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Overview
1.1 Physical quantities and measurement techniques

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Length, volume and time
Table of
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Notebook

' SI units and prefixes

Glossary

To communicate effectively, scientists need a common language for

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measurements. An international system of measurements, called SI units,
Reading
assistance
has been established for some time now. The second, metre and the kilogram
are examples of SI units.

The system also includes a set of prefixes to denote multiple units, such as
the 'k' in km or kJ. For example, 3000 joules can be written as 3 kJ. Table 1
shows the standard prefixes used at IGCSE level.

Table 1. Common prefixes for units.

Prefix (symbol) Meaning

centi (c) ÷ 100

)
milli (m) ÷ 1000

kilo (k) × 1000

mega (M) × 1 000 000

giga (G) × 1 000 000 000

Scientists often use standard form maths to help with very large or very
small numbers. For example, 4 GW (4 gigawatts) is 4 000 000 000 watts or 4
× 109 W.

" Study skills

Units must always be included when you give a numerical answer

to a question. For example, if the question is asking you to calculate
'3 m + 2 m = ?', your answer should be '5 metres' or '5 m', not just '5'. 

If you forget to include units with your answer, you may lose marks
in your examinations. 

Worked example 1
How many mJ are there in 0.5 kJ?

» Show solution

Length
Measuring length is easy. We do this frequently, with a ruler (rule) or tape
measure. Standard units for length are the metre (the standard SI unit) and
subdivisions. You need to know that:

1 m = 100 cm
1 m = 1000 mm
1 km = 1000 m

Common mistakes
In Figure 1, a ruler is being used to measure the depth of water in a
container. It looks like the depth of the water is 4 cm.

Can you spot the mistake?

Figure 1. Measuring depth with a ruler.

Many rulers have a small extra piece of plastic or wood before the numbers
start. You would need to measure this section and add it to the depth reading.

# Practical skills

Different apparatus can have different versions of this type of

mistake. The needle on a dial, for example, might not start at
exactly zero. 

Make sure to check all of your measuring equipment to see where

the 'zero' mark is on the scale.

Volume
A measuring cylinder is used to measure volumes of liquids or powders.

Remember that liquids often have a meniscus – a curve in the upper surface
of the liquid. The volume should be read from the centre of the cylinder,
which is often the bottom of the curve (or meniscus). In Figure 2, the
correct reading is 4.5 cm3, not 5 cm3.

cm3
10

Figure 2. Meniscus in a liquid.

The volume of liquids are measured in litres (l) or cubic centimetres (cm3 )
for smaller volumes. For solids, we use cm3 or m3. A volume of 1 cm3 is the
same as 1 millilitre.

# Practical skills

Take care with the scale on measuring cylinders – individual lines

are often not marked and you need to check carefully if the lines
represent 1, 2, 5 or 10 cm3 divisions. This is a common mistake
made in practical work and readings on practical papers.

Time
You should be familiar with using clocks and timers to record time in a
range of experiments. As well as digital readings , you should be able to use
a standard clock face (known as analogue) to read a time interval. Many
stopwatches do not have labels showing the meaning of the digits. Figure 3
shows how the numbers represent time on a stopwatch.

Figure 3. A digital timer.

Common mistakes
What is the reading on the timer in Figure 3?

Many people write this as 4 seconds 33 milliseconds. However, the correct

answer is 4.33 seconds. Milliseconds (ms) are thousandths of a second, not
hundredths.

Length, volume and time Reset

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