MEASUREMENT ERRORS AND EXPERIMENTS

MEASUREMENT ERRORS AND EXPERIMENTS

EXERCISE-1
PART - I : ONLY ONE OPTION CORRECT TYPE

1. The length of a rectangular plate is measured by a meter scale and is found to be 10.0 cm. Its

width is measured by vernier callipers as 1.00 cm. The least count of the meter scale and

vernier callipers are 0.1 cm and 0.01 cm respectively (Obviously). Maximum permissible error

in area measurement is -

(A) + 0.2 cm2 (B) + 0.1 cm2 (C) + 0.3 cm2 (D) Zero

2. For a cubical block, error in measurement of sides is + 1% and error in measurement of mass

is + 2%, then maximum possible error in density is -

(A) 1% (B) 5% (C) 3% (D) 7%

L
3. To estimate ‗g‘ (from g = 42 ), error in measurement of L is + 2% and error in
T2

measurement of T is + 3%. The error in estimated ‗g‘ will be -

(A) + 8% (B) + 6% (C) + 3% (D) + 5%

4. The least count of a stop watch is 0.2 second. The time of 20 oscillations of a pendulum is

measured to be 25 seconds. The percentage error in the time period is

(A) 16% (B) 0.8 % (C) 1.8 % (D) 8 %

5. The dimensions of a rectangular block measured with a vernier callipers having least count of

0.1 mm is 5 mm × 10 mm × 5 mm. The maximum percentage error in measurement of volume

of the block is

(A) 5 % (B) 10 % (C) 15 % (D) 20 %

xy 2
6. An experiment measures quantities x, y, z and then t is calculated from the data as t = . If
z3

percentage errors in x, y and z are respectively 1%, 3%, 2%, then percentage error in t is :

(A) 10 % (B) 4 % (C) 7 % (D) 13 %

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 MEASUREMENT ERRORS AND EXPERIMENTS
7. The external and internal diameters of a hollow cylinder are measured to be (4.23 ± 0.01) cm

and (3.89 ± 0.01) cm. The thickness of the wall of the cylinder is

(A) (0.34 ± 0.02) cm (B) (0.17 ± 0.02) cm (C) (0.17 ± 0.01) cm (D) (0.34 ± 0.01) cm

8. The mass of a ball is 1.76 kg. The mass of 25 such balls is

(A) 0.44 × 103 kg (B) 44.0 kg (C) 44 kg (D) 44.00 kg

9. Two resistors R1 (24 ± 0.5)  and R2 (8 ± 0.3)  are joined in series. The equivalent

resistance is

(A) 32 ± 0.33  (B) 32 ± 0.8  (C) 32 ± 0.2  (D) 32 ± 0.5 

10. The pitch of a screw gauge is 0.5 mm and there are 100 divisions on it circular scale. The

instrument reads +2 circular scale divisions when nothing is put in-between its jaws. In

measuring the diameter of a wire, there are 8 divisions on the main scale and 83rd circular

scale division coincides with the reference line. Then the diameter of the wire is

(A) 4.05 mm (B) 4.405 mm (C) 3.05 mm (D) 1.25 mm

11. The pitch of a screw gauge is 1 mm and there are 50 divisions on its circular scale. When the

two jaws of the screw gauge are in contact with each other, the zero of the circular scale lies

6 division above the line of graduation. When a wire is placed between the jaws, 3 main scale

divisions are clearly visible while 31st division on the circular scale coincide with the reference

line. The diameter of the wire is :

(A) 3.62 mm (B) 3.50 mm (C) 3.5 mm (D) 3.74 mm

12. The smallest division on the main scale of a vernier callipers is 1 mm, and 10 vernier divisions

coincide with 9 main scale divisions. While measuring the diameter of a sphere, the zero

mark of the vernier scale lies between 20 and 21 mm and the fifth division of the vernier scale

coincide with a main scale division. Then diameter of the sphere is

(A) 20.5 mm (B) 21.5 mm (C) 21.50 mm (D) 20.50 mm

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 MEASUREMENT ERRORS AND EXPERIMENTS
13. In a meter bridge circuit, the known resistance used in resistance box is 100  (without any
error, and the unknown resistor is put in right arm). The null point is found to be 40 cm from
left end. If mm scale is used in the meter bridge then resistance of the unknown resistor is :

