MEASUREMENT

Base Quantities
 Types of physical quantities
1. Fundamental quantities:
The physical quantities which are the most
important.

Examples:
• Mass • Time
• Length • Temperature
 Types of physical quantities
2. Derived quantities:
The physical quantities which depend on one
fundamental quantities.

Examples:

• Area • Speed
• Volume • Force
 DerQuantities
Derived
 Physical Quantity
A physical property that can be measured by a
number is called physical quantity.
Examples:
• Mass of a person is 65 kg.
• Length of a table is 3 m.
• Area of a hall is 100 m2.
• Temperature of a room is 300 K
 Units for measurement
The standard used for the measurement
of a physical quantity is called a unit.
Examples:
• metre, foot, inch for length
• kilogram, pound for mass
• second, minute, hour for time
• fahrenheit, kelvin for temperature
Base Quantities
 Rules for writing SI units

1
Full name of unit always starts with
small letter even if named after a
person.
• newton • Newton
• ampere not • Ampere
• coulomb • Coulomb
 Rules for writing SI units

2
Symbol for unit named after a scientist
should be in capital letter.

• N for newton • A for ampere

• K for kelvin • C for coulomb
 Rules for writing SI units

3
Symbols for all other units are written in
small letters.

• m for meter • kg for kilogram

• s for second • cd for candela
 Rules for writing SI units

4
One space is left between the last digit
of numeral and the symbol of a unit.
• 10 kg • 10kg
• 5N not • 5N
• 15 m • 15m
 SI Unit Prefixes - Part I

Name Symbol Factor

tera- T 1012
giga- G 109
mega- M 106
kilo- k 103
hecto- h 102
deka- da 101
 SI Unit Prefixes- Part II

Name Symbol Factor

deci- d 10-1
centi- c 10-2
milli- m 10-3
micro- μ 10-6
nano- n 10-9
pico- p 10-12
femto- f 10-15
 Rules for counting significant figures

2
Zeros between non-zero digits are significant.

Number Significant figures

205 3
3008 4
60.005 5
 Rules for counting significant figures

3
Terminal zeros in a number without decimal are
not significant unless specified by a least count.
Number Significant figures
400 1
3050 3
(20 ± 1) 2
s
 Rules for counting significant figures

4
Terminal zeros that are also to the right of a
decimal point in a number are significant.
Number Significant figures
64.00 4
3.60 3
25.060 5
 Rules for counting significant figures
5
If the number is less than 1, all zeroes before the
first non-zero digit are not significant.

Number Significant figures

0.0064 2
0.0850 3
0.0002050 4
 Rules for counting significant figures

6
During conversion of units use powers of 10 to
avoid confusion.
Number Significant figures
2.700 4
m 4
2 4
2.700 x 10
cm
 Exact numbers
• Exact numbers are either defined numbers or
the result of a count.
• They have infinite of significant figures
number because they are
reliable.
By counting
By definition 45 students
1 dozen = 12 objects 5 apples
1 hour = 60 minute 6 faces of cube
1 inch = 2.54 cm
 Rules for rounding off a measurement

1
If the digit to be dropped is less than 5, then the
preceding digit is left unchanged.
Number Round off up to 3 digits
64.62 64.6
3.651 3.65
546.3 546
 Rules for rounding off a measurement

2
If the digit to be dropped is more than 5, then the
preceding digit is raised by one.
Number Round off up to 3 digits
3.479 3.48
93.46 93.5
683.7 684
 Rules for rounding off a measurement

3
If the digit to be dropped is 5 followed by digits other
than zero, then the preceding digit is raised by one.

Number Round off up to 3 digits

62.354 62.4
9.6552 9.66
589.51 590
 Rules for rounding off a measurement
4
If the digit to be dropped is 5 followed by zero or
nothing, the last remaining digit is increased by 1 if it is
odd, but left as it is if even.
Number Round off up to 3 digits
53.350 53.4
9.455 9.46
782.5 782
 Significant figures in calculations

Addition & subtraction

The final result would round to the same decimal
place as the least precise number.
Example:
• 13.2 + 34.654 + 59.53 = 107.384 = 107.4

• 19 – 1.567 - 14.6 = 2.833 = 3

 Significant figures in calculations

Multiplication & division

The final result would round to the same number
of significant digits as the least accurate number.
Example:
• 1.5 x 3.67 x 2.986 = 16.4379 = 16

• 6.579/4.56 = 1.508 = 1.51

 Errors in measurement

Difference between the actual value of

a quantity and the value obtained by a
measurement is called an error.

