Lesson 3.1.2

3.1.2 Limitation of physical measurements Quiz: AQA Physics, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 3.1.2, Limitation of physical measurements: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Physics (7408), Unit 1: Measurements and their errors, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What is a systematic error?

    • A mistake in arithmetic that repeating the calculation removes
    • An error that changes unpredictably from one reading to the next
    • An error that shifts every reading in the same direction by a similar amount
    • An error that cancels out when readings are averaged

  2. Which method reduces the effect of random errors in a measurement?

    • Using only the first reading taken
    • Recalibrating the instrument against a known standard
    • Correcting every reading by the zero error
    • Taking repeated readings and calculating their mean

  3. What does accuracy of a measurement describe?

    • How close repeated readings are to each other
    • How close the measured value is to the true value
    • The smallest change the instrument can detect
    • The number of significant figures quoted

  4. What does reproducibility of a measurement describe?

    • Closeness of a single reading to the true value
    • Agreement of repeated readings by one observer with one apparatus
    • Agreement of results obtained by different observers or different apparatus
    • The smallest scale division on an instrument

  5. What is the resolution of an instrument?

    • The spread of repeated readings about their mean
    • The largest value the instrument can measure
    • The smallest change in the quantity that the instrument can detect
    • The closeness of a reading to the true value

  6. How is fractional uncertainty defined?

    • The measured value divided by the absolute uncertainty
    • The absolute uncertainty minus the measured value
    • The absolute uncertainty multiplied by the measured value
    • The absolute uncertainty divided by the measured value

  7. What do error bars on a graph point represent?

    • The range within which the true value is expected to lie
    • The largest error made by the apparatus
    • The difference between the highest and lowest data points
    • The average of all the measured readings

  8. A length of 12.0 cm is measured with an absolute uncertainty of 0.2 cm. What is the percentage uncertainty?

    • 0.017%
    • 1.2%
    • 1.7%
    • 0.2%

  9. Two lengths of 5.0 ± 0.1 cm and 3.0 ± 0.1 cm are subtracted. What is the difference with its uncertainty?

    • 2.0 ± 0.02 cm
    • 2.0 ± 0.1 cm
    • 2.0 ± 0.2 cm
    • 2.0 ± 0.4 cm

  10. A rectangle has sides 2.0 ± 0.1 m and 3.0 ± 0.1 m. What is its area with uncertainty?

    • 6.0 ± 0.5 m^2
    • 6.0 ± 0.1 m^2
    • 6.0 ± 0.2 m^2
    • 6.0 ± 0.05 m^2

  11. A radius is measured with a fractional uncertainty of 2%. What is the percentage uncertainty in the area πr^2?

    • 1%
    • 8%
    • 2%
    • 4%

  12. A micrometer reads 0.04 mm with its jaws closed. A measurement reads 2.37 mm. What is the corrected value?

    • 2.33 mm
    • 2.29 mm
    • 2.37 mm
    • 2.41 mm

  13. A value of 12.3456 is quoted with an absolute uncertainty of ±0.2. What is the best quotation?

    • 12 ± 0.2
    • 12.3 ± 0.2
    • 12.3456 ± 0.2
    • 12.35 ± 0.2

  14. Twenty oscillations of a pendulum take 30.0 ± 0.2 s. What is the period with its uncertainty?

    • 1.50 ± 0.2 s
    • 1.50 ± 0.001 s
    • 1.50 ± 0.01 s
    • 1.50 ± 0.10 s

  15. Displacement s = 2.40 ± 0.04 m and time t = 0.80 ± 0.04 s give speed v = s/t. What is v with its uncertainty?

    • 3.00 ± 0.20 m/s
    • 3.00 ± 0.02 m/s
    • 3.00 ± 0.40 m/s
    • 3.00 ± 0.07 m/s

  16. The period T of a system has a percentage uncertainty of 3%. What is the percentage uncertainty in the frequency f = 1/T?

    • 3%
    • 1.5%
    • 6%
    • 0.3%

  17. A pendulum timing error comes from a stopwatch that reads 0.3 s too slow every time. Which change best removes this error?

    • Calibrating the stopwatch against a known time standard and correcting the readings
    • Taking more repeat readings and calculating their mean
    • Using a stopwatch with finer divisions only
    • Plotting the results on a larger graph

  18. A student draws a best-fit line through a graph with error bars on each point. How is the uncertainty in the gradient found?

    • Measuring the gradient between only the first and last points
    • Dividing the largest data value by the smallest data value
    • Adding the absolute uncertainties of the x and y values
    • Drawing the steepest and shallowest acceptable lines and comparing their gradients

  19. A quantity is calculated by multiplying three measured values with fractional uncertainties of 2%, 3% and 1%. What is the total fractional uncertainty?

    • 6%
    • 12%
    • 3%
    • 0.06%

  20. A rod of length 2.0 m is measured with an absolute uncertainty of 2 mm. What is its percentage uncertainty?

    • 10%
    • 0.01%
    • 0.1%
    • 1%

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