Physics 5054 · O Level
Physical quantities and measurement techniques
98 practice questions on Physical quantities and measurement techniques, with worked solutions and instant marking.
Is mass a scalar quantity or a vector quantity, and is acceleration a scalar quantity or a vector quantity?
May/June 2015
To measure the diameter and the length of a thin wire, about $50\ \text{cm}$ long, as accurately as possible, which instruments are the best to use?
May/June 2015
Which quantity is a scalar?
May/June 2015
A thin wire, which is roughly $50\text{ cm}$ long, has its diameter and length measured with maximum precision possible. Which instruments are most suitable to use?
May/June 2015
A rain-gauge is used to find the quantity of rain that falls. Fig. 2.1 shows a typical rain-gauge.
May/June 2015
Two students choose a $100\,\text{m}$ stretch to act as a running track on a school field.
May/June 2015
Which group of quantities are all vectors?
May/June 2016
A student measures the circumference of a golf ball. Which instrument provides a reading equal to the golf ball’s circumference?
May/June 2016
A student measures the circumference of a golf ball. Which instrument provides a reading equal to the golf ball’s circumference?
May/June 2016
Which quantity is classed as a vector?
May/June 2016
A student studies the oscillations of a metre rule.
May/June 2016
Fig. 4.1 shows a large empty reel that was used for ribbon. The central cylinder has a diameter of about $3\,\text{cm}$. Two students use different methods to determine the diameter of the central cylinder.
May/June 2016
A micrometer is used to determine the diameter of a uniform wire. What action is taken to obtain an accurate answer?
May/June 2017
A car’s acceleration and top speed increase when it uses an engine with a smaller mass and a larger driving force. Of the underlined quantities, how many are vectors?
May/June 2017
A micrometer is being used to measure the diameter of a uniform wire. What must be done to make the answer accurate?
May/June 2017
A student wants to measure the circumference of a football directly. Which instrument would be the most suitable to use?
May/June 2018
Which of the following statements is correct?
May/June 2018
Which quantity has both magnitude and direction?
May/June 2018
Micrometers, metre rules, tapes and calipers are all instruments used to measure length. Which row shows the device most suitable for measuring the specified length accurately?
May/June 2018
Which quantities are vector quantities?
May/June 2019
Which one of the following statements is correct?
May/June 2019
Which measurement is recorded to one tenth of a millimetre?
May/June 2019
Which measurement corresponds to one tenth of a millimetre?
May/June 2019
Which of the statements is correct?
May/June 2019
A student is exploring the maximum height $h$ reached by a ball after it strikes a laboratory bench. Her apparatus is arranged as shown in Fig. 3.1.
May/June 2019
Which row gives the correct information for a thermocouple thermometer?
May/June 2021
A student measures the circumference of a football. Which instrument provides a reading equal to the football’s circumference?
May/June 2021
A student measures the circumference of a football. Which instrument provides a reading equal to the football’s circumference?
May/June 2021
The list below gives four physical properties. mass resistance voltage volume How many of these properties can be used to measure temperature?
May/June 2021
State how a scalar quantity differs from a vector quantity.
May/June 2021
A copper wire is labelled with a length $0.50\,\text{m}$ and a diameter $0.50\,\text{mm}$. Which instruments would be most suitable for measuring the length and the diameter of the wire accurately?
May/June 2022
The label on a piece of copper wire shows: length $0.50\,\text{m}$ and diameter $0.50\,\text{mm}$. Which instruments would be the most appropriate for measuring the wire’s length and diameter accurately?
May/June 2022
A student finds the diameter of a thin wire. The apparatus provided is: • thin wire, $2.0\,\text{m}$ long • wire cutters • ruler
May/June 2022
A student is working out the thickness of the glass in a test-tube.
May/June 2022
A student wants to measure the circumference of a football directly. Which instrument would be most suitable to use?
May/June 2023
During an experiment, a ball is rolled along a curved track that is about half a metre long. Which measuring device should be used to measure the length accurately?
May/June 2023
A student uses three different methods to find the capacity of a drinks cup. The capacity of a cup is the greatest volume of liquid it can contain.
May/June 2023
A measuring cylinder partly filled with water is set on a top-pan balance. An object is then lowered into the measuring cylinder. What are the mass and the volume of the object?