Error = actual value – measured

value
 Types of errors

Systematic errors
Gross errors
Random errors
 1. Systematic errors

• These errors are arise due to flaws

in experimental system.

• The system involves observer,

measuring instrument and the environment.

• These errors are eliminated by

detecting the source of the error.
 Types of systematic errors

Personal errors
Instrumental errors
Environmental errors
 a. Personal errors
These errors are arise due to faulty procedures
adopted by the person making measurements.

Parallax error
 b. Instrumental errors
These errors are arise due to faulty construction
of instruments.

Zero error
 c. Environmental errors

These errors are caused by external conditions like

pressure, temperature, magnetic field, wind etc.

Following are the steps that one must follow in order

to eliminate the environmental errors:
a. Try to maintain the temperature and humidity
of the laboratory constant by making some
arrangements.

b. Ensure that there should not be any external magnetic or

electric field around the instrument.
Advanced experimental setups
 2. Gross errors
These errors are caused by mistake in using
instruments, recording data and calculating results.
Example:
a. A person may read a pressure gauge indicating
1.01 Pa as 1.10 Pa.

b. By mistake a person make use of an ordinary

electronic scale having poor sensitivity to measure very low
masses.

Careful reading and recording of the data can reduce the

gross errors to a great extent.
 3. Random errors

• These errors are due to unknown causes

and are sometimes termed as chance errors.

• Due to unknown causes, they cannot

be eliminated.

• They can only be reduced and the error can be

estimated by using some statistical
operations.
 Error analysis
For example, suppose you measure the oscillation period of
a pendulum with a stopwatch five times.

Trial no ( i ) 1 2 3 4 5
3.9 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.5
Measured value ( Xi )
 Mean value
The average of all the five readings gives the most probable
value for time period.

1
̅ ∑ X i
X =n

X̅ =
3.9 + 3.5 + 3.6 + 3.7 + 3.5 = 18.2
5

5
 Absolute error
The magnitude of the difference between mean value
and each individual value is called absolute error.

∆Xi = X̅ −
The absolute error inXeach individual reading:
i
3.9 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.5
Xi

∆Xi 0.3 0.1 0 0.1 0.1

 Mean absolute error
The arithmetic mean of all the absolute errors is
called mean absolute error.

1
̅
∆X = n
∑ ∆ Xi

̅
∆X =
0.3 + 0.1 + 0 + 0.1 + 0.1 =
0.6
5

5
 Reporting of result
• The most common way adopted by scientist and engineers
to report a result is:

Result = best estimate ± error

• It represent a range of values and from that we expect

a true value fall within.
• Thus, the period of oscillation is likely to be
within (3.6 ± 0.1) s.
 Relative error
The relative error is defined as the ratio of
the mean absolute error to the mean value.

relative error = ∆X̅ / X̅

̅ ̅ 0.1
∆X / X = 3.6 = 0.0277

∆X̅ / X̅ = 0.028
 Percentage error
The relative error multiplied by 100 is called as
percentage error.

percentage error = relative error x 100

percentage error = 0.028 x 100

percentage error = 2.8 %
 Least count error
Least count error is the error associated with
the resolution of the instrument.

• The least count error of any

instrument is equal to its
resolution.

• Thus, the length of pen is likely

to be within (4.7 ± 0.1) cm.
 Combination of errors

In different mathematical operations like addition,

subtraction, multiplication and division the errors
are combined according to some rules.

• Let ∆A be absolute error in measurement of A

• Let ∆B be absolute error in measurement of B

• Let ∆X be absolute error in measurement of X

When X = A ± B

∆X ∆A+∆B
=
X A ±B

∆X = ∆A + ∆B
When X = A × B or A / B

∆X ∆A ∆B
= +
X A B

∆A ∆B
∆X = + X
A B
When X = An

∆X ∆A
= n
X A

∆A
∆X = n X
A
 Estimation

Estimation is a rough calculation

to find an approximate value of
something that is useful for
some purpose.
Estimate the number of flats in Dubai city
Estimate the volume of water stored in a dam
 Order of magnitude

The approximate size of

something expressed in powers
of 10 is called order
of magnitude.
To get an approximate idea of the number, one may
round the coefficient a to 1 if it is less than or
equal to 5 and to 10 if it is greater than 5.
Examples:
• Mass of electron = 9.1 x 10−31 kg

≈ 10 x 10−31 kg ≈ 10−30 kg

• Mass of observable universe = 1.59 x 1053 kg

≈ 1 x 1053 kg
Thank
You