3 3 5 7
(A) 150   (B) 150   (C) 150   (D) 150  
8 8 8 16
14. In the post office box circuit, 10  plug is taken out in arm AB and 100  plug is taken out in
arm BC. If the unknown resistor is kept in melting ice chamber, 600  resistance is required in
arm AD for zero deflection in galvanometer. Now if the unknown resistor is kept at 100° C
(steam chamber), 630  resistance is required in arm AD for zero deflection. Temperature
coefficient of resistance of the unknown wire is :

(A) 2.5  10–4 / C° (B) 5  10–4/ C° (C) 7.5  10–4 / C° (D) 8  10–4 / C°

PART - II : SUBJECTIVE QUESTIONS

1. Using screw gauge, the observation of the diameter of a wire are 1.324, 1.326, 1.334, 1.336
cm respectively. Find the average diameter, the mean error, the relative error and % error.
2. Find significant figures in the following observations -
(i) 0.007 gm (ii) 2.64 x 1024 kg (iii) 0.2370 gm/cm3 (iv) 6.320 J/K
2 –1
(v) 6.032 N/m (vi) 0.0006032 K

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 MEASUREMENT ERRORS AND EXPERIMENTS
3. Round off the following numbers within three significant figures -
(i) 0.03927 kg (ii) 4.085 x 108 sec (iii) 5.2354 m (iv) 4.735 x 10–6 kg
4. If a tuning fork of frequency (f 0) 340 Hz and tolerance  1% is used in resonance column
method [v = 2f0 (2 – 1)], the first and the second resonance are measured at 1 = 24.0 cm and

2 = 74.0 cm. Find max. permissible error in speed of sound.

5. Side of a cube is measured with the help of vernier calliper. Main scale reading is 10 mm and
vernier scale reading is 1. It is known that 9 M.S.D. = 10 V.S.D. Mass of the cube is 2.735 g.
Find density of the cube upto appropriate significant figure.
6. For the three values of resistances R namely R1, R2 and R3 the balanced positions of jockey
are at A, B and C respectively. Which position will show most accurate result for calculation of
X. Give reason. B is near the mid point of the wire.

PART - III : COMPREHENSION

Comprehension –1
In the Ohm‘s law experiment to find resistance of unknown resistor R, following two
arrangements (a) and (b) are possible.
A A

v v
(a) (b)
The resistance measured is given by
V
Rmeasured 
i
V = voltage reading of voltmeter, i = current reading of ammeter.
But unfortunately the ammeters and voltmeter used are not ideal, but having resistance
RA and Rv respectively.

1. For arrangement (a), the measured resistance is

RRv RRv
(A) R + Rv (B) R + RA (C) (D)  RA
R  Rv R  Rv

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 MEASUREMENT ERRORS AND EXPERIMENTS
2. For arrangement (b), the measured resistance is
RRv RRv
(A) R + Rv (B) R + RA (C) (D)  RA
R  Rv R  Rv

3. You are given two unknown resistors X and Y. These resistances are to be determined, using
an ammeter of RA = 0.5  and a voltmeter of Rv = 20 k. It is known that X is in range of a few
ohms and Y is in the range of several kilo ohm's. Which circuit is preferable to measure
X and Y :
Resistor Circuit
x (a)
y (b)
(A) x  (a), y  (b) (B) x  (b), y  (a) (C) x  (a), y  (a) (D) x  (b), y  (b)

COMPREHENSION : 2
To find focal length of a concave mirror using u-v method, for different u, we measure different
1 1 1
v, and thus we find f using mirror‘s formula   .
f v u
In this experiment, a concave mirror is fixed at position MM‘ and a knitting needle is used as
an object, mounted in front of the concave mirror. This needle is called object needle (O in fig)

Image

Image
needle Object
needle

First of all we make a rough estimation of f. For estimating f roughly, make a sharp image of a
far away object (like sun) on a filter paper. The image distance of the far object will be an
approx estimation of focal length.
Now, the object needle is kept beyond f, so that its real and inverted image (I in fig) can be
formed. You can see this inverted image in the mirror by closing your one eye and keeping the
other eye along the pole of the mirror.
To locate the position of the image, use a second needle, and shift this needle such that its
peak Coincide with the image. The second needle gives the distance of image (v), so it is
called ―image needle‖ (I' in figure). Note the object distance ‗u‘ and image distance ‗v‘ from the
mm scale on optical bench.

