5th Practical Lesson: 1P6 Measurement of Length

16/2/11
Another practical lesson as usual and this time, it was about the measurement of length. I know, I know the topic sounds boring and old and you were willing to bet that it involved a meter rule. Well, you were right but that was not all we used...We also used the two tools seen. They are the vernier calipers and the micrometer screw gauge.

First, We started off with gathering our apparatus. Namely:

1. Meter rule
2. Vernier Calipers
3. Micrometer screw gauge
4. Small beaker (50ml)
5. Ball bearing
6. Short piece of thick wire

With this done, we then proceeded on to conducting the procedure itself. We were first supposed to examine the meter rule and find its smallest reading. After that, we were tasked to find the height of our seat from 4 different positions and then find the average height itself. 


The next experiment was to get the vernier calipers and check for the smallest reading and also the zero error of the vernier calipers. This is to make sure that we do not have any mistakes in our measurements. Next, we had to measure the internal diameter of the beaker at 3 different positions, likewise for the external diameter. We then compiled the data into a table where the results could be seen and a conclusion could be made easily.


Next was the experiment using a micrometer screw gauge. We had to use the micrometer screw gauge to measure the diameters of the wire and the ball bearing. We had to repeat the measuring 3 times. From there, we could get the average results and also make a conclusion from there.


The next step was to compare our findings with our hypotheses. In this experiment, there was no hypotheses to make as there was no question to answer. 

That step unnecessary, we proceeded to answer some questions posed by our teacher. The first question was to ask what instruments we would use to measure accurately the diameter and thickness of the coin. Next question came the one where we had to apply the knowledge and use it to create a procedure to measure the diameter of a long piece of wire without using a micrometer screw gauge.


Answer: 


     "Wrap the long wire along the length of the glass rod making sure that there are no gaps in between each turn. Count the number of turns along the length of the glass rod. Measure the length of the glass rod. Measure the length of the glass rod with the meter rule. Divide the length of the glass rod by the number of turns of the long wire along the glass rod. The thickness and the diameter can thus be obtained."


This answer was not what I expected it to be and the question expected us to think out of the box in order to find a solution for the problem.


This practical was fun and interesting and it taught me a lot more about what we can think about to solve problems.