PHYS 1201W Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Observational Error, Stopwatch, Kilogram
Document Summary
Physics is largely based on quantitative measurements; these must be expressed by numerical comparison to some agreed upon set of standards. Primary standards are for length,time and mass established by the international scientific community; secondary standards are calibrated with the primary standards. All mechanical quantities can be expressed in terms of some combo of the 3 fundamental dimensions: l,t,m. Unit conversion should be mastered, method of multiplying by 1 and cancelling units. Random - variation of results of an experiment caused by something like a person unable to start and stop a timer consistently; random error can be reduced by taking the average of many measurements. Systematic - something of the experiment is consistently wrong, such as the stopwatch has a lag; error can be reduced by using a better watch or comparing the watch used with a more accurate one.
