Sources of error for:

Thermal experiments
1. Containers are not of same shape and thickness. Affect T taken at each time interval.
2. Different surrounding conditions when conducting experiments for both containers. Affect T
taken at each time interval.
3. Timing immediately will cause error because temperature in thermometer will not be
stabilized to the correct temperature of water in the beaker. Affect initial temperature reading
of water.

1. Heat loss to the surroundings as metal is transferred from beaker to styrofoam cup. T3 will
be lower than it should be. T1 is also no longer as high.
2. Styrofoam cup also has heat capacity! Therefore, T3 is lower than actual since some thermal
energy is transferred to the cup, and not all to the water.
3. Heat loss to the surroundings as water in styrofoam cup heats up. T3 recorded will be lower
than expected.
4. When we wipe with a cloth, the more dry we want to make the metal mass, the longer time
we will take, which means more heat loss to the surroundings. The contradictory process makes
it a significant source of error.
1. Amount of salt affects the melting point. More salt, lower melting point.







Mechanics
1: balancing moments
1. Use of plasticine, some of the plasticine will get stuck around. Affects mass of plasticine
reading.
2. Difficult to determine the exact location of the C.G, since plasticine is of irregular shape.
3. Difficult to determine the balance point. But say if 34.3 cm tilt one side and 34.4 cm swing
the other side, then it is within experimental error, so error is not significant.
2: pendulum
1. Difficult to ensure bob oscillates in a plane
2. String may extend, or slip through the cork during oscillation
3. Human reaction time for 1 oscillation is valid, but for 20 oscillations, it is not very significant.

3: C.G. Of irregular shaped object
1. When drawing plumbline, the position of the card and the plumbline will be disturbed, thus
the plumbline will not be accurately drawn.
2. Holes have finite sizes, so it affects the plumbline drawn because there are many possible
lines drawn.

Waves
1. Optical pins create holes of finite width, many possible lines drawn.
2. For lenses, difficult to determine sharpest image, affects reading of v.

Electricity & Magnetism
1. Inconsistent pressure applied by jockey, poor contact increases resistance.
2. Heating in wire affects resistance
3. Align magnet directly above wire, we can say parallax error as a form of error.
4. Kinks in wire affect length and resistance

Instrument precision is not accepted!