Pastpaper

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Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Pastpaper
Question

Copyright © AQA and its licensors. All rights reserved.

Feynman's story

When Feynman's
I was a small boy he used to sit me on his lap and
story
read to me from the Britannica. We would be reading, say, about
dinosaurs ， and it would say something like, “This dinosaur is
twenty-five feet high and its head is six feet across.”
My father would stop reading and say, “Now, let's see what
that means. That would mean if he stood in our front yard, he
would be tall enough to put his head through our window up
here.” (We were on the second floor.) “But his head would be too
wide to fit in the window.” Everything he read to me he would
translate as best he could into some reality.
It was very exciting and very, very interesting to think there were
animals of such magnitude—and that they all died out, and that
nobody knew why. I wasn't frightened there would be one coming
in my window as a consequence of this. But I learned from my
father to translate:
everything I read I try to figure out what it really means, what
it's really saying.
 Feynman's story
Feynman's story
The next Monday, when the fathers were all back at work, we kids
were playing in a field. One kid says to me, “See that bird? What
kind of bird is that?”
I said, “I haven't idea what kind of a bird it is.”He says, “It's a
brown-throated thrush ！ Your father doesn't teach you
anything!”

But it was the opposite. He had already taught me: “See that
bird?” he says. “It's a Spencer's warbler.” (I knew he didn’t know
the real name.) “Well, in Italian, it's a Chutto Lapittida. In Chinese,
it's a Chung-long-tah, and in Japanese, it's a Katano Tekeda. You
can know the name of the bird in all the languages of the world,
but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever
about the bird. You'll only know about humans in different places,
and what they call the bird. So let's look at the bird and see what
it's doing—that's what counts.”

(I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of

something and knowing something.)
 limitation of measurement
3.1.2 limitation of measurement
• Systematic errors​ occur due to the apparatus or faults in the experimental
method. Systematic errors cause all results to be ​too high or too low by the
same amount​​each time.

(5.9+x)
 limitation of measurement

• Random errors​ meaning they cause differences in measurements

which causes a spread about the mean.
• You ​cannot​get rid of all random errors, Random error can be reduced
by taking repeat measurements.

5.9±0.1
 Systematic
errors​

(5.9+x)±0.1cm

Random
errors​
Weigh yourself when you
wear a lot of clothes
 • Systematic errors​affect ​accuracy​
• Random errors​affect ​precision​

• Accuracy: ​A measure of how close a measurement is to the true value.

• Precision: ​A measure of how close a measurement is to the mean value.

True value of a quantity can be found only when the measurement is perfect!
 3.1.2 limitation of measurement
limitation of measurement

No error Systematic error Random error both

true value

Accuracy=high Accuracy=low Accuracy=high Accuracy=low

Precision=high Precision=high Precision=low Precision=low
 3.1.2 limitation of measurement
limitation of measurement
To reduce random errors:
• Take ​at least 3 repeats​and
calculate a ​mean​, this method
also allows ​anomalies to be
identified.
• Use ​computers/data
loggers/cameras​to reduce
human error and enable ​smaller
intervals.
• Use ​appropriate equipment​, e.g a
micrometer has higher resolution
(0.1 mm) than a ruler (1 mm).
To reduce systematic error:
• Calibrate​apparatus by
measuring a known value (e.g.
weigh 1 kg on a mass balance), if
the reading is inaccurate then the
systematic error is easily
identified.
• In radiation experiments correct
for ​background radiation​
measuring it beforehand and
excluding it from final results.
• Read the ​meniscus ​(the central
curve on the surface of a liquid)​
at eye level​(to reduce parallax
error) and use ​controls​in
experiments.
 3.1.2 limitation of measurement
limitation of measurement

• Resolution: ​The smallest change in a quantity that causes a visible

change in the reading that a measuring instrument records.

