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Lab 5 is about the science of measurement. We will give it only an introductory look, but measurement is one of the important aspects of science. It is only through measurement that we can learn numerical facts about the world. We call these numerical facts "data".

There are several lessons to be learned about measurements from this lab

• There is no such thing as a perfect measurement. All measurements contain a level of uncertainty depending on the accuracy of the measurement and the precision of the measuring instrument.
• Physical scientists rely upon measurements of six quantities: Mass, Length, Time, Temperature, Electric Charge, Radiation Intensity.
• There are methods for measuring and reporting the magnitude of errors in a given measurement or sets of measurements.
• We usually compare measured or calculated quantities to some standard in order to measure errors and to build confidence in our measurements.
• The precision of measuring instruments can be measured by the concept of "least count" and recorded by using the appropriate number of "significant figures".
• Certain relationships which have been theoretically predicted can be tested by making measurements of appropriate quantities.

Go to Lab 4