Vector & Scalar Quantities A scalar is a quantity which only has a magnitude (size) A vector is a quantity which has both a magnitude and a direction For example, if a person goes on a hike in ...
Error Bars The uncertainty in a measurement can be shown on a graph as an error bar This bar is drawn above and below the point (or from side to side) and shows the uncertainty in that measurement ...
Uncertainties Precision Precise measurements are ones in which there is very little spread about the mean value, in other words, how close the measured values are to each other If a measurement is ...
Random & Systematic Errors Measurements of quantities are made with the aim of finding the true value of that quantity In reality, it is impossible to obtain the true value of any quantity as t...
Orders of Magnitude When a number is expressed in an order of 10, this is an order of magnitude. Example: If a number is described as 3 × 108 then that number is actually 3 × 100 000 000 The order ...
Scientific Notation & Metric Multipliers Scientific Notation In physics, measured quantities cover a large range from the very large to the very small Scientific notation is a form that is base...
SI Base Quantities International System (S.I.) Units There is a seemingly endless number of units in Physics These can all be reduced to seven base units from which every other unit can be derived ...
Structure Identification Problems The chemists' toolkit includes a range of analytical techniques that enable the structure of compounds to be deduced Summary table of analytical techniques These t...
X-Ray Crystallography When visible light waves interact with objects the light is scattered, transmitted and reflected – this gives us information about the macroscopic world However, at the scale ...