May/June 2024
Which quantity is a vector quantity?
May/June 2024
Which of the following statements is correct?
May/June 2024
What quantity is measured with a micrometer?
May/June 2024
Which quantity is not given in joules (J)?
May/June 2024
A student determines the volume of a small glass ball (marble) using two separate methods.
May/June 2024
What type of quantity has both magnitude and direction, and is it classified as a scalar quantity or a vector quantity?
May/June 2025
Which list consists only of vector quantities?
May/June 2025
A student is studying how long water takes to pass through a small opening in the base of a can. The setup is arranged as shown in Fig. 3.1.
May/June 2025
Which kind of thermometer is used to measure temperatures above $1000^{\circ}\text{C}$, and which kind is used to measure temperatures that vary quickly?
Oct/Nov 2015
The diagram illustrates a micrometer scale. Which reading is indicated?
Oct/Nov 2015
Which one is a scalar quantity?
Oct/Nov 2015
Select the statement that is correct.
Oct/Nov 2015
The diagram displays a micrometer scale. What reading is indicated?
Oct/Nov 2015
The maker of 'Super Quilted Paper Towels' says that these white paper towels are more absorbent than another brand of yellow towels. A student plans an experiment to test the absorbency of paper towels. The student pours $30\,\text{cm}^3$ of water into a small shallow dish. He then cuts one paper towel into sixteen identical small squares. One small square is put into the water and then lifted out using tongs, as shown in Fig. 2.1. The student holds the wet square above the water and gently shakes it twice before placing it in a beaker. He carries on with more squares until all of the water has been taken out of the shallow dish. He records the number of squares needed to remove all of the water from the shallow dish.
Oct/Nov 2015
A student determines how much glass was needed to make a small beaker. Fig. 4.1 presents the beaker as a full-size drawing.
Oct/Nov 2015
A group of students is asked to determine the diameter of a large inflatable beach ball. One student uses a long length of string to measure the ball’s circumference. He then calculates the diameter. Fig. 2.1 shows the student with the beach ball.
Oct/Nov 2015
A school laboratory has a length somewhere between $5\,\text{m}$ and $6\,\text{m}$. Three students, A, B and C, are asked to determine the laboratory’s length.
Oct/Nov 2015
A copper wire is marked ‘length 30 m’ and ‘diameter 0.50 mm’. Which instruments would be most suitable for measuring the wire’s length and its diameter accurately?
Oct/Nov 2016
A piece of copper wire is marked ‘length $30\,\text{m}$’ and ‘diameter $0.50\,\text{mm}$’. Which instruments would be most appropriate for measuring the length and the diameter of the wire accurately?
Oct/Nov 2016
A student studies how changing the ramp height changes the distance a toy car moves along the floor, as shown in Fig. 2.1. The car is put at the top of the ramp at position A and then let go. It moves down the ramp and then across the horizontal floor, coming to rest at position B. While moving down the ramp, the car drops through a vertical distance $h$. After that, it travels a distance $l$ along the floor.
Oct/Nov 2016
A student receives a box that contains ten similar plastic drinking straws, together with a $30\,\text{cm}$ ruler and two set-squares.
Oct/Nov 2016
A student is handed a lump of Blu-Tack and shapes it into a cube. The cube’s front face is shown full size in Fig. 4.1.
Oct/Nov 2016
Which set includes only scalar quantities?
Oct/Nov 2017
A manufacturer checks the three dimensions of a wooden floor tile with three separate instruments. The tile’s approximate measurements are shown as follows: length $0.4\,\text{m}$, width $0.08\,\text{m}$, thickness $0.005\,\text{m}$. (not to scale) Which instruments would be used to measure each of these dimensions accurately?
Oct/Nov 2017
Which list includes only scalar quantities?
Oct/Nov 2017
A thermocouple is a kind of thermometer. Which statement is correct for a thermocouple?
Oct/Nov 2017
A manufacturer checks the three dimensions of a wooden floor tile with three separate instruments. The tile’s approximate measurements are shown as: length $0.4\,\text{m}$, width $0.08\,\text{m}$ and thickness $0.005\,\text{m}$. Which instruments are used to measure each of these dimensions accurately?
Oct/Nov 2017
A student uses a top-pan balance to determine the mass of a table-tennis ball, as illustrated in Fig. 1.1. The balance is calibrated to the nearest gram.
