A student measures a mass and an acceleration

PHYSICS · Multi-part · CBSE · Physics · Units and Measurements · Units and Measurements

Problem

A student measures a mass m=500 gm = 500\,\text{g} and an acceleration a=20 cm s−2a = 20\,\text{cm}\,\text{s}^{-2}. He multiplies the two quantities directly and records the force as F=ma=10 000F = ma = 10\,000. (i) Identify the unit that corresponds to the numerical value 10 00010\,000 obtained by the student. (ii) Convert the student’s result correctly into newtons and state the proper numerical value. (iii) Explain, with this example, why using mixed unit systems without proper conversion can lead to large numerical errors in force calculations.

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