Surname 1

Student name

Professor

Course

Date

Lab report

Introduction

A measurement can be described as a number showing size or amount of an object according

to a standardized unit like a gram, a second, or a meter. Precise and accurate measurements

are vital when it comes to physics helping to perform experiments that are correct and to

obtain important data. Mass of an object, its time or length may be measured by the use of a

variety of various instruments. Always there is a need to use an instrument that is correct for

precise and accurate data. The experiment tested instruments' precision, accuracy, and

correctness of the instrument's capacity in measuring. The density of an object is the degree

of consistency measured by Mass as a unit volume.

Additionally, Mass is defined as the quantity of matter within an object in grams. On the

other hand, a volume is the amount of space that is occupied by an object. Using an object's

theoretical density, we tested the accuracy of the measurements we had obtained for Volume

and Mass by comparing them to theoretical density.

The formulas of object's Density and Volume are given by

v=lw h Volume of a cuboid v=π r 2 h Volume of a cylinder

m
ρ= Density of an object
v
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Different instruments will be used to test the measurements of time in seconds, using an air

track with rubber bands that will provide a consistent velocity. We will use the mean and

standard deviation of the measurements to test the precision of our measurements.

2
( ∑x )
∑x

√
2
Mean= Standard Deviation= ∑ x − n
n
n−1

x = measured value; n = number of measured values

Lastly, the percentage of error will be calculated to test the accuracy of our density values:

|(exp Value)−( Accepted Value)|

% of error = x 100%
( Accepted Value )

Lab activities

Activities were divided into four sections

Part I
First, we measured the Mass, in grams, of two different cubes using two different balances.

One balance measures up to one figure after the decimal point, while the other measures up to

two figures after the decimal point. Next, we measured the dimensions, in millimeters, of the

cubes using a ruler and a digital caliper. Length, width, and height were measured. These

measurements were then converted to centimeters. We calculated the volume, in centimeters,

of each cube based on these measurements, using the formula: v = lw h. We used a more

accurate measurement from the caliper.

Part II

we measured the diameter of a cylinder, in millimeters, in ten different places.

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After measuring the cylinder, we calculated the mean and standard deviation of the ten values

2
2 ( ∑x )
using the formulas: Mean=
∑x
n
√
; Standard Deviation= ∑ x − n . Lastly, we calculated
n−1

the density, in centimeters, based on the values for Volume and Mass, using the formula:

m
ρ= . We used a more accurate balance measurement.
v

Part III

In this section, first, we started by measuring the length and diameter, in millimeters, of three

separate cylinders using the caliper. Afterward, we measured the Mass, in grams, of each

cylinder using a more accurate balance. After measuring, we calculated the volume of each

cylinder using the formula: v=π r 2 h . This measurement was then converted to centimeters.

m
we then measured the density of each cylinder by using the formula for density: ρ=
v

Part IV

Here, we utilized an air track with side bumpers and photogates. The cart was pulled back for

each trial performed. We began by conducting five trials consisting of measuring the time it

took for the cart to travel 1 meter, i.e., first gate to the final gate, using an analog clock.

Afterward, we performed another set of five trials but used a stopwatch to measure the time it

took to travel a meter for the cart. Again, making sure the cart was pulled back some

centimeters. Then, we utilized the photogate software to digitally measure the time for the

cart to travel a meter. The cart was again pulled back at the start point. Lastly, after gathering

all the different time measurements, we calculated the mean and standard deviation for each
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of the four instruments used. We calculated the velocity in m/s for each instrument using their

mean.

Results
Raw data
TABLE I – MASS AND DIMENSIONS
Cube 1: v = (2.548cm) (2.548cm) (2.555cm) Cube 2: v = (2.537cm) (2.545cm) (2.643cm)
Cube 1: v = 16.587883 cm3 Cube 2: v = 17.064966 cm3

m
Next, I calculated the density of the cube by applying the formula for density: ρ= ,
v
using the more accurate mass measurement.
74 .6 g 147 . 4 g
Cube 1: ρ= Cube 2: ρ=
16.587883 cm 3 17.064966 cm3
Cube 1: ρ=4.497259 g /cm3 Cube 2: ρ=8.637579 g /cm3

