Just as precise measurements are necessary in science, it is equally important to be able to make rough estimates of quantities using rudimentary ideas and common observations. Think of ways by which you can estimate the following (where an estimate is difficult to obtain, try to get an upper bound on the quantity):
(a) the total mass of rain-bearing clouds over India during the Monsoon
(b) the mass of an elephant
(c) the wind speed during a storm
(d) the number of strands of hair on your head
(e) the number of air molecules in your classroom.
(a) During monsoons, a metrologist records about 215 cm of rainfall in India i.e., the height of water column, h = 215 cm = 2.15 m
Area of country, A = 3.3 × 1012 m2
Hence, volume of rain water, V = A × h = 7.09 × 1012 m3
Density of water, p = 1 × 103 kg m-3
Hence, mass of rain water = p × V = 7.09 × 1015 kg
Hence, the total mass of rain-bearing clouds over India is approximately 7.09 × 1015 kg.
(b) Consider a ship of known base area floating in the sea. Measure its depth in sea (say d1).
Volume of water displaced by the ship, Vb = A d1
Now, move an elephant on the ship and measure the depth of the ship (d2) in this case.
Volume of water displaced by the ship with the elephant on board, Vbe= Ad2
Volume of water displaced by the elephant = Ad2 - Ad1
Density of water = D
Mass of elephant = AD (d2 - d1)
(c) Wind speed during a storm can be measured by an anemometer. As wind blows, it rotates. The rotation made by the anemometer in one second gives the value of wind speed.
(d) Area of the head surface carrying hair = A
With the help of a screw gauge, the diameter and hence, the radius of a hair can be determined. Let it be r.
∴Area of one hair = πr2
Number of strands of hair = Total Surface area / Area of one hair = A / πr2
(e) Let the volume of the room be V.
One mole of air at NTP occupies 22.4 l i.e., 22.4 × 10-3 m3 volume.
Number of molecules in one mole = 6.023 × 1023
∴Number of molecules in room of volume V
= 6.023 × 1023 / 22.4 × 10-3 V = 134.915 × 1026 V
= 1.35 × 1028 V
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.
Which of the following relationships between the acceleration a and the displacement x of a particle involve simple harmonic motion?
(a) a = 0.7x
(b) a = -200x2
(c) a = -10x
(d) a = 100x3
A body of mass 2 kg initially at rest moves under the action of an applied horizontal force of 7 N on a table with coefficient of kinetic friction = 0.1. Compute the
(a) work done by the applied force in 10 s,
(b) work done by friction in 10 s,
(c) work done by the net force on the body in 10 s,
(d) change in kinetic energy of the body in 10 s, and interpret your results.
What amount of heat must be supplied to 2.0 x 10-2 kg of nitrogen (at room temperature) to raise its temperature by 45 °C at constant pressure? (Molecular mass of N2 = 28; R = 8.3 J mol-1 K-1.)
A SONAR system fixed in a submarine operates at a frequency 40.0 kHz. An enemy submarine moves towards the SONAR with a speed of 360 km h-1. What is the frequency of sound reflected by the submarine? Take the speed of sound in water to be 1450 m s-1.
State if each of the following statements is true or false. Give reasons for your answer.
(a) In an elastic collision of two bodies, the momentum and energy of each body is conserved.
(b) Total energy of a system is always conserved, no matter what internal and external forces on the body are present.
(c) Work done in the motion of a body over a closed loop is zero for every force in nature.
(d) In an inelastic collision, the final kinetic energy is always less than the initial kinetic energy of the system.
A police van moving on a highway with a speed of 30 km h-1 fires a bullet at a thief's car speeding away in the same direction with a speed of 192 km h-1. If the muzzle speed of the bullet is 150 m s-1, with what speed does the bullet hit the thief's car ? (Note: Obtain that speed which is relevant for damaging the thief's car).