Topic 1- Working as a Physicist Flashcards
Define base unit
The 7 fundamental units
Define derived unit
Unit derived by the multiplication/division of units
What are the SI base units?
- Mass/kg
-Time/s
-Length/m - Electrical current/A
- Temperature/K
-Amount of a substance/mol
Unit prefixes (big)
-k, kilo (10^3)
-M, mega (10^6)
- G, giga (10^9)
-T, tera (10^12)
Unit prefixes (small)
- c, centi (10^-2)
-m, milli (10^-3)
-μ, micro (10^-6)
-n, nano (10^-9)
-p, pico (10^-12)
-f, femto (10^-15)
Define independent variable
What is changed
Define dependent variable
What is observed/measured
Define precision
Determined by consistency of results. A measurement is precise if the values ‘cluster’ closely together
Define accuracy
Determined by how close the measurement is to the true value. A measurement is accurate if it is close to the true value
Define error
Difference between the measurement and true value
Define uncertainty
The interval within which the true value can be considered to lie with a given level of probability
What is uncertainty determined by?
Apparatus and variables
Define anomaly
A value that does not follow the pattern of results
Define repeatable experiment
Similar results are obtained using the same method
Define reproducible experiment
Similar results are obtained by using a different method/apparatus
