Experiment 1 Basic Measurement

Objectives: After the end of this experiment, students will be able to:

 To learn proper measuring techniques.

 To become familiar with the use of significant figures and simple uncertainty

calculations.

 To practice to measure of mass as accurate as possible using various measuring

equipment.

 To practice how to calculate derived quantities (in the case of volume and density)

using basic measurements.

Apparatus:

Meter stick, Varner caliper, micrometer, triple beam balance, spring balance, electronic balance,

blocks, cylinders, spheres.

Theory

All physical quantities have dimensions. For example, the dimension of force is Newton and the

dimension of power is Watt (Joule/second). All of these dimensions can be written in terms of

the three basic dimensions: kilogram (for mass), meter (for length) and second (for time).

If we do experiment it is essential we try to measure the accurate as possible and that we report

our data within the accuracy of the measurement (that is: report in the appropriate number of

significant figures). In this experiment we will practice the measurement of length and mass of

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varies objects using different measuring equipment. Furthermore, we will practice calculating the

density of these objects, using the measurements of length and mass.

Part I: Measuring dimension and volume

Meter Stick:

All physical measurements are of limited precision. The instrument, the technique, and the

quantity being measured all contribute to the uncertainty of a measurement. The meter stick, for

example, has a least count of 1 mm. Then the uncertainty due to scale limitations is 1/2 mm. For

an experimenter with a sharp eye, further discernment to the nearest 1/2 mm might be possible,

reducing the uncertainty to 1/4 mm. Precision beyond this is, however, not very reliable with the

common meter stick because of the coarseness of the black lines that mark off the millimeters.

Another example is the Varner caliper--an instrument designed to measure lengths more

accurately than the meter stick. Its use is explained below. The least count of a standard Vernier

caliper is 1/10 mm which leads to an uncertainty of 1/20 mm. But a more precise Vernier caliper,

such as is used in this lab, can have a least count of 1/50 mm. An even more precise instrument is

the micrometer caliper (also explained below). It has a least count of 1/100 mm. An experienced

user might be able to discern tenths of the least count.

The proper use of the meter stick might seem to need little explanation--one simply holds it

against the object being measured and computes the difference between the readings at the

extremes of the object. Yet, even during such a simple operation, a couple of errors are

commonly made. Both involve the manner in which the meter stick is held.

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The parallax (line-of-sight) error can occur when the actual measuring scale is not up against the

object being measured. When such is the case, the reading will depend upon the line-of-sight of

the experimenter.

Figure 1.Different Meter sticks

Varner Caliper

A typical Varner caliper is pictured in Figure 4. It consists primarily of two parts: the main

frame and the movable frame. Often the frame will include both English and metric scales and

the number of lines on the Varner can be more than the number shown here. The outside caliper

jaws are used to measure the outside dimensions of an object while the inside caliper jaws are

used to measure inside dimensions (such as the inner diameter of a tube). The depth gauge can

measure the depth of holes.

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Figure 2. Varner caliper

To read the Varner caliper, one first looks to see where, on the main scale, the zero line of the

movable scale (the "index line") lies. In general it will not line up exactly with any line on the

main scale but will exceed some line by some fraction of the least count. The purpose of the

movable or "Varner" scale is to indicate that fraction to the nearest tenth. One counts the lines of

the Varner scale from the left (starting with zero) until one comes to a line that is best aligned

with a main-scale line. The number of that Varner line indicates the number of tenths by which

the reading exceeds the number just left the index line.

Micrometer:

A typical micrometer is shown in below Figure

Figure 3.micrometer

The movable jaw advances or recedes when the thimble is rotated due to screw threads inside the

sleeve. (Important: when closing the jaws, do not turn the thimble directly but rather turn the slip

knob. This will prevent damage to the instrument and guarantee a consistent exertion of pressure

on the jaws.) Because one revolution of the screw advances the jaw exactly .5 mm, the fifty

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equally spaced markings around the circumference of the thimble each correspond to 1/50th of .5

mm or .01 mm. Furthermore, as the thimble turns it reveals more of the sleeve scale. Between

these two scales, very accurate readings are possible. An experimenter with a sharp eye can even

make estimates of readings that lie between lines on the thimble scale.

Part II: Measuring the mass and calculating density

Triple beam balance, spring balance and electronic balance are instruments which help measures

the mass of small objects.

Note that: Electronic balance is more accuracy than the others.

Density is defined as the mass, M, divided by volume, V.

Express your densities in units of g/cm3 .

For your information, the textbook values of a few densities are:

aluminum 2.7±0.1 g/cm3, steel 7.9±0.5 g/cm3 , brass 8.4±0.5 g/cm3 , copper 8.93±0.1 g/cm3

, gold 19.28±0.5 g/cm3

Procedure

1. Measuring dimension and volume

1. Make sure you know how equipment’s for measuring the length (meter stick, micrometer and

Varner caliper) work. Check the zero setting for Varner caliper and micrometer.

2. Measure the length, the width and the height of the rectangular block using the meter stick,

Varner caliper and micrometer and record data in table 1.

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 Data

Table 1

No. Trial 1 2 3 4 5 Mean

Width(m)

Height(m)

Volume(m3) = l×w×h

2. Measuring mass and calculating density

1. Make sure you know how the equipment measuring mass (spring balance, triple beam balance

and electronic balance) works check the zero setting for all three apparatus.

2. Measure mass of the rectangular block, by spring balance, triple beam balance and electronic

balance and record the data in table 2.

3. Calculate the density of rectangular block and record the data in table 3.

Data

Table 2

Spring balance Triple beam balance Electronic balance

Mass of rectangular

block (kg)

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 Table 3

Density of Meter stick + spring Meter stick + triple Meter stick +

Rectangular block balance beam balance electronic balance

(kg/m3)

NB: use the mean value of area of the rectangular block to calculate its density.

Questions
1. Which combination of apparatus gives the least accurate density and how many
significant figure we have?
2. Which combination of apparatus gives the most accurate density and how many
significant figure we have?
3. In which measurement of the dimension are we most likely to make reading errors?
4. Is there any inconsistency in the measurements with the different apparatuses? ( if yes,
how do your account for the inconsistencies?)
5. What other ways of measuring the volume of an object are available?
6. What other ways of measuring the density of substances?
7. Determine the mean and standard deviation from the mean value of density of the
rectangular block.

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