• Uncertainty: ​The interval within which the true value can be expected
to lie , expressed as a ± value (e.g. I=2.6 ±0.2 A )

 Absolute Uncertainty​: uncertainty given as a fixed quantity e.g.

7±0.5 V
 Fractional Uncertainty:​uncertainty as a fraction of the
measurement e.g.7±1/2 V
 Percentage Uncertainty:​uncertainty as a percentage of the
measurement e.g. 7±50% V

(5.9+x)±0.1cm
limitation3.1.2
of limitation
measurement
of measurement

Measurements play a key role in science, so

they must be:

• Valid: the measurements are of the

required data or can be used to give the
required data and have been obtained by
an acceptable method.

• Repeatable: ​The same experimenter can

repeat a measurement using the same
method and equipment and obtain the
same value.

• Reproducible: ​An experiment can be

repeated by a different experimenter
using a different method and different
apparatus, and still obtain the same
results.
 limitation of measurement
 limitation of measurement
3.1.2 limitation of measurement

• Readings are when ​one value​is found e.g.

reading a thermometer.

• Measurements are when the difference between

2 readings ​is found, e.g. a ruler (as both the
starting point and end point are judged).
 limitation of measurement

• The ​uncertainty​of a measurement

is the bounds in which the accurate
value can be expected to lie e.g.
20°C ± 2°C , the true value could
be within 18-22°C
• Resolution, the smallest change in
the quantity being measured that
gives a recognisable change in
reading
 limitation of measurement
 limitation of measurement
 limitation of measurement
 limitation of measurement
 limitation of measurement
3.1.2 limitation of measurement

 The ​uncertainty in a reading​is ​​± half the smallest division​, e.g. for a
thermometer the smallest division is 1°C so the uncertainty is ±0.5°C.

 The ​uncertainty in a measurement​​is ​at least ±1 smallest division, e.g.

a ruler, must include ​both​the uncertainty for the start and end value,
as each end has ±0.5mm, they are added so the uncertainty in the
measurement is ±1mm.
 limitation of measurement

Digital readings​and given values will either have

the uncertainty quoted or assumed to be ​± the last
significant digit​e.g. 3.2 ± 0.1 V, the ​resolution​​of an
instrument affects its uncertainty.
For ​repeated data​the uncertainty is ​half the range​
(largest - smallest value), show as mean ± range/2.

For example, consider the following measurements of

the diameter of a wire: 0.34mm, 0.33mm, 0.36mm,
0.32mm, 0.35mm

Uncertainties​should be given to the ​same number of

significant figures​as the data.
 limitation of measurement

You can reduce uncertainty

• by ​fixing one end​of a ruler as only the uncertainty
in ​one reading​is included.
• by measuring ​multiple instances​, e.g. to find the
time for 1 swing of a pendulum by measuring the
time for 10 giving e.g. 6.2 ± 0.1 s, the time for 1
swing is 0.62 ± 0.01s ​(the uncertainty is also
divided by 10)​.
Standard Form
In standard form, the number is written with one digit in front of the
decimal point and multiplied by the appropriate power of 10. For
example:
The diameter of the Earth, for example, is 13 000 km.
13 000 km = 1.3 × 10 000 km = 1.3×10^4 km.
The distance to the Andromeda galaxy is 2 200 000 light years = 2.2
× 1 000 000 ly = 2.2×10^6 ly.
 Significant Figures

Significant Figures (also called sig figs and s.f.) - Read from the left and start
counting sig figs when you encounter the first non-zero digit

All non-zero numbers are significant (meaning they count as sig figs)
• 613 has three sig figs
• 123456 has six sig figs

Zeros located between non-zero digits are significant (they count)

• 5004 has four sig figs
• 602 has three sig figs
• 6000000000000002 has 16 sig figs!

