Colegio de San Juan de Letran Calamba

School of Engineering and Architecture

PHY081L – Physics Lab

Comparison of the Metric and English Systems of Measurement

Experiment No. 1
Prelim Period

GRADE

Group Number

Members:
SURNAME, First Name Middle Initial. (Student No.)
SURNAME, First Name Middle Initial. (Student No.)
SURNAME, First Name Middle Initial. (Student No.)
SURNAME, First Name Middle Initial. (Student No.)
SURNAME, First Name Middle Initial. (Student No.)
SURNAME, First Name Middle Initial. (Student No.)
1ME2

Date Issued/Performed: February 5, 2020

Date Submitted: February 5, 2020

ENGR. DAN MICHAEL A. SADIA

Instructor-in-Charge
 EXPERIMENT 1

Comparison of the Metric and English Systems of Measurement

1.1. Students Outcomes (SOs) Addressed by the Activity

a. Ability to conduct experiments and analyze specific data.

b. Ability to function on multidisciplinary teams

1.2. Activity's Intended Learning Outcomes (AILOs)

At the end of this activity, the students shall be able to:

a. solve and manipulate values between the metric and the English systems of
measurement,
b. address uncertainty in measurements by identifying the precision of measuring
instruments and the accuracy of measuring parameters with these instruments.

1.3. Objectives of the activity

The objective of this activity is to:

a. compare between the metric and the English systems of measurement,

b. identify the precision of measuring instruments and the accuracy of measuring

parameters with these instruments.

1.4. Principles and Theory of the Activity

A measurement is the quantitative description of a physical property of an object. Such

properties include speed, length and mass, to name a few. Measurement of physical quantities
is a necessary element of the observation of physical phenomena. Accurate measurement is
essential to the experimental verification of physical laws and theories.

In the metric system of measurement, length, mass and time are expressed using the
following units: meter, kilogram and second, respectively. On the other hand, the English
system uses the foot and the pound as units of linear measure and weight, respectively.

All measurements made have some degree of error in them. The margin of error depends
on the precision of the measuring instrument and the skill of the person using it. The accuracy of
measurement made is indicated accordingly by the number of significant figures.
1.5. Materials and Equipment

ruler rectangular box cylindrical can

1.6. Procedure

1. Study and examine the scale of the meter stick or ruler carefully. The centimeter scale
should have ten (10) division lines and the inch scale should have sixteen (16) division
lines.

2. Measure the length, width and height of the rectangular box in centimeters and in inches.
Make sure that every group member will perform at least one (1) trial and get the average
for each dimension. Record your readings.

3. Divide the average length in centimeters (cm) by the average length in inches (in) to get the
experimental value of the conversion factor used to convert inches to centimeters.
Determine the amount of error (in cm) and compute for the percent error using 2.54 cm as
the true value.

4. Compute for the surface area of the rectangular box in square centimeters (cm 2) and in
square inches (in2). Divide the area in cm2 by the area in in.2 to get the experimental value
of the conversion factor. Determine the amount of error in cm 2 and percent error using 6.45
cm2 as the true value.

5. Compute for the volume of the block in cubic centimeters (cm 3) and in cubic inches (in3).
Get the ratio between the volume in cm3 and in in3 to get the experimental value of the
conversion factor. Determine the amount of error in cm3 and percent error using 16.39 cm 3
as the true value. Record the data obtained.

6. Repeat the procedure of measuring the dimensions (diameter and height) for a cylindrical
can. Repeat procedure 3 using the average height of cylindrical can. Compute for the
volume and surface area of the cylindrical can. Record the data obtained.

1.7. Data and Computations

1.7.1. Formulas

Volume of rectangular prism: V =L ave ×W ave × H ave

π
Volume of cylinder: V = × D 2ave × H ave
4
 Surface Area of rectangular prism:

S=2× [ ( Lave ×W ave )+ ( Lave × H ave ) + ( W ave × H ave ) ]

Surface Area of cylinder: S= ( π × D ave × H ave ) + ( π2 × D )

2
ave

Amount of error =|True value−Experimental value|

Amount of error
Percent error= × 100
True value

1.8. Experimental Results

1.8.1. Measurements for Rectangular Box

METRIC SYSTEM (cm)

TRIAL LENGTH WIDTH HEIGHT
1
2
3
4
5
6
AVERAGE

ENGLISH SYSTEM (in)

TRIAL LENGTH WIDTH HEIGHT
1
2
3
4
5
6
AVERAGE
1.8.2. Measurements for Cylindrical Can

METRIC SYSTEM (cm)

TRIAL DIAMETER HEIGHT
1
2
3
4
5
6
AVERAGE

ENGLISH SYSTEM (cm)

TRIAL DIAMETER HEIGHT
1
2
3
4
5
6
AVERAGE

1.8.3. Calculations

Length of Rectangular Box

Experimental Value of 1 inch True Value of 1 inch 2.54

Amount of Error Percent Error

Height of Cylindrical Can

Experimental Value of 1 inch True Value of 1 inch 2.54

Amount of Error Percent Error

 Surface Area of Rectangular Box
Surface Area in cm2 Surface Area in in.2

Experimental Value of 1 in.2 True Value of 1 in.2 6.45

Amount of Error Percent Error

Surface Area of Cylindrical Can

Surface Area in cm2 Surface Area in in.2

Experimental Value of 1 in.2 True Value of 1 in.2 6.45

Amount of Error Percent Error

Volume of Rectangular Box

Volume in cm3 Volume in in.3

Experimental Value of 1 in.3 True Value of 1 in.3 16.39

Amount of Error Percent Error

Volume of Cylindrical Can

Volume in cm3 Volume in in.3

Experimental Value of 1 in.3 True Value of 1 in.3 16.39

Amount of Error Percent Error

1.9. Questions

1. If a unit inch has 32 division units, what is the equivalent of 15 division units in inches?
What is the equivalent of 27 division units in inches? Convert these three values to
centimeters.

2. How many square inches are there in 345.6 square centimeters?

3. What is the volume of a block of wood in cubic centimeters if its edges are 2.5 in. by 1.25
in. by 3 in.?

1.10. Sample Calculations and Answers to Questions