Physical Quantities & Measurement Techniques (CIE IGCSE Physics: Co-ordinated Sciences (Double Award))

A student has a pile of A4 paper for his computer printer.

Fig. 1.1 shows the dimensions of the pile of paper.

The pile contains 500 sheets of paper.

Calculate the average thickness of one sheet of paper.

average thickness = .................................................... cm 

Show that the pile of paper has a volume of 3000 cm³. Use the information shown in Fig.1.1.

The student measures the total mass of the paper in the pile.

State the name of a device used to measure mass.

The mass of the paper in the pile is 2400 g.

Calculate the density of the paper.

density = .............................................. g/cm³

A teacher investigates the reaction time of five students. A 0.50 m ruler is held above the hand of a student before being allowed to fall. The arrangement is shown in Fig. 3.1.

As soon as the ruler falls the student closes their hand, catching the ruler. The further the ruler falls, the greater the reaction time of the student. The results obtained are shown in Fig. 3.2.

Using the results shown in Fig. 3.2, calculate the average distance that the ruler drops.

List the students in order of their reaction times, with the shortest reaction time at the top of the table. One has been done for you.

Calculate the reaction time.

  
reaction time = ...................................................... s 

Fig. 1.1 shows a large tank containing water. The tank leaks. Drops of water fall from the tank.

The drops hit the ground at a regular rate.

 They use a stopwatch and repeat the procedure three times. Fig. 1.2 shows each stopwatch reading.

Another student measures the average time taken for a drop of water to fall from the tank to the ground. The time taken is 1.6 s.

Calculate the average speed of this drop of water.

average speed = ................................................... m/s 

A student has a piece of metal that has an irregular shape. The weight of the metal is 3.0 N.

Calculate the mass of the metal.

mass = ..................................................... kg 

Fig. 2.1 shows the piece of metal, a measuring cylinder and a beaker containing water.

A student uses a stopwatch in a timing experiment.

Fig. 1.1 shows the stopwatch readings.

Calculate the time interval between the two readings.

A device has a light-emitting diode (LED) that flashes briefly at regular intervals.

Describe how to determine accurately the average time for each interval, using a stopwatch.

A student places 8 similar coins in a pile, as shown in Fig. 1.1.

The height of the pile of coins is 2.4 cm.

Calculate the average thickness of one coin.

average thickness = .................................................. cm 

Fig. 1.2 shows the pile of coins, a measuring cylinder and a beaker containing some water.

Describe how the student can measure the volume of one of the coins using the set-up shown in Fig. 1.2.