Oct/Nov 2017
A student carries out an investigation into how high a table-tennis ball rebounds. He releases the ball from a height of $60\,\text{cm}$ onto a tiled floor, as shown in Fig. 2.1. He measures the bounce height $h$ using a metre rule with millimetre divisions.
Oct/Nov 2017
A small cylinder is moved along a ruler and makes two complete revolutions. Circumference means the distance all the way around the edge of a circle. What is the cylinder's circumference?
Oct/Nov 2018
What apparatus could be used to compare the masses of two objects?
Oct/Nov 2018
Which term is used to name a scalar quantity?
Oct/Nov 2019
A student has a thermometer that shows $1^\u0006\text{C}$ in pure melting ice and $101^\u0006\text{C}$ in pure boiling water. She uses it to find the temperature of some water before it is heated and again after heating. How does the temperature increase obtained from her readings compare with the correct value?
Oct/Nov 2019
A copper pipe with a uniform cross-section, several metres in length, carries water to a tap. Measurements are made to determine the volume of copper in the pipe as accurately as possible. Which measuring instruments are needed?
Oct/Nov 2019
Which unit is the appropriate one for the quantity displayed?
Oct/Nov 2019
Which term is the name of a vector quantity?
Oct/Nov 2019
A student is provided with a thermometer that shows $1\,^{\circ}\text{C}$ in pure melting ice and $101\,^{\circ}\text{C}$ in pure boiling water. She uses it to find the temperature of some water before and after heating. How does the increase in the water’s temperature, worked out from her readings, compare with the true value?
Oct/Nov 2019
Which unit is correct for the quantity shown?
Oct/Nov 2019
Water is delivered to a tap through a copper pipe that has a uniform cross-section and is several metres in length. Measurements are made to find the volume of copper in the pipe as accurately as possible. Which instruments are used?
Oct/Nov 2019
The table gives some data from a high-jump competition. Which athlete clears the greatest height?
Oct/Nov 2020
A physics book gives the instruction ‘divide the length between two marks on the glass tube into 100 equal parts’. What is this referring to?
Oct/Nov 2020
Fig. 5.1 shows some parts of a thermocouple thermometer that is being used to find the temperature of a liquid.
Oct/Nov 2020
Which physical quantity is a vector?
Oct/Nov 2021
A student employs a $30\,\text{cm}$ ruler marked in millimetres to estimate the thickness of a sheet of paper by two separate methods.
Oct/Nov 2021
The diagrams show four thermometers. Which thermometer is the most sensitive and which one has the largest range?
Oct/Nov 2022
Which of the following statements is correct?
Oct/Nov 2022
A teacher measures the length of her classroom. Which instrument would be the most suitable to use?
Oct/Nov 2022
What value is equal to one-thousandth of a metre?
Oct/Nov 2022
Which description refers to a scalar quantity?
Oct/Nov 2023
Which of the following statements is correct?
Oct/Nov 2023
The diagram indicates the level of liquid in a measuring cylinder. The scale is labelled in $\text{cm}^3$. What is the volume of the liquid?
Oct/Nov 2023
The diagram illustrates a clothes peg. Which instrument would be suitable for measuring the height of the clothes peg accurately?
Oct/Nov 2024
Gold has a melting temperature of $1064\,^{\circ}\text{C}$. What is this melting temperature of gold in the Kelvin scale?
Oct/Nov 2024
Which group of quantities are all vectors?
Oct/Nov 2024
A student determines the volume of two identical straws using two different methods.
Oct/Nov 2024
Object X is positioned alongside a ruler. That ruler is then placed beside another ruler in order to determine the end correction. What is the length of object X?
Oct/Nov 2025
Quantities may be classified as scalar or vector. Which row gives the scalar quantities and the vector quantities?
Oct/Nov 2025
A star lies 4.2 light-years away from the Earth. How many metres are equal to 4.2 light-years?
Oct/Nov 2025
A micrometer is being used to find the diameter of a length of wire. What reading does the micrometer display?
Oct/Nov 2025
Water is first poured into a measuring cylinder. A small piece of rock is then placed in carefully. The diagrams show the water levels and the measuring cylinder scales. What are the correct values of the volumes of the water and the rock?
Oct/Nov 2025