Teaching
First year Physics for Biology Lab. ARA group
The slides from the first session can be found here
The guides for all experiments can be found on this webpage when they become available:
Exam-style questions
Here you will find a series of example exam questions which you can use to prepare for the exam at the end of the course. Time permitting, we will go through some of these in class to give you an idea of the expected answers.
The model answers for the following questions are given here .
Correctly state the following measurements and uncertainties:
9.764 ± 0.096 m/s2
3.2843 ± 0.036 s
22.33 ± 0.2 mm
0.01683 ± 0.0058 K
126.5 ± 5 V
428.351 ± 0.27 C
47.6 x 10-8 ± 0.4 x 10-7 nm
To calculate the height of a cylinder one takes three measurements of 23.75 mm, 23.50mm and 23.80mm. The error associated with the equipment is 0.05mm. Express the measured value with its associated absolute and relative errors.
Visualise graphically (using millimeter paper) the data in the table below where Δt=0.1 s and Δd=1.0 cm. Draw by-hand a regression line and using this line calculate the gradient and y-intercept.
t (s) d (cm)
1 2
2 5
3 6
4 7
5 10
6 17
Three measurements using the same set of scales, with a sensitivity of 0.1g, gives the following values: 78.1, 78.2, 78.3g. Express the mass with the associated absolute error.
Assume we have an experimental setup to measure a length (L) in centimeters and a period (T) in seconds that results in the following measurements
L (cm) T(s)
1 0.2
2 0.3
5 0.5
8 0.6
10 0.65
15 0.8
20 0.9
Assume the relationship between L and T is:
Calculate the gravitational acceleration (g) by creating a graphical representation of the measurement values.
6. If we take the following experimental measurements, which are governed by the relationships detailed in the table, what needs to be plotted on the abscissa and ordinate to directly obtain the parameter in column three?