Trailing zeros (those at the end) are significant only if the number contains a
decimal point; otherwise they are insignificant (they don’t count)
• 5.640 has four sig figs
• 120000. has six sig figs
• 120000 has two sig figs – unless you’re given additional information in the
problem
 Significant Figures

Zeros to left of the first nonzero digit are insignificant (they don’t count);
they are only placeholders!
• 0.000456 has __3_ sig figs
• 0.052 has __2_ sig figs
• 0.000000000000000000000000000000000052 also has ___ sig figs!

Rules for calculations

When you perform a calculation the answer should be given to the same
number of significant figures as the weakest piece of data that was used in
the calculation.

For example if a piece of card is 11.3 cm long and 2.4 cm wide then the
area = 27.12 cm^2 (on the calculator), but should be written as 27 cm^2
(i.e. 2 sig fig) because the width (2.4) was only given to 2 sig fig.
 limitation of measurement

How do we represent uncertainties in graph?

 limitation of measurement
Uncertainties and graphs
3.1.2 limitation of measurement

Uncertainties are shown as ​error bars​on graphs,

e.g. if the uncertainty is 5mm then have 5 squares of error bar on either side of the point.
The ​uncertainty in a gradient​can be found by lines of best and worst fit, this is especially useful when
the gradient represents a value such as the acceleration due to gravity:

• A line of best fit on a graph should ​go through all error bars​(​excluding anomalous points​).
• Draw a ​steepest and shallowest​line of worst fit, it ​must​go through all the error bars.
• Calculate the gradient of the line of best and worst fit, the uncertainty is the ​difference between the
best and worst gradients.
 limitation of measurement
3.1.2 limitation of measurement
estimation of physical quantities

Orders of magnitude​- ​Powers of ten which describe the size of an object, and which can also be
used to compare the sizes of
3.1.3 estimation ofobjects.
physical quantities
E.g: The diameter of nuclei have an order of magnitude of around 10^ −14 m.
100 m is two orders of magnitude greater than 1m.

Estimation ​is a skill physicists must use in order to approximate the values of physical quantities, in
order to make ​comparisons​, or to check if a value they've calculated is ​reasonable​
 estimation of physical quantities

• mass of a person 60kg

• height of a person 1.7m
• walking speed
• speed of a car on the
1m/s
motorway 30m/s
• volum of a can of drink 300cm^-3
• density of water 1000kgm^-3
• weight of an apple 1N
• typical current in domestic
appliance
13A
• emf of a car battery 12V
Feynman's story

When Feynman's
I was a small boy he used to sit me on his lap and
story
read to me from the Britannica. We would be reading, say, about
dinosaurs ， and it would say something like, “This dinosaur is
twenty-five feet high and its head is six feet across.”
My father would stop reading and say, “Now, let's see what
that means. That would mean if he stood in our front yard, he
would be tall enough to put his head through our window up
here.” (We were on the second floor.) “But his head would be too
wide to fit in the window.” Everything he read to me he would
translate as best he could into some reality.
It was very exciting and very, very interesting to think there
were animals of such magnitude—and that they all died out, and
that nobody knew why. I wasn't frightened there would be one
coming in my window as a consequence of this. But I learned
from my father to translate:
everything I read I try to figure out what it really means, what
it's really saying.
 Feynman's story
Feynman's story
The next Monday, when the fathers were all back at work, we kids
were playing in a field. One kid says to me, “See that bird? What
kind of bird is that?”
I said, “I haven't idea what kind of a bird it is.”He says, “It's a
brown-throated thrush ！ Your father doesn't teach you
anything!”

But it was the opposite. He had already taught me: “See that
bird?” he says. “It's a Spencer's warbler.” (I knew he didn’t know
the real name.) “Well, in Italian, it's a Chutto Lapittida. In Chinese,
it's a Chung-long-tah, and in Japanese, it's a Katano Tekeda. You
can know the name of the bird in all the languages of the world,
but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever
about the bird. You'll only know about humans in different places,
and what they call the bird. So let's look at the bird and see what
it's doing—that's what counts.”

(I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of

something and knowing something.)