Mr SGs Measurements & Scientific Data Notes

-Physics is the branch of science that is concerned with the structure and behaviour of
matter

-It is an incredibly broad science that encompasses the study of motion, heat, sound,
light, radiation, electricity, magnetism, gravity, cosmology, and quantum mechanics among
other topics

-As with all Sciences, it involves making observations and performing experiments in order
to explain the behaviour of our universe

Scientific Method

-Scientific knowledge is generated by proposing hypotheses that attempt to answer the

unexplained, and performing experiments to test these hypotheses

-Hypothesis: a testable statement about the relationship between two variables

e.g. Increasing a pendulum’s angle of release will increase the period of its swing

-Over time, the knowledge gained can be used to formulate models, theories and laws that
explain the behaviour of the universe and allow us to make predictions about its future
behaviour

-Model: a physical, mathematical or conceptual representation of a phenomenon that is

difficult to directly observe

e.g. The Bohr model of the atom shows the electron as a

sphere, orbiting a spherical proton in one of several fixed
orbitals. While we cannot see inside the atom, this model is
extremely useful as it explains many of our experimental
observations of the atom

-Theory: a synthesis of a large body of information encom-

passing well-tested and verified hypotheses about aspects of
the natural world

e.g. In Biology, the theory of evolution explains the changes in heritable characteristics
that occur in a species over successive generations. The theory of evolution is well suppor-
ted by multiple stands of experimental evidence.

-Theories can be used to make testable predictions about the phenomena they explain
-Law: A law is a concise but general statement about the behaviour of nature

e.g. Newton’s Second Law states that F = ma

-The key aspect of the scientific method is that all knowledge can be disproved by the
emergence of new evidence

-Scientific models and theories are continually refined over time to encompass new evid-
ence that cannot be explained by the existing models and theories

SI (Systeme International) Units

-Studying the universe requires us to be able to make accurate and precise numerical
measurements

-In order for scientists to make comparable measurements, a common system of units and
conventions is needed

-The Systeme International (SI) system of units was developed to provide an accurately
defined system of units that can be used consistently across the world

-It consists of seven fundamental units that are used to measure different quantities

-Many of these units were initially defined in relation to physical objects (e.g. the kilogram
was defined in relation to the mass of a “reference kilogram” made of platinum and iridium
which was stored in Paris)

-The units are now defined in relation to physical constants (such as the speed of light in a
vacuum), so that they are not reliant on physical objects that may change over time

-There are seven base units in the SI system (shown in left table below)

-Further units can be derived from the base units (e.g. the unit for speed (m s -1/meters
per second) can be derived from the units for length (metres) and time (seconds))
-When using derived units that are the product of other units, a dot or a space must be
placed between the units (e.g. the SI unit for velocity can be written as m.s -1 or m s-1, but
NOT as ms-1)

Prefixes and conversion factors

-Because we are often measuring very small or very large quantities, it is not always
practical to use these units (e.g. the distance between Perth and Melbourne is
approximately 3 418 000 m)

-In order to make it these numbers more manageable, we can use prefixes to show certain
multiples of the fundamental SI units (e.g. one kilometre is 1000 metres)

Prefix Symbol Multiplier Example

pico p 10-12 picometres (pm)
nano n 10-9 nanograms (ng)
micro μ 10-6 microlitres (μl)
milli m 10-3 milliamperes (mA)
kilo k 103 kilograms (kg)
mega M 106 Megajoules (MJ)
giga G 109 Gigawatts (GW)
tera T 1012 Terajoules (TJ)

-Apart from centi (10-2), all prefixes are multiples of 1000 (103)

-For time, units of minutes (60 s) and hours (3600 s) are often used, even though they are
not technically SI units

-When using prefixes, do not leave a space between the prefix and its unit (e.g. nanograms
is written as ng, NOT as n g)

Scientific notation

-Very large and small numbers can also be written in scientific notation, where they are
shown as a number between 1 and 10 multiplied by an appropriate power of 10
(e.g. 65 780 = 6.578 x 104, 0.0000000043 = 4.3 x 10-9)

-You should be proficient at using scientific notation with your scientific calculator
(shift/setup/7/0 on a Casio fx-82)

-As well as making it easier to represent very large and small numbers, scientific notation
also makes it easier to represent the precision of a measurement (e.g. 50 000 can be
written as 5.0 x 104 or 5.00 x 104 to show whether the measurement is known to two or
three significant figures)
Measurement with accuracy & precision

Types of error

-All quantitative measurements contain some degree of

error which depends on the accuracy and the precision
of the measurement

-Accuracy: How close a measured value is to the true

value

-Precision: How consistent a set of measurements are

-Systematic errors cause measurements to be

inaccurate

-Systematic errors can be reduced by using correct

technique and correctly calibrated instruments

-Random errors cause measurements to be imprecise

-Random errors can never be completely eliminated, but their effect can be minimised by
averaging over a large number of measurements (replicates), so that the effect of the
random errors cancel out.

