PHYSICS · Multi-part · CBSE · Physics · Current Electricity · Current Electricity
Problem
During an investigation of an unknown alloy, students obtain the following measurements for a straight piece of the alloy wire at room temperature:
• Length of wire: 1.20 m
• Outer diameter of wire: 0.80 mm
• Measured electrical resistance of the wire: 8.2 Ω
(a) Determine the resistivity of the alloy at room temperature based on the students’ measurements.
(b) Identify two specific sources of systematic uncertainty in the experimental procedure that could affect the calculated resistivity. For each source, state whether it would lead to an overestimate or an underestimate of the true resistivity and briefly justify your answer.