Physics Precautionary Steps For Investigative Experiments

PRECAUTIONARY STEPS FOR INVESTIGATIVE EXPERIMENTS No. 1

Type of experiment involving; Light

Precautions that can be taken

2

Spring

a. Make sure the spring is not loaded beyond the elastic limit. (spring return to original length when load is taken off). b. Avoid parallax error by placing the eye perpendicular to the scale of the ruler.

3

Electric

a. All connections must be secure/tight. b. Off the switch after readings are taken to prevent wires from heating up (resistance increase) c. Avoid parallax error by placing the eye perpendicular to the scale of the ammeter/ voltmeter.

4.

Heat

a. Liquid must be stirred constantly so that temperature rises evenly. b. Alluminium block must be wrapped with insulating material to prevent heat lost. c. Thermometer bulb should be smeared with oil to give better thermal contact with the block. d. Avoid parallax error by placing the eye perpendicular to the scale of the thermometer.

5.

Sound wave inteference

a. Experiment must carry out at open space to avoid echo

6.

Ticker tape (Chapter 2)

a. Switch on the power supply and release the trolley. Cannot push the trolley

a. Experiment must be carried out in darkened room. b. Lens, screen and object must be in line c. Avoid parallax error by placing the eye perpendicular to the scale of the ruler.

For all the experiment, students can also use; 1. Repeat the experiment 4 times and calculate the average 2. Take into account zero error 3. Use magnifying glass when reading the scale of measurement

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