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 MEASUREMENT ERRORS AND EXPERIMENTS
Parallax: — Figure shows top view of the optical bench

I' I O
object

Suppose image needle (I‘) doesn‘t co-insisde with image (I), the image is farther from eyes as
compared to the image needle (I‘) as shown. If we shift our eyes to the left, the image (I),
which is more distant from us, will appear to move to the left of the line of sight and if we shift
our eyes to right, the image (I) will appear to move to the right of the line of sight. This shifting
is called parallax. To remove this, we shift the image needle (I‘) towards mirror, such that it
exactly co–inside with the image (I).
4. Parallax aries due to :
(A) Defect in the observers eyes
(B) The object and the image needles are not parallel
(C) Our eyes are not in the line of object and image
(D) The image needle is not placed exactly co-insiding the image
5. In an observation, if we shift our eyes to left, the image () appears to move to the right of the
line of sight. To find the image distance (to remove prallax), we have to shift the image needle
(1) :
(A) Towards the mirror (B) Away from the mirror
(C) Perpendicular to the principle axis (D) No need to shift
6. To find the focus distance of the concave mirror, for the different values of object distances
(u1, u2 ... un), the values of image distances (v1, v2 ..... vn) are measured. We mark u1, u2 ..... un
on x-axis and v1, v2 ..... un on y-axis. Now draw lines joining u1 with v1, u2 with u2 .... un with vn
as shown in figure. The focus distance of the mirror should be

(A) 5 cm (B) 10 cm (C) 20 cm (D) 15 cm

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 MEASUREMENT ERRORS AND EXPERIMENTS

ANSWERS
EXERCISE – 1
PART - I
1. (A) 2. (B) 3. (A) 4. (B) 5. (A)
6. (D) 7. (C) 8. (B) 9. (B) 10. (B)
11. (D) 12. (A) 13. (C) 14. (B)
PART - II
1. D  1.330 cm , D  0.005cm , Relative error = + 0.004 %, error = 0.4%

2. (i) 1 (ii) 3 (iii) 4 (iv) 4 (v) 4 (vi) 4

3. (i) 0.0393 kg (ii) 4.08 x 108 sec (iii) 5.24 m (iv) 4.74 x 10–6 kg
4. 1.4%
5. 0.00265
6.  = 50 cm.

PART - III
1. (B) 2. (C) 3. (B) 4. (D) 5. (B)
6. (A)

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 MEASUREMENT ERRORS AND EXPERIMENTS

MEASUREMENT ERRORS AND EXPERIMENTS

EXERCISE-2
JEE (ADVANCED) / IIT-JEE PROBLEMS (PREVIOUS YEARS)

2014-1. Durring Searle’s experiment, zero of the Vernier scale lies between 3.20 × 10–2 m and

3.25 × 10–2 m of the main scale. The 20th division of the Vernier scale exactly coincides

with one of the main scale divisions. When an additional load of 2 kg is applied to the wire,

the zero of the Vernier scale still lies between 3.20 × 10–2 m and 3.25 × 10–2 m of the main

scale but now the 45th division of Vernier scale coincides with one of the main scale

divisions. The length of the thin metallic wire is 2m. and its cross-sectional area is

8 × 10–7 m2. The least count of the Vernier scale is 1.0 × 10–5 m. The maximum percentage

error in the Young’s modulus of the wire is [JEE (Advanced)-2014,P-1, 3/60]

2015-1. Consider a vernier callipers in which each 1 cm on the main scale is divided into 8 equal

divisions and a screw gauge with 100 divisions on its circular scale. In the vernier callipers,

5 divisions of the vernier scale coincide with 4 division on the main scale and in the screw

gauge, one complete rotation of the circular scale moves it by two divisions on the linear

scale. Then, [JEE(Advanced) 2015 ; P-1,4/88, –2]

(A) If the pitch of the screw gauge is twice the least count of the Vernier callipers, the least

count of the screw gauge is 0.01mm.

