Class 11 Physics - Chapter Unit and measurment NCERT Solutions | State the number of significant figures

Fill in the blanks by suitable conversion of units:

(a) 1 kg m²s^–2= ....g cm² s^–2

(b) 1 m =..... ly

(c) 3.0 m s^–2=.... km h^–2

(d) G = 6.67 × 10^–11 N m² (kg)^–2=.... (cm)3s^–2 g^–1.

A physical quantity P is related to four observables a, b, c and d as follows :

The percentage errors of measurement in a, b, c and d are 1%, 3%, 4% and 2%, respectively. What is the percentage error in the quantity P ? If the value of P calculated using the above relation turns out to be 3.763, to what value should you round off the result ?

The mass of a box measured by a grocer's balance is 2.300 kg. Two gold pieces of masses 20.15 g and 20.17 g are added to the box. What is

(a) the total mass of the box,

(b) the difference in the masses of the pieces to correct significant figures?

When the planet Jupiter is at a distance of 824.7 million kilometers from the Earth, its angular diameter is measured to be 35.72" of arc. Calculate the diameter of Jupiter.

The photograph of a house occupies an area of 1.75 cm² on a 35 mm slide. The slide is projected on to a screen, and the area of the house on the screen is 1.55 m². What is the linear magnification of the projector-screen arrangement?

It is a well known fact that during a total solar eclipse the disk of the moon almost completely covers the disk of the Sun. From this fact and from the information you can gather from examples 2.3 and 2.4, determine the approximate diameter of the moon.

Fill in the blanks

(a) The volume of a cube of side 1 cm is equal to.....m³

(b) The surface area of a solid cylinder of radius 2.0 cm and height 10.0 cm is equal to ... (mm)²

(c) A vehicle moving with a speed of 18 km h^–1covers....m in 1 s

(d) The relative density of lead is 11.3. Its density is ....g cm^–3 or . ...kg m^–3.

Explain this common observation clearly : If you look out of the window of a fast moving train, the nearby trees, houses etc. seem to move rapidly in a direction opposite to the train's motion, but the distant objects (hill tops, the Moon, the stars etc.) seem to be stationary. (In fact, since you are aware that you are moving, these distant objects seem to move with you).

The Sun is a hot plasma (ionized matter) with its inner core at a temperature exceeding 10⁷ K, and its outer surface at a temperature of about 6000 K. At these high temperatures, no substance remains in a solid or liquid phase. In what range do you expect the mass density of the Sun to be, in the range of densities of solids and liquids or gases? Check if your guess is correct from the following data: mass of the Sun = 2.0 x 10³⁰ kg, radius of the Sun = 7.0 x 10⁸ m.

Some of the most profound statements on the nature of science have come from Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists of all time. What do you think did Einstein mean when he said : “The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible”?

The sign of work done by a force on a body is important to understand. State carefully if the following quantities are positive or negative:

(a) work done by a man in lifting a bucket out of a well by means of a rope tied to the bucket.

(b) work done by gravitational force in the above case,

(c) work done by friction on a body sliding down an inclined plane,

(d) work done by an applied force on a body moving on a rough horizontal plane with uniform velocity,

(e) work done by the resistive force of air on a vibrating pendulum in bringing it to rest.

A geyser heats water flowing at the rate of 3.0 litres per minute from 27 °C to 77 °C. If the geyser operates on a gas burner, what is the rate of consumption of the fuel if its heat of combustion is 4.0 x 10⁴ J/g?

Estimate the fraction of molecular volume to the actual volume occupied by oxygen gas at STP. Take the diameter of an oxygen molecule to be 3Å.

In deriving Bernoulli's equation, we equated the work done on the fluid in the tube to its change in the potential and kinetic energy. (a) What is the largest average velocity of blood flow in an artery of diameter 2 x 10^-3 m if the flow must remain laminar? (b) Do the dissipative forces become more important as the fluid velocity increases? Discuss qualitatively.

Which of the following examples represent (nearly) simple harmonic motion and which represent periodic but not simple harmonic motion?

(a) the rotation of earth about its axis.

(b) motion of an oscillating mercury column in a U-tube.

(c) motion of a ball bearing inside a smooth curved bowl, when released from a point slightly above the lower most point.

(d) general vibrations of a polyatomic molecule about its equilibrium position.

( i ) The time period of a body having simple harmonic motion depends on the mass m of the body and the force constant k:

T =2π √m/k

A simple pendulum exhibits simple harmonic motion. Then why does the time period of a pendulum not depend upon its mass?

( ii ) For small angle oscillations, a simple pendulum exhibits simple harmonic motion ( more or less). For larger angles of oscillation, detailed analysis show that T is greater than 2π√ l/g. Explain.

( iii ) A boy with a wristwatch on his hand jumps from a helicopter. Will the wrist watch give the correct time during free fall?

( iv ) Find the frequency of oscillation of a simple pendulum that is free falling from a tall bridge.

Given a + b + c + d = 0, which of the following statements are correct:

(a) a, b, c, and d must each be a null vector,

(b) The magnitude of (a + c) equals the magnitude of (b+ d),

(c) The magnitude of a can never be greater than the sum of the magnitudes of b, c, and d,

(d) b + c must lie in the plane of a and d if a and d are not collinear, and in the line of a and d, if they are collinear?

What amount of heat must be supplied to 2.0 x 10^-2 kg of nitrogen (at room temperature) to raise its temperature by 45 °C at constant pressure? (Molecular mass of N² = 28; R = 8.3 J mol^-1 K^-1.)

A large steel wheel is to be fitted on to a shaft of the same material. At 27 °C, the outer diameter of the shaft is 8.70 cm and the diameter of the central hole in the wheel is 8.69 cm. The shaft is cooled using ‘dry ice’. At what temperature of the shaft does the wheel slip on the shaft? Assume coefficient of linear expansion of the steel to be constant over the required temperature range: αsteel = 1.20 x 10^–5 K^–1.

Estimate the fraction of molecular volume to the actual volume occupied by oxygen gas at STP. Take the diameter of an oxygen molecule to be 3Å.

Estimate the average thermal energy of a helium atom at

(i) room temperature (27 °C),

(ii) the temperature on the surface of the Sun (6000 K),

(iii) the temperature of 10 million Kelvin (the typical core temperature in the case of a star).

The piston in the cylinder head of a locomotive has a stroke (twice the amplitude) of 1.0 m. If the piston moves with simple harmonic motion with an angular frequency of 200 rad/min, what is its maximum speed?

Though the statement quoted above may be disputed, most physicists do have a feeling that the great laws of physics are at once simple and beautiful. Some of the notable physicists, besides Dirac, who have articulated this feeling, are : Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg, Chandrasekhar and Feynman. You are urged to make special efforts to get access to the general books and writings by these and other great masters of physics.

(See the Bibliography at the end of this book.) Their writings are truly inspiring !