MEASUREMENTS

O – LEVEL PHYSICS

CHAPTER 1
MEASUREMENTS

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Content

● Physical quantities
● SI units
● Prefixes
● Scalar and vectors
● Measurement of length and time

Learning Outcomes

(a) show understanding that all physical quantities consist of a numerical magnitude and a
unit
(b) recall the following base quantities and their units: mass (kg), length (m), time (s),
current (A), temperature (K), amount of substance (mol)
(c) use the following prefixes and their symbols to indicate decimal sub-multiples and
multiples of the SI units: nano (n), micro (µ), milli (m), centi (c), deci (d), kilo (k), mega
(M), giga (G)
(d) show an understanding of the orders of magnitude of the sizes of common objects
ranging from a typical atom to the Earth
(e) state what is meant by scalar and vector quantities and give common examples of each
(f) add two vectors to determine a resultant by a graphical method
(g) describe how to measure a variety of lengths with appropriate accuracy by means of
tapes, rules, micrometers and calipers, using a vernier scale as necessary
(h) describe how to measure a short interval of time including the period of a simple
pendulum with appropriate accuracy using stopwatches or appropriate instruments

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Base Quantities

● There are a total of 7 base quantities and SI units:

Base Quantity SI Unit Symbol for SI Unit

Length metre m

Mass kilogram kg

Time second s

Electric Current ampere A

Thermodynamic kelvin K
temperature (note the capital “K”)

Luminous intensity candela cd

Amount of substance mole mol

● Derived quantities are physical quantities that are derived from base quantities. For
example, speed is derived from length and time. Volume is drive from length, breadth, and
height, where breadth and height are different types of length.
● In physics, generally answers are given to 3 significant figures (3.s.f.), unless stated
otherwise in question.
● No fraction is allowed unless stated otherwise in question.
● There are 8 prefixes that need to be memorised:

Prefix Factor Symbol Example

giga- 109 G Large softwares are in GB, gigabytes

mega- 106 M Pictures and shorts videos need a few MBs, or

megabytes, of data to load

kilo- 103 K We need to drink a few kilograms of water

everyday

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deci 10-1 d The number “0.1” is in 1 decimal point form

centi- 10-2 c 1 centimetre = 0.01 metre

milli- 10-3 m 1 millimetre = 0.001 metre

micro- 10-6 μ Microscopes are used to study tiny particles

nano- 10-9 n Nano-tech deals with even smaller particles

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Scalar and Vector Quantities

Scalar Quantities Vector Quantities

Definition A scalar quantity has only A vector quantity has both

magnitude but does not have magnitude and direction.
direction.

Has magnitude? ✔️ ✔️

Has direction? ✖️ ✔️

Examples Distance, speed, energy, time, Displacement, velocity, force,

volume, density, mass acceleration, weight

Determine Vectors

● Addition of vector V and U result in W. This is done so by connecting the tail of V

and head of U, the resultant vector W will have tail of U as tail and head of V as
head.

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Measuring length

Range of length, l Instrument Accuracy Example

1 > 100cm Measuring tape ±0.1cm Waistline of a

person

5cm < l < 100cm Metre rule ±0.1cm Height of an object

1cm < l < 10cm Vernier calipers ±0.01cm Diameter of a

breaker

L < 2cm Micrometre screw ±0.001cm Thickness of a

gauge length of wire

● Vernier calipers

○ Used to measure the thickness of solids and the external diameter of an object by the
external jaws.
○ Internal jaws are used to measure the internal diameter.
○ Tail is used to measure depth of an object.
○ Precision: ±0.01cm

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● How to read:

○
○ The reading on the main scale is 2.1cm
○ The 4th marking on the gliding vernier scale is aligned with the marking on the main
scale. This gives a reading of 0.04cm.
○ Summing the 2 readings, we get 2.14cm.
● How to correct zero error

● “0” mark on main ● “0” mark of Vernier ● “0” mark of Vernier

scale and vernier scale scale is on the right of scale is on the left of
aligned main scale main scale
● Zero error = 0 ● On vernier scale, ● On vernier scale,
count the number of count the number of
divisions from the left divisions from the
end until the 2 scales right end until the 2
intercept for zero error scales intercept for
with positive sign zero error with
● Positive zero error negative sign
means that there is ● Negative zero error

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already a reading means that there is a
before measurement. negative value before
● Therefore, we need to we start measuring.
subtract the extra ● Therefore, need to
value away. plus in the value to
make up for it.

● To calculate actual measurement:

Measurement - (zero error) = actual value

● Micrometre screw gauge

○ How to read:
■ reading from the main scale is 4.5mm.
■ Reading from microscale is 0.22mm
■ Summing the 2 readings, we obtain 4.72mm.

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○ How to correct zero error
● “0” mark on ● “0” mark of thimble
main scale and scale is below “0” mark
thimble scale on main scale
aligned ● There is already a
● Zero error = 0 reading before
measurement. In this
case, it is +0.02mm
● Therefore, it is a
positive zero error and
we need to subtract the
extra value away.
● To calculate actual measurement:
Measurement - (zero error) = actual value
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● “0” mark of thimble
scale is above “0” mark
on main scale
● There is a negative
reading before
measurement. In this
case, it is -0.04mm
● Therefore, it is a
negative zero error and
we need to make up for
the deficiency.
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Measuring Time

Instruments used to measure time

Simple
pendulum

● Each complete to-and-fro motion is one oscillation.

○ P → Q → R → Q → P is one oscillation.
○ Q → R → Q → P → Q is also one oscillation.
● The period (symbol: T, SI unit: seconds) of a simple pendulum is
the time taken for one complete oscillation
○ Period is dependent on length of string, L and gravity, g.
Other properties such as the mass of the pendulum bob and
angle of swing do not matter.
○ Pendulum clocks are calibrated to measure time accurately
by adjusting the length of the period
● Steps to find the period
1. Take the total time for 20 steady oscillations using stopwatch
(this is to reduce the significance of human reaction time and
the random error to obtain a more accurate value). Record
this time as t1.

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2. Repeat step 1. Record the time as t2.
3. Calculate the average of the two timings tave by (t1 + t2) / 2.
4. Divide the average calculated by 20 to obtain the period.

Clocks and ● Use a digital watch for higher accuracy, for example, measuring the
stopwatches time taken for a runner to run a 100 m race.

Human ● Human reaction time is a random error. It is about 0.3-0.5 s for most
reaction time people.

● Most stopwatches can measure time to a precision of 0.01s,

however, because of human reaction time incurred when we press
the stopwatch by hand, we take the reading to the nearest 1 decimal
place.

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References
1. https://superphysics.sg/o-level-physics-notes/
2. https://www.overmugged.com/olevelsphysics
3. https://www.seab.gov.sg/docs/default-source/national-
examinations/syllabus/olevel/2021syllabus/6091_y21_sy.pdf

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