Precise measurements of physical quantities are a need of science. For example, to ascertain the speed of an aircraft, one must have an accurate method to find its positions at closely separated instants of time. This was the actual motivation behind the discovery of radar in World War II. Think of different examples in modern science where precise measurements of length, time, mass etc. are needed. Also, wherever you can, give a quantitative idea of the precision needed.
It is indeed very true that precise measurements of physical quantities are essential for the development of science. For example, ultra-shot laser pulses (time interval ∠¼ 10-15 s) are used to measure time intervals in several physical and chemical processes.
X-ray spectroscopy is used to determine the inter-atomic separation or inter-planer spacing.
The development of mass spectrometer makes it possible to measure the mass of atoms precisely.
State the number of significant figures in the following:
(a) 0.007 m2
(b) 2.64 x 1024 kg
(c) 0.2370 g cm-3
(d) 6.320 J
(e) 6.032 N m-2
(f) 0.0006032 m2
Fill in the blanks by suitable conversion of units:
(a) 1 kg m2s–2= ....g cm2 s–2
(b) 1 m =..... ly
(c) 3.0 m s–2=.... km h–2
(d) G = 6.67 × 10–11 N m2 (kg)–2=.... (cm)3s–2 g–1.
A physical quantity P is related to four observables a, b, c and d as follows :
The percentage errors of measurement in a, b, c and d are 1%, 3%, 4% and 2%, respectively. What is the percentage error in the quantity P ? If the value of P calculated using the above relation turns out to be 3.763, to what value should you round off the result ?
The mass of a box measured by a grocer's balance is 2.300 kg. Two gold pieces of masses 20.15 g and 20.17 g are added to the box. What is
(a) the total mass of the box,
(b) the difference in the masses of the pieces to correct significant figures?
When the planet Jupiter is at a distance of 824.7 million kilometers from the Earth, its angular diameter is measured to be 35.72" of arc. Calculate the diameter of Jupiter.
The photograph of a house occupies an area of 1.75 cm2 on a 35 mm slide. The slide is projected on to a screen, and the area of the house on the screen is 1.55 m2. What is the linear magnification of the projector-screen arrangement?
It is a well known fact that during a total solar eclipse the disk of the moon almost completely covers the disk of the Sun. From this fact and from the information you can gather from examples 2.3 and 2.4, determine the approximate diameter of the moon.
Fill in the blanks
(a) The volume of a cube of side 1 cm is equal to.....m3
(b) The surface area of a solid cylinder of radius 2.0 cm and height 10.0 cm is equal to ... (mm)2
(c) A vehicle moving with a speed of 18 km h–1covers....m in 1 s
(d) The relative density of lead is 11.3. Its density is ....g cm–3 or . ...kg m–3.
Explain this common observation clearly : If you look out of the window of a fast moving train, the nearby trees, houses etc. seem to move rapidly in a direction opposite to the train's motion, but the distant objects (hill tops, the Moon, the stars etc.) seem to be stationary. (In fact, since you are aware that you are moving, these distant objects seem to move with you).
Some of the most profound statements on the nature of science have come from Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists of all time. What do you think did Einstein mean when he said : “The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible”?
The sign of work done by a force on a body is important to understand. State carefully if the following quantities are positive or negative:
(a) work done by a man in lifting a bucket out of a well by means of a rope tied to the bucket.
(b) work done by gravitational force in the above case,
(c) work done by friction on a body sliding down an inclined plane,
(d) work done by an applied force on a body moving on a rough horizontal plane with uniform velocity,
(e) work done by the resistive force of air on a vibrating pendulum in bringing it to rest.
A geyser heats water flowing at the rate of 3.0 litres per minute from 27 °C to 77 °C. If the geyser operates on a gas burner, what is the rate of consumption of the fuel if its heat of combustion is 4.0 x 104 J/g?
Estimate the fraction of molecular volume to the actual volume occupied by oxygen gas at STP. Take the diameter of an oxygen molecule to be 3Å.
One end of a long string of linear mass density 8.0 x 10-3 kg m-1 is connected to an electrically driven tuning fork of frequency 256 Hz. The other end passes over a pulley and is tied to a pan containing a mass of 90 kg. The pulley end absorbs all the incoming energy so that reflected waves at this end have negligible amplitude. At t = 0, the left end (fork end) of the string x = 0 has zero transverse displacement (y = 0) and is moving along positive y-direction. The amplitude of the wave is 5.0 cm. Write down the transverse displacement y as function of x and t that describes the wave on the string.
A narrow sound pulse (for example, a short pip by a whistle) is sent across a medium.
(a) Does the pulse have a definite (i) frequency, (ii) wavelength, (iii) speed of propagation?
(b) If the pulse rate is 1 after every 20 s, (that is the whistle is blown for a split of second after every 20 s), is the frequency of the note produced by the whistle equal to or 0.05 Hz?
Estimate the average thermal energy of a helium atom at
(i) room temperature (27 °C),
(ii) the temperature on the surface of the Sun (6000 K),
(iii) the temperature of 10 million Kelvin (the typical core temperature in the case of a star).
Explain why
(a) To keep a piece of paper horizontal, you should blow over, not under, it
(b) When we try to close a water tap with our fingers, fast jets of water gush through the openings between our fingers
(c) The size of the needle of a syringe controls flow rate better than the thumb pressure exerted by a doctor while administering an injection
(d) A fluid flowing out of a small hole in a vessel results in a backward thrust on the vessel
(e) A spinning cricket ball in air does not follow a parabolic trajectory
Ten one-rupee coins are put on top of each other on a table. Each coin has a mass m. Give the magnitude and direction of
(a) the force on the 7th coin (counted from the bottom) due to all the coins on its top,
(b) the force on the 7th coin by the eighth coin,
(c) the reaction of the 6th coin on the 7th coin.
A large steel wheel is to be fitted on to a shaft of the same material. At 27 °C, the outer diameter of the shaft is 8.70 cm and the diameter of the central hole in the wheel is 8.69 cm. The shaft is cooled using ‘dry ice’. At what temperature of the shaft does the wheel slip on the shaft? Assume coefficient of linear expansion of the steel to be constant over the required temperature range: αsteel = 1.20 x 10–5 K–1.
(a) A child stands at the centre of a turntable with his two arms outstretched. The turntable is set rotating with an angular speed of 40 rev/min. How much is the angular speed of the child if he folds his hands back and thereby reduces his moment of inertia to 2/5 times the initial value? Assume that the turntable rotates without friction.
(b) Show that the child’s new kinetic energy of rotation is more than the initial kinetic energy of rotation. How do you account for this increase in kinetic energy?
A transverse harmonic wave on a string is described by
y(x,t) = 3.0 sin [36t + 0.018x + π /4]
Where x and y are in cm and t in s. The positive direction of x is from left to right.
(a) Is this a travelling wave or a stationary wave? If it is travelling, what are the speed and direction of its propagation?
(b) What are its amplitude and frequency?
(c) What is the initial phase at the origin?
(d) What is the least distance between two successive crests in the wave?
Which of the following symptoms is likely to afflict an astronaut in space (a) swollen feet, (b) swollen face, (c) headache, (d) orientational problem?