TABLE I – MASS AND DIMENSIONS

1st Mass 2nd Mass 1st 2nd Volume Density

Dimensions Dimensions (cm3) (g/cm3)
Measurement Measurement
Measurement Measurement
(g)
(g) ruler (mm) caliper (mm)
74.6 74.445 L: 25 L: 25.43 16.5878 4.497259 g/cm3
83 cm3
W: 25 W: 25.45
Cube H: 25 H: 25.55
1
147.4 147.230 L: 25 L: 25.37 17.0649 8.637579 g/cm3
66 cm3
W: 25 W: 25.42
Cube H: 25 H: 25.47
2
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How the Mass and Volume of an object affect its density:

Density of cubes
160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

TABLE II -- DIAMETER MEASUREMENTS

Trial # Measured diameter (mm)

1 12.79
2 12.76
3 12.77
4 12.70
5 12.75
6 12.74
7 12.71
8 12.77
9 12.75
10 12.74

( ∑x )2
∑x

√
2
Mean= Standard Deviation= ∑ x − n
n
n−1
Excel was used to calculate the mean and standard deviation:
Mean: 12.748
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Standard Deviation: 0.027406

TABLE III -- MASS, VOLUME, and DENSITY

Measured Measured Calculated Calculated

Length & Mass (g) volume (cm3) density (g/cm3)
Diameter (mm)
Cylinder 1 L: 50.08 53.641 6.294123 cm3 8.522 g/cm3
D: 12.65

Cylinder 2 L: 50.04 49.316 6.308998 cm3 7.817 g/cm3

D: 12.67

Cylinder 3 L: 50.15 56.425 6.315804 cm3 8.934 g/cm3

D: 12.68

volume of a cylinder: v=π r 2 h ; r = ½d.

1/2d Value h Value Substituted Volume (

(mm) (mm) Values cm3)
Cylinder 1 6.325 mm 50.08 v=π ( 6.325 ) (50.08)6.294123 cm3
2

Cylinder 2 6.335 mm 50.04 v=π ( 6.335 )2(50.04 )6.308998 cm3

Cylinder 3 6.34 mm 50.15 v=π ( 6.34 )2 (50.15) 6.315804 cm3

m
density was calculated using the formula: ρ= .
v
Mass (g) Volume ( Substituted Values Density (g/
cm 3 ¿ cm3
Cylinder 1 53.641 g 6.294123 cm3 ρ=¿53.641)/ 8.522 g/cm3
(6.294123)
Cylinder 2 49.316 g 6.308998 cm3 ρ=¿)/(6.308998) 7.817 g/cm3

Cylinder 3 56.425 g 6.315804 cm3 ρ=¿56.425)/ 8.934 g/cm3

(6.315804)
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how the Mass and Volume determine the density of an object:

Density of Cylinders

60

50

40

30

20

10

TABLE IV – Time and Velocity

Length:1.000 (m)

Trials Clock (s) Stop Watch (s) Photogate (s) Range Finder (s)

1 2 2.58 1.7233 2.3000

2 2 2.33 1.5197 2.1500

3 3 1.77 1.4178 2.3000

4 2 2.29 1.6245 2.3500

5 3 1.78 1.3980 2.7500

Mean 2.4 2.15 1.53666 2.37

Standard 0.547723 0.359931 0.138015 0.225278

Deviation

Velocity v = 1m/2.4s v = 1m/2.15s v = 1m/1.53666s v = 1m/2.37s

(m/s) 0.417 m/s 0.465 m/s 0.651 m/s 0.422 m/s

Conclusion
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In the experiment, I tested the precision and accuracy of various measuring devices to test

their suitability in every task. The aim was to get accurate measurements which shall result in

values near to the theoretical or the accepted ones. I achieved this by calculating the density

of various objects that are made from different elements. We also achieved precise

measurements with the caliper based on our standard deviation, σ = 0.027406 mm in sub-

experiment 2, and when using the more accurate devices when measuring time:

Instrument S.D. (S)

Photogate 0.138015
Range Finder 0.225278

I conclude that I achieved our goal of obtaining accurate and precise measurements when
using more suitable devices for the experiment.