12/7/2016

David Cottingham: Tips for Physics Practical Exams

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TipsforPhysicsPracticalExams

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ThefollowingguidelinescomeasaresultofdoingalltheLondonExaminations(nowEdexcel)PH10
(International)practicalexamsfrom1995to2000andreadingthemarkschemesforthem.Theyaredesignedto
helpyouasmuchaspossibletogivethepointstheexaminerswant.Ifyougetachance,it'sagoodideatoread
throughamarkschemeandtheexaminer'scomments.Also,thereisnosubstituteforpractice:doasmanypast
examsasyoucan!

Oscillations
Opinions

Perform3setsofmeasurementsforeachdifferentoscillation,(youwillgetmoremarksifyoudo2setsof
repeats).

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TipsforPractical
Exams

Measureatleast30periodsintotal.

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Preferablymakeeachmeasurement20periodslong.
Precaution:minimiseoscillationsinanyotherplaneotherthantheonebeingobserved("Carefulrelease
toavoidunwantedmodesofoscillation").Explainhowyoudidthis.
Alwayswritetimestotwod.p.,nevertothenearestsecond.
Precaution:dosmallamplitudeoscillations
Precaution:saythatyoudidseveralperiodsatoncetominimisereactiontimeerrors.
Precaution:useafiducialmarkeratthecentreoftheoscillation.

Moments
Precaution:balancetherulerbeingusedfirst.

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Usedistancesfromthepivotofgreaterthan25cm(250mm).
Weightheunknownandknownmassesinyourhandsbeforeusingtheruler,andplacethelightermass
asfarfromthepivotaspossible.
Measuredistancesfromthepivottothecentreofmassoftheobject.
Allmeasurementsshouldbeto1mmaccuracy.
Tomakesuretheruleisbalanced,pulleachenddown.Ifitcomesupagainthentherulemusthaveequal
momentsactingonitoneitherend.
Whatisthis?
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David Cottingham: Tips for Physics Practical Exams

DensityMeasurements
Whenusingamicrometer,onefullrotationofthebarrelis0.5mm(50onthebarrelscale).
Themicrometerreadsto0.01mmaccuracy.
Verniercalliperscanreadto0.05mmaccuracy.However,itisadvisabletoquotethefigureto0.1mm
accuracy,asthiswillgivealargeruncertainty,whichwillmakecomparisonsinlaterpartsofthequestion
easier.
Ifmeasuringaverysmalldimension,measureseveral"thicknesses"ofit.Remembertodividebythe
numberofthicknessesafterthemeasurement!
Precaution:checkthezeroerroronthemicrometerand/orVerniercallipers.Wipethejawsofthe
micrometertoremovegrease.
Giveanswersto2or3s.f.:itismeaninglesstowrite,forexample,"densityis7785.654kgm3"!
Alwaystakeatleast3readingsforeachmeasurement,andtakeanaverage.
Whenmeasuringstringdiametersorfoilthicknesses(orsimilar),useaminimumof10thicknesses.

Miscellaneous
Withameasurementthatvariessubstantiallyeachtimeyoutestit,takeatleast4readings.Anexampleis
sandfallingfromafunnel.
ForExperimentC,8readingsarenormallysufficient(sometimeseven6).Extratimeattheendcanbe
usedforwritinguptheotherexperimentsorplanningthem.
Showclearlyondiagramsyourmeasurements,e.g.tothecentresofmassofobjectswhendoinga
momentsexperiment.
Inanyexperimentthatinvolvesloadingandunloading,statethatyoucheckedtheoriginalheighton
unloadingeachtime.
Inanyexperimentinvolving,e.g.afunnelandsand,statethatyoukeptthefunnelvertical.
Precaution:withmanyexperiments,youcanstatethatyoudidsomethingtoavoidparallaxerror.
Whenmeasuringangles,measurefromtheundersideof,e.g.,theboardyouaremeasuringtheangleof,
comparedtothehorizontalbench.
Tomeasureaheightwitharulerandasetsquare,holdtherulerverticallyusingthesetsquareagainst
thebenchandtheflatsideoftheruler.
Showanyanglesmeasuredondiagrams,includingonesofforces.