(B) If the pitch of the screw gauge is twice the least count of the Vernier callipers, the least

count of the screw gauge is 0.005mm.

(C) If the least count of the linear scale of the screw gauge is twice the least count of the

Vernier callipers, the least count of the screw gauge is 0.01 mm.

(D) If the least count of the linear scale of the screw gauge is twice the least count of the

vernier callipers, the least count of the screw gauge is 0.005 mm.

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 MEASUREMENT ERRORS AND EXPERIMENTS

2015-2. The energy of a system as a function of time t is given as E(t) = A 2 exp(–t), where
–1
 = 0.2s . The measurement of A has an error of 1.25%. If the error in the measurement of

time is 1.50%, the percentage error in the value of E(t) at t = 5 s is

[JEE(Advanced) 2015 ; P-2,4/88]

2016-1. There are two Vernier calipers both of which have 1 cm divided into 10 equal divisions on
the main scale. The Vernier scale of one of the calipers (C1) has 10 equal divisions that
correspond to 9 main scale divisions. The Vernier scale of the other caliper (C2) has
10 equal divisions that correspond to 11 main scale divisions. The readings of the two
calipers are shown in the figure. The measured values (in cm) by calipers C1 and C2,
respectively, are [JEE (Advanced) 2016; P-2, 3/62, –1]
2 3 4

C1

0 5 10

2 3 4

C2

0 5 10

(A) 2.87 and 2.87 (B) 2.87 and 2.86 (C) 2.87 and 2.83 (D) 2.85 and 2.82
2016-2. In an experiment to determine the acceleration due to gravity g, the formula used for the
7(R – r)
time period of a period of a periodic motion is T  2 . The values of R and r are
5g

measured to be (60  1) mm and 10  1 mm respectively. In five successive

measurements, the time period is found to be 0.52 s, 0.56 s, 0.57 s, 0.54 s and 0.59 s. The
least count of the watch used for the measurement of time period is 0.01 s. Which of the
following statement(s) is (are) true? [JEE (Advanced) 2016; P-2, 4/62, –2]
(A) The error in the measurement of r is 10%
(B) The error in the measurement of T is 3.57%
(C) The error in the measurement of T is 2%
(D) The error in the determined value of g is 11%

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 MEASUREMENT ERRORS AND EXPERIMENTS

2019-1. An optical bench has 1.5 m long scale having four equal divisions in each cm. While
measuring the focal length of a convex lens, the lens is kept at 75 cm mark of the scale
and the object pin is kept at 45 cm mark. The image of the object pin on the other side of
the lens overlaps with image pin that is kept at 135 cm mark. In this experiment, the
percentage error in the measurement of the focal length of the lens is ____.
[JEE-Advanced 2019]
2021-1. The smallest division on the main scale of a Vernier calipers is 0.1 cm. Ten divisions of the
Vernier scale correspond to nine divisions of the main scale. The figure below on the left
shows the reading of this calipers with no gap between its two jaws. The figure on the right
shows the reading with a solid sphere held between the jaws. The correct diameter of the
sphere is [JEE-Advanced_2021]

(A) 3.07 cm (B) 3.11 cm (C) 3.15 cm (D) 3.17 cm

2022-1. Area of the cross-section of a wire is measured using a screw gauge. The pitch of the main
scale is 0.5 mm. The circular scale has 100 divisions and for one full rotation of the circular
scale, the main scale shifts by two divisions. The measured readings are listed below.
[JEE-Advanced-2022]

What are the diameter and cross-sectional area of the wire measured using the screw
gauge?
(A) 2.22 ± 0.02 mm,  (1.23 ± 0.02) mm2 (B) 2.22 ± 0.01 mm,  (1.23 ± 0.01) mm2
(C) 2.14 ± 0.02 mm,  (1.14 ± 0.02) mm2 (D) 2.14 ± 0.01 mm,  (1.14 ± 0.01) mm2

ANSWER KEY
2014-1. 4 2015-1. (BC) 2015-2. 4 2016-1. (C)
2016-2. (ABD) 2019-1. 0.69 2021-1. (C) 2022-1. (D)

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