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Measurements - Objectives

Content

• Use of SI Units and their prefixes
• Errors and uncertainty

Learning Outcomes

Candidates should be able to:

• know fundamental (base) units
• use mass, length, time, quantity of matter, temperature and eletric current and their associated SI units (no knowledge of the candela is required)
• know and use SI prefixes: T, G, M, k, c, m, μ, n, p and f
• understand and use standard form
• understand that the number of significant figures in the value of a quantity is linked to the uncertainty in that value and hence use an appropriate number of significant figures in their calculations
• understand the nature of random and systematic errors
• understand and use the terms precision, repeatability, reproducibility, resolution and accuracy
• understand that absolute, fractional and percentage errors represent uncertainty in the final answer for a quantity
• how to combine absolute and percentage uncertainties
• represent uncertainty in a data point on a graph using error bars
• determine the uncertainties in the gradient and intercept of a straight-line graph
• understand that individual points on a graph may or may not have associated error bars

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