Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
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):-
the wind speed during a storm
Advertisements
Solution 1
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.
Solution 2
Wind speed can be estimated by floating a gas-filled balloon in air at a known height h. When there is no wind, the balloon is at A. Suppose the wind starts blowing to the right such that the balloon drifts to position B in 1 second.
Now, AB = d = hθ.
The value of d directly gives the wind speed.
RELATED QUESTIONS
What do you mean by significant figures?
How many significant figures are present in the 126,000?
Round up the following upto three significant figures:
2808
How many significant figures should be present in the answer of the following calculation?
5 × 5.364
A screw gauge has a pitch of 1.0 mm and 200 divisions on the circular scale. Do you think it is possible to increase the accuracy of the screw gauge arbitrarily by increasing the number of divisions on the circular scale?
The length, breadth, and thickness of a rectangular sheet of metal are 4.234 m, 1.005 m, and 2.01 cm respectively. Give the area and volume of the sheet to correct significant figures.
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
- What is the total mass of the box?
- What is the difference in the masses of the pieces to correct significant figures?
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.
A man walking briskly in rain with speed v must slant his umbrella forward making an angle θ with the vertical. A student derives the following relation between θ and v: tan θ = v and checks that the relation has a correct limit: as v →0, θ → 0, as expected. (We are assuming there is no strong wind and that the rain falls vertically for a stationary man). Do you think this relation can be correct? If not, guess the correct relation.
A SONAR (sound navigation and ranging) uses ultrasonic waves to detect and locate objects under water. In a submarine equipped with a SONAR the time delay between generation of a probe wave and the reception of its echo after reflection from an enemy submarine is found to be 77.0 s. What is the distance of the enemy submarine? (Speed of sound in water = 1450 m s–1).
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.
How many significant figures should be present in the answer of the following calculations?
`(2.5 xx 1.25 xx 3.5)/2.01`
The number of significant figures in 0.06900 is ______.
Calculate the length of the arc of a circle of radius 31.0 cm which subtends an angle of `pi/6` at the centre.
How many significant figures are present in the measurement 2007 grams?
What is the least count of a measuring instrument?
Which of the following numbers has 4 significant figures?
