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Chapter 1 Physical Quantities and Units Revision

Including STPM
2013 2014 2015

1.Which of the following physical quantities has the same dimensions as impulse?

A Weight
B Momentum
C Work done
D Kinetic energy

2. A fluid flows through a pipe of diameter d and length L. The volume flow rate R is given by
cd 4 p
R
 L ,where c is a dimensionless constant, p the pressure difference between the two
ends of the pipe and  the viscosity of the fluid. The unit of  in terms of base units is
A kg m B kg s-2 C kg m-1s-1 D kg m-3 s-1

3. The dimensions of the base quantities of length, mass, time, amount of substance and
temperature are denoted by the symbols L, M, T, N and 0 respectively. What are the Dimension
of R in the equation pV = nRT
[Dimension for p: ML-1 T-2, V: L3, n: N, T: ]
A ML2T-2-1 B ML2T-2N-1-1 C MLT-2N-1-1 D ML4T-2N-1-1

4. For an object moving with uniform acceleration, the velocity v is given by the equation
v 2  p  gx , where p and q are constants and x is a variable. What are the dimensions of the
term qx?
AL B LT-1 C LT-2 D L2T-2

5. Which pair of the following quantities includes a scalar quantity and a vector quantity?
A Power, distance
B Velocity, acceleration
C Force, potential energy
D Work, kinetic energy

6. Which of the following contains only a scalar quantity?

A Work, velocity, length, distance
B Mass,acceleration,length,kinetic energy
C Acceleration, temperature, area, electric charge
D Mass,volume,Electrical potential energy,potential energy

7. Which of the following is a systematic error?

A Zero error
B Parallax error
C Measuring equipment deviates slightly from one measurement to the next
D The same person reading the scales slightly differently for each measurement

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8. A milliammeter is used to measure the current in an electric circuit. After a set of readings
has been taken, the following results are obtained.
Minimum current: 2.74 mA
Maximum current: 2.79 mA
Mean current: 2.76 mA
If the actual current in the circuit is 2.91 mA, which of the following is the possible reason for the
mean current to be different from the actual current?
A Zero error in the milliammeter
B Not enough readings were taken
C The circuit was not in a steady state when the readings were taken.
D Parallax error in the readings when measurements were made

9 Ohm () is the SI unit for resistance. In terms of other units, ohm is equivalent to
AVA B J C A-1 C kg m-1 s-3 A-2 D kg m2 s-5 A-2
STPM 2013 P1 Q1
1 2
ρυ
10 What is the dimension of a derived quantity, 2 , where ρ is the density of a fluid
and υ is its speed?
A ML-1 T-1 B ML-1 T-2 C ML2 T-1 D ML2T-2
STPM 2014 P1 Q1

11 Which vector diagram shows

⃗P=Q⃗ − ⃗R ?

STPM 2015 P1 Q1
12 A student obtained the following readings for the diameter of a wire: 1.42 mm, 1.38 mm,
1.41 mm, 1.39 mm. How should he write its value in his experimental report?
A 1.40 mm
B 1.398 mm
C Between 1.38 mm and 1.42 mm
D (1.40 ± 0.02) mm

13 Two quantities a and b are measured with their corresponding uncertainty estimated at a
a
and b respectively. The fractional uncertainty in b is at most
a b

A a + b B a x b C a b D a + b

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14 The time taken for a free-falling body to reach the earth's surface from a tower is measured
as (3.0 ± 0.1) s. Find the height of the tower given that the free-fall acceleration is taken to be
10 m s-2.
A (45±3) m B (45±5) m C (45 ± 3.2) m D (45 ± 0.5) m

15 In an experiment, a plastic tube with an external diameter d1 was measured at (54 ± 2) mm

while its internal diameter d2 was measured at (37 ± 1) mm. The maximum percentage error for
the quantity (d1 - d2) is
A 20% B 18% C 4% D 0.6%

16 The density of a steel ball bearing is obtained by dividing its mass with its volume. The
percentage error of the measurements were for
Mass: 2%
Diameter: 3%
The maximum percentage error in the density of the ball is
A 9% B 11% C 13% D 15%

Structured Question

1. (a) The kilogram, the metre and the second are base units. Name two other base units.
(b) Explain why the unit for energy is a derived unit.
γp
(c) The density  and the pressure p of a gas are related by the expression
where c and  are constants.
c=
√ ρ ,

(i) Determine the base units for density .

(ii) Show that the base units for pressure p are kg m-1 s-2.
(iii) Given that the constant  has no unit, determine the units for c.
(iv) Using your answer to (iii), suggest what quantity may be represented by
the symbol c.

2. (a) What is meant by a vector quantity?

(b) A ball is projected into the air and at a particular moment in time, it is moving upwards
with a speed of 6.0 m s-1 at an angle of 30° to the vertical. On the figure below :
(i) Draw a line starting at 0 in the figure to represent the velocity of the ball at that
moment. Use a scale of 1.0 cm to 1.0 m s-1.
(ii) Draw lines on the figure above to represent the vertical and horizontal components
of the velocity of the ball. Hence use your drawing to determine the vertical and
horizontal components of the velocity.

