Name:______________________________ ( ) Class:_________ Date:___________

WORKSHEET
Chapter 1: Measurement

1.2 Physical Quantities and SI units

1. (a) A physical quantity is a quantity that can be measured.

(b) It consists of a numerical magnitude and a unit.
(c) Each physical quantity has a standard unit of measurement, which is also known as
the SI unit.

2. There are seven base quantities. Complete the table below by writing down the missing
base quantities and SI units.

Base quantity SI unit

Length metre (m)

Mass kilogram (kg)

Time second (s)

Electric current ampere (A)

Thermodynamic temperature kelvin (K)

Luminous intensity candela (cd)

Amount of substance mole (mol)

3. Other quantities can be derived from these base quantities. Complete the table below by
filling in the SI units of these derived quantities.

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 Derived quantity SI unit
Area m2

Density kg m3
Speed m s1

4. Complete the table below.

Common prefix Factor Symbol

giga 109 G

mega 106 M
kilo 103 k

deci 101 d
centi 102 c

milli 103 m

micro 106

nano 109 n

1.3 Measurement of Length

5. Complete the table below by filling in the magnitudes of sizes of some common objects.

Common objects Magnitude of size

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 Planet Earth (diameter) 107 m
Height of tall mountain 103 m

Length of football field 102 m

Thickness of a science textbook 101 m

Width of paper 104 m

Size of human cell 106 m

Size of large molecule 109 m

Size of atom 1010 m

6. (a) What are the instruments used for measuring length?

A range of different instruments can be used to measure different lengths.
Examples include the tape measure, metre rule, calipers, vernier calipers and
micrometer screw gauge.
We need to choose the appropriate instrument when measuring a particular
length.
(b) The precision of an instrument is the smallest unit that the instrument can
measure.

(c) Complete the table by filling in the names of the instruments used to measure
the different ranges of lengths.

Instrument Range Precision

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 Tape measure Several centimetres up to 0.1 cm or 1 mm
a few metres

Metre rule Several centimetres up to 0.1 cm or 1 mm

a metre

Vernier calipers Typically 1 cm to 15 cm 0.01 cm or 0.1 mm

(some up to 30 cm)
Micrometer Typically less than 2.5 0.001 cm or 0.01 mm
screw gauge cm

7. There are some common errors associated with measuring instruments. Fill in the blanks
with the correct words stating the errors and explaining how they can be reduced.

(a) Two common errors associated with measuring instruments:

Parallax error: Due to the incorrect positioning of the eyes when taking readings
Zero error: Due to the imperfect alignment of the zero marks between the main
and smaller scales
(b) How can you reduce the errors associated with measuring instruments?

Parallax errors can be reduced by positioning the eyes directly above the
markings.
Zero error can be eliminated by checking for it before and after taking a
measurement, and accounting for it when calculating the actual length.
In general, random errors of measurement can be reduced by repeating the
measurements and obtaining the average.

8. For each of the measuring instruments shown below, state the type of error associated
with it.

Common error associated with

Instrument
instrument
Tape measure Parallax error
Metre rule Parallax error
Calipers Parallax error
Vernier calipers Zero error
Micrometer screw gauge Zero error

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1.4 Measurement of Time

9. (a) The most common instrument used for measuring time is the digital stopwatch.
(b) Although most digital stopwatches can provide time precise to two decimal places or
0.01 s, measurement error can be introduced as a result of human reaction time.
(c) Human reaction time is between 0.3 and 0.5 s.

10. (a) A pendulum can be used to measure time after it is calibrated.

(b) One complete oscillation of the swinging pendulum below comprises the pendulum
moving from R to S and back to R again.

(c) The period is the time taken for one complete oscillation.
(d) As a good practice, when measuring the period of a pendulum, we should record the
time for a number of oscillations (e.g. 20), and then obtain the average for one
oscillation.
(e) The period of a pendulum can be determined by measuring its length. The longer the
length of the pendulum, the longer its period.

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