A physics investigation requires the density of a liquid
PHYSICS · Multi-part · A Level · Physics · Measurements and their errors · Measurements and their errors
Problem
A physics investigation requires the density of a liquid. The measured quantities are:
• Mass of the liquid =2.5050kg
• Volume of the liquid =1.25×10−3m3
(i) Calculate the density without performing any rounding during the computation.
(ii) Before calculating density, first round the mass to four significant figures and the volume to three significant figures. Then compute the density using these rounded values.
(iii) Take the un-rounded density from part (i) and round it to the correct number of significant figures.
(iv) Determine the percentage difference between the densities obtained in parts (ii) and (iii). Comment on how rounding intermediate values rather than only the final result can influence the reported answer.