaria

17. What is the reading on this scale, in

grams?

18. What is the reading on this scale,

which is marked in kilograms?

22. A lorrys fuel tank holds 100 litres of

diesel. The diagram shows the
amount of fuel in the tank at the start
of a journey. Approximately how
much diesel is in the tank?

19. What is the difference between the

two readings on this scale?

20. A student needs to measure the

diameter of a wire. She wraps the
wire round a pencil, as shown in the
diagram.

She measures the distance, y, as 12

mm. Calculate the diameter of the
wire.
21. A cars fuel tank holds 40 litres. The
fuel gauges show the petrol in the
tank at the start and the end of a
journey. How much petrol did the
car use during the journey?

23. A Perspex container has a 6 cm

square base and contains water to a
height of 7 cm. What is the volume
of the water?

24. A rectangular block measures 4.1

cm by 2.8 cm by 2.1 cm. Calculate
its volume giving your answer to an
appropriate number of significant
figures.
25. How many blocks of ice cream each
10 cm 10 cm 4 cm can be stored
in the compartment of a freezer
measuring 40 cm 40 cm 20 cm?

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Profesor: Javier Trigoso T.