Uncertainties

%Uncertainty=
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David Cottingham: Tips for Physics Practical Exams

Whenmultiplyingordividingquantities,addtheir%uncertaintiestogether.
Whenaddingorsubtractingquantities,addtheirabsoluteerrorstogether,thendividebytheresultofthe
addition/subtractionofthemeasurement,e.g.for

,where

,and

,theabsoluteerrorsadded=0.102mm.Thereforethe%uncertaintyis:

Ifyouhavetocalculatetheerrorin,e.g.
,theabsoluteerrorindmustbemultipliedbypiandthen
addedtotheabsoluteerrorinx.Thepercentageuncertaintyisthistotalerrordividedbythecalculated
andtheresultmultipliedby100.
Ifameasurementistoberaisedtoapower,thenmultiplythe%uncertaintyinthemeasurementbythe
powertogetthe%uncertaintyintheoverallterm.
Iftwovalues,forsay,adensityareavailable,calculatethe%differencebetweenthem.Ifavalueisgiven
bytheexaminer,thenusethisasthe"correct"value,andcalculatethe%differencethefollowingway:
wherexisyourmeasuredvalue,andcistheexaminer'svalue.Ifyouhaveobtainedtwo
values,thentheexpressionchanges:

wherex1andx2areyourmeasuredvalues,and

is

themedianofthetwo,(notnecessarilythemean!).
Comparethe%differencewithyour%uncertainty.Anyrelationshipsuggested,suchasthatthetwo
densitiesshouldbeequal,canbeconsideredcorrectifyour%differenceislessthanyour%uncertainty.
Thiswillgainyoumarks!
Ifyour%uncertaintieslooksmall,checkthatyouhavemultipliedby100!

ElectricalExperiments
Withcapacitordischarges,eithertakereadingsevery5secondsforthefirstpartofthedischarge,orI
thinkthatevery10secondsissufficient.
Ifarangeisspecifiedoverwhichyoushouldtakemeasurements,donotexceedit:youwillbepenalised.
Withananalogueammeter,usethetopscale.Thisreads(generally),from20,to0,to10.Thesearein
factdivisionsof10mA,andthemeteractuallyreadsfrom20to100mA.Ifyouareoutbyafactorof10,
(e.g.yougetacalculatedcellvoltageof0.15V),checkthatyouhavereadthemetercorrectly.Always
rememberthatthepolarityonthemetermustbecorrect.
Anysmalldiscrepancyinyourresultscanbeexplainedby"electricalresistanceatthecontactsinthe
circuit".

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David Cottingham: Tips for Physics Practical Exams

Withmostelectricalexperimentwhereacurvewillbeobtained(e.g.theV/Icharacteristicofadiode),9
pointsonasmoothcurvearesufficient.

Graphs
Withanygraph,aminimumof6to8pointsareneeded,andyoumusthaveatleast4pointsonacurve.
Whenmeasuringthegradientofagraph,carryyourtangentontothesidesofthegraphpaper,however
bigyourgraph.Thetriangleyouuseshouldbegreaterthan10cminlengthandheight,althoughinsome
markschemes100cm2isfine.
Yourgraphdoesnothavetogothroughtheorigin.Ifthedatadoesnotindicatethatitdoesso,donot
forceitto.Commentonthefactthattheremusthavebeenasystematicerror.
Whenchoosingvaluestoreadofagraph,itisbettertotakethemfromthemiddlepartofthecurve,as
thisiswhereyouwillhavemorepointsperchangeinycoordinate.
Whendescribingyour"plan"inExperimentC,statethatthegraphyouplotwillbeastraightlinethrough
theorigin(ifthisisthecase!),ofgradient=toanexpressionwhichwillhelpyouconfirmtherelationship
suggestedbytheexaminer.
Turningpointsongraphsrequireatleast4points.
Ifpointsneartheorigindeviatesubstantiallyfromyourlineofbestfit,pointoutthatforsmall
measurementsthereisagreateruncertainty.

ExperimentsInvolvingTemperature
Readingsshouldbeaccuratetofractionsofadegree.
Stiranyliquidbeingheated.
Insulatetheapparatusifpossible.
Thethermometershouldnotbetouchingthesidesofthecontaineritisin,andshouldbeinthemiddleof
theliquidyouaremeasuringthetemperatureof.
Precaution:readthethermometerateyeleveltoavoidparallaxerror.
Thebulbofthethermometershouldbecompletelysubmerged.
Commentontheresultobtainedbeingtherightorderofmagnitude.

Finally,alwaysreadthequestioncarefully!

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