Indicating uncertainty when measuring

-Different scientific instruments are able to measure to different degrees of precision

(e.g. an electronic balance that shows mass to the nearest gram vs a balance that shows
mass to the nearest 0.01 of a gram)

-The precision is indicated by recording the number to

the correct number of digits (e.g. all digits shown on the
display)

-The measured mass of the bottle to the right is 97.9 g,

it would be incorrect to record the mass as 98 g, or as
97.90 g, as it would not correctly show the precision of
the measurement

-The final digit in any measurement has some

uncertainty, e.g. on the balance above, any mass between
97.85 g and 97.95 g will be displayed as 97.9 g, as the
balance only measures to the nearest 0.1 g
-The uncertainty is equal to + or – one half of the smallest scale division e.g. the mass
measured on the balance above can be said to be 97.9 ± 0.05g

-Uncertainty can be represented as an absolute value (e.g. 97.9 ± 0.05 g) or as a

percentage/relative uncertainty (97.9 g ± 0.051 %)

-When uncertain data is used to perform calculations, the uncertainty of the final
calculated answer depends on the uncertainties of all data used to calculate that answer

Rules for calculating uncertainty/error

1) To calculate proportional uncertainty, divide the uncertainty in a measurement

by the measurement

e.g. for a measurement x with uncertainty Δx, proportional uncertainty = Δx

x

2) The percentage uncertainty is equal to the proportional uncertainty x 100

e.g. Δx(%) = Δx . 100

x

3) When adding/subtracting data, add absolute uncertainties

e.g. if z = x + y, Δz = Δx + Δy

4) When multiplying/dividing data, add percentage/proportional uncertainties

e.g. if z = xy, Δz = Δx + Δy & Δz = Δx + Δy . z

z x y x y

5) When raising data to the power of n, multiply the percentage uncertainty by n

e.g. if z = y2, Δz = Δy . 2 & Δz = Δy . 2 . z

z y y

Significant Figures

-The number of significant figures in a measurement indicate its precision

-For this reason, it is important to be able to calculate the number of significant figures
in a measurement being processed
Rules for calculating the number of SF of a measurement

1) All non-zero digits are significant (e.g. 9.4 has 2 sf)

2) Zeroes between two significant figures are significant (e.g. 3.02 has 3 sf)

3) Zeroes before the first non-zero digit are NOT significant (e.g. 0.04 has 1 sf)

4) Zeroes after the last number, but before a decimal point are not significant unless
otherwise indicated (e.g. 300 has 1 sf). If the final zeroes are significant, this can be
indicated by placing the number in Scientific Notation (e.g. 3.00 x 10 2 has 3 sf)

-You can also calculate the number of significant figures by placing a number in scientific
notation. The Number of sf is then equal to the number of digits in the number (e.g.
0.000461 = 4.61 x 10-4, therefore it has 3 sf)

Calculations involving significant figures

-In Physics, answers to calculations are generally given to 3 sf, or 2 sf when estimating
(e.g. when calculating the gradient of a hand-drawn line of best fit)

-Sometimes you will be asked to express answers to an appropriate number of sf

-When using the appropriate number of sf, answers should be given to the same number of
sf as the least precise data used in the calculation

-The precision of the final answer in any calculation is limited by the least precise
measurement used in the calculation

Graphical analysis of scientific data

-Physics investigations will often attempt to

determine the nature of the relationship
between two variables (e.g. the independent
and dependent variables)

-It is generally not sufficient to simply state

that two variables are correlated

-In Physics we often want to know the

mathematical relationship between variables

-This can be done by plotting the collected data in a spreadsheet program (e.g. Excel)

-The data will generally take the form of one of the lines shown to the right

Linear relationships

-Where variables have a linear relationship, the equation for the trendline y = mx + c
(m = gradient, c = vertical axis intercept) can be calculated manually or using a
spreadsheet program

-This equation gives the mathematical relationship between the variables

Manipulating non-linear data

-Where two variables have a non-linear relationship, the data must be manipulated to
obtain a linear relationship

-This generally involves taking the inverse of one of the variables, raising one of the
variables to an exponent (generally 2 or 3) or both and replotting the data

-The data can then be replotted to determine if a linear relationship exists

-Once you have a linear plot, the equation for the trendline can be determined as for any
other linear relationship
Example

-The top data table and plot in the box

to the right represent the data from
an experiment attempting to
determine the relationship between
distance from a sound source and the
sound intensity level

-When plotted (top right) the data

indicate some kind of inverse (slopes
down rather than up) power (line is
curved rather than straight)
relationship

-To attempt to get a linear relationship, the inverse square of each distance value is
calculated (manually or with an Excel formula)

-When 1/d2 is plotted against I, a linear relationship results confirming that sound
intensity is proportional to the inverse square of the distance from the sound source

Calculating the gradient of a straight line

-When physical variables have a linear relationship, the gradient of the LOBF often
provides valuable information about the nature of the relationship

-To calculate the gradient, choose a section of the line of best fit, clearly indicate the
section on your graph and calculate the gradient using the formula

m = Δy
Δx

-Gradients must be provided with units, which will be the units of the y-axis variable
divided by the units for the x-axis variable, e.g. for the graph above

units for m = y-variable units = units for intensity = W m-2 = W

x-variable units units for inverse distance squared m -2