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Figure R1- 1

3. (a) Distinguish between random error and systematic error in the measurement of a physical
quantity.
[ 2 Marks]
(b) The force constant k of a spring can be determined by finding the extension of the spring
and the load applied using the apparatus shown in the figure below.

Figure R1- 2
(i) Give one example each for systematic error and random error which might occur in
this experiment.
[2 Marks].
(ii) The positions of the lower end of the spring are taken using the metre rule. Suggest
a method by which the error in these readings could be kept to a minimum.
[ 2 Marks]

4. The following readings of time interval were taken for a capacitor to discharge to 30% of its'
fully charged value:
67.3 s, 71.6 s, 68.4 s, 68.9 s, 63.6 s, 68.0 s, 70.2 s, 69.5s,70.6s,69.4s,69.0s,70.8s
What is the time interval for this discharge and what is its fractional uncertainty?

5. What would you plot on the x-axis and the y-axis if you wanted to obtain straight line graphs
from the following equations, if values are known for the variables and the graph is to be used
to find the constants.
1 1 1
 
(a) u v f ,f is constant
mu
f
(b) m  1 , f is constant

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1
I  M (R12  R22 )
(c) 2 ,R1 and M are constants

(d) v   A  x , A and  are constants

2 2

Essay Question

1. (a) Explain the principle used to check the homogeneity of an equation

(b) The velocity  of ripples on the surface of a liquid is related to the wavelength,,
the density p, the surface tension,  and the acceleration due to gravity g by one of
the following equations. [surface tension,  is define as force per unit length].
 1
vA
1.
 g 3
 g
v B
2.  

v C
3. 

A, B and C are dimensionless constants.

(i)Identify any equation that is dimensionally inconsistent.

(ii) The results in the table were obtained from an experiment carried out using water
in a ripple tank.

v (mm s-1 ) 220 250 330 460 570

 (mm) 9.3 7.2 4.1 2.1 1.4

Determine which of the equations given in (b) is correct and also the value of
the constant of proportionality.
[g = 9.8ms-2, Density  = 1.0 x 103 kg m-3, Surface Tension  =7.2 x 10-2 Nm-1 ]

2.(a) Distinguish between error and uncertainty in the measurement of a physical quantity.
[ 2 Marks]
(b) The force constant k of a spring can be determined by finding the extension of the spring
and the load applied using the apparatus shown in the figure below.

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Figure R1- 3
(i) Give one example each for systematic error and random error which might occur in
this experiment. [2 Marks].
(ii) Give the absolute uncertainties of the apparatus that might occur in this experiment
[2 Marks]
(iii) The positions of the lower end of the spring are taken using the metre rule.
Suggest a method by which the error in these readings could be kept to a minimum.
[ 2 Marks]
(iv) Below is the reading that is recorded during the experiment, the mass is measured
in gram, using triple balance beam and the length is in cm, using metre rule. The
measurement of the length is repeated three times. Tabulated the reading below in
proper scientific table.

Table R1- 1
Length of the spring
The mass
i ii iii
100 21.0 21.1 21.2
200 29.9 31.0 31.1
300 38.4 38.5 38.6
400 47.1 47.2 47.3
500 55.6 55.7 55.8
600 64.5 64.6 64.7
700 72.2 72.3 72.4
[ 7 Marks]

3. The readings in the table below were obtained from an experiment determine the
acceleration of a vehicle. The velocity v of t vehicle at times t were recorded. Plot a graph and
use it to find:
(a) the acceleration;
(b) the velocity when t = 0.8 s;
(c) the velocity when t = 4.0 s;
Why is interpolation, that is, using the graph to find an intermediate value as in (b), more
reliable than extrapolation, that is, using the graph to find a reading beyond the end of the
graph as in (c)?

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Table R1- 2
t/s v/m s-'
0 3.7
0.5 5.5
1.0 7.5
1.5 9.1
2.0 11.1
2.5 13.0
3.0 14.8
3.5 16.8

4. The impedance Z of an electrical circuit is given by

Z  R 2  4 2f 2 L2
where R and L are constants and the frequency f is variable. Use the data of the table below to
plot a suitable graph which will enable you to find values of R and L.
Table R1- 3
f/Hz Z/Ω
100 931
200 1020
300 1150
400 1310
500 1500
600 1690
700 1900
5.The force of repulsion F between two magnets placed in line with one another, N pole to N
pole, varies with the separation d of their centres in the way shown in the table below.
Find the law relating the repulsive force to the distance, assuming it is of the form
F  kd n
Table R1- 4
Separation Force of repulsion
d/m FIN
0.050 2.03
0.055 1.53
0.060 1.17
0.065 0.92
0.070 0.74
0.075 0.60
0.080 0.49

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