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    Measurements and Their Errors ER

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    albinjens

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    Measurements and Their Errors ER

    Uploaded by

    albinjens
    8 views3 pages

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    Measurements and their errors ER

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    8 views3 pages

    Measurements and Their Errors ER

    Uploaded by

    albinjens

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    E1. Not the easy “starter for three” one might have expected.

    ected. The most common error: weight


    given as a scalar quantity and/or measured in kilograms. Also a disappointing number of
    candidates did not know the unit for energy.

    E2. (a) Candidates’ attempts to show the relationship between impulse and momentum and
    their units were variable. There was considerable confusion regarding the unit of impulse
    (Ns–1 being fairly commonplace). Too frequently candidates simply started with F = ma
    without attempting to show how this related to the impulse/change of momentum equation.
    It was relative common to see candidates stating that impulse is equal to the rate of
    change of momentum.

    (b) Arguments for how the ejection of waste gas propels a rocket were variable. Most
    candidates had an idea that conservation of momentum was involved, but tended to be
    rather loose in their application of this concept. Many simply said that forces are equal and
    opposite, or that if there was momentum in one direction there must be momentum in the
    other direction.

    (c) It was not apparent from most candidates’ answers whether or not they understood that in
    this example it is mass changing with time rather than velocity. Although credit was
    allowed;for equation F = , F = ma; F = m or F = were not allowed.

    A significant minority of candidates failed to convert km s–1 into m s–1 yet still quoted their
    final answer in MN.

    E3. Surprisingly, many candidates did not gain full marks here. The difference between vectors
    and scalars was not always well known and a significant number of candidates were unable to
    state the full name of each unit, even though poor spelling of these names was condoned.

    E6. Part (i) was correctly answered by about three quarters of the candidates.

    About half of the candidates correctly answered part (ii).

    E7. The unit of gravitational potential was known correctly by 71% of the candidates in this
    question. However, one in five selected distractor C – N kg–1 – which is the unit of gravitational
    field strength.

    Page 1 of 3
    E8. It is surprising that only 49% of the candidates arrived at the correct answer in this question.
    Identifying the rate of change of momentum with force, and the unit of force with (mass ×
    acceleration), ought to be relatively straightforward piece of physics for candidates at the end of
    an A level course. Distractors A and C (where in each case the answer is a unit of momentum)
    were both chosen by about 20% of the candidates.

    E9. This question was the most demanding question on the paper, with only 39% of the students
    giving the correct answer. In order to identify the correct combinations of units to give V m-1, it
    was necessary to remember that 1 V = 1 J C-1 and that 1 C = 1 A s. Distractor C was the choice
    of over a quarter of the students.

    E10. This question was on gravitational effects. Rearrangement of possible units to obtain the
    ratio of the quantities g2 / G was required; almost 70% of the candidates could do this correctly
    but 20% chose distractor B (N kg-1 instead of N m-2).

    E11. This question tested familiarity with the units of impulse. The relationship between impulse
    and change of momentum pointed directly to kg m s-1, which was chosen by two-thirds of the
    candidates. The common incorrect answers were distractors A (N s-1: obviously confused with N
    s) and C (kg m s-2, a unit of force rather than force × time).

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