General Physics - Length and Time
General Physics - Length and Time
When measuring larger distances (of a few metres) a tape measure is more appropriate
or, when measuring even larger distances, a trundle wheel.
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Measuring cylinders can be used to measure the volume of liquids or, by measuring the
change in volume, the volume of an irregular shape.
Measuring cylinders can be used to determine the volume of a liquid or an irregularly shaped solid
Extended Only
Micrometer Screw Gauge
When measuring very small distances (less than a centimetre) a micrometre is the most appropriate
instrument.
Time
Stopclocks and stopwatches can be used to measure time intervals.
An important factor when measuring time intervals is human reaction time. This can
have a significant impact upon measurements when the measurements involved are very
short (less than a second).
Multiple Readings
Suppose you have to measure the thickness of a sheet of paper. The thing that you are
trying to measure is so small that it would be very difficult to get an accurate answer.
If, however, you measure the thickness of 100 sheets of paper you can do so much more
accurately. Dividing your answer by 100 will then give an accurate figure for the
thickness of one sheet.
This process of taking a reading of a large number of values and then dividing by
that number, is a good way of getting accurate values for small figures, including (for
example) the time period of a pendulum – measure the time taken for 10 swings and
then divide that time by 10.