Procedures in the Physical Sciences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Procedures in the Physical Sciences - Essay Example Measurement is a very important parameter in the field of physical sciences. Different methods of measurements have used to determine various aspects of the physical environment. Units precede every kind of measurement. They help in giving a description of the physical quantity in question hence enhancing comparison. The three major quantities in physics include length measured in meters, time measured in seconds and mass that is measured in kilograms. The Metric system of measurement has been adopted in most of the countries of the world while the British System of measurement, famous for use inches, miles, and pounds among others has a minimal use in the world despite its ubiquitous use the United States of America. Despite the technological progress experienced in the world today, several challenges are encountered in the measurement of the physical environment. Every measurement made has an associated error that should be recognized whenever a quantity is measured. This error has a numerical value that tries to correct the quality of the estimation done through measurement. Furthermore, it can be in form of a standard uncertainty, whereby the error has a standard figure or a coverage interval whose figure will have a given range of values. However, efforts have been made in trying to minimize these uncertainties. The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has developed â€Å"The Guide to the expression of Uncertainty in Measurement† to help in enacting a common approach to the errors encountered in measurement. In astronomical sciences, it is difficult to use direct measurement calling for indirect measurement strategies. A unique method utilised by the astronomers is the parallax method. This method involves observation of the position of heavenly bodies at different times. They consider factors such as the precise location of the body, the time, the diameter of the earth’s orbit, the angle of viewing to elucidate the distance f rom the earth the heavenly body is located. Geometry is a key science in the calculations since the process involves analysing angles and distances to obtain an unknown distance (Finkelstein 2009). Such distances are unverifiable hence the exact distance especially for heavenly bodies to the sun cannot be determined in precision. Another major setback in measurement is lack of coherence in the communication of measurements. In quantum mechanics, disparities occur because of non-compliance with the recent regulations but instead trusting the predefined and pretested strategies. Space and time are aspects that have depicted some major measurement differences because of their reconstruction from observable quantities. This has created massive measurement challenges in quantum mechanics (Gambini and Pullin, 2012). According to the duo, there occur instances when the quantum state of the machine cannot be differentiated from the statistical components throughout the measurements made. Th is dimension of thought predicts the possibility of other errors in the measurement of a physical system. Technology has influenced the way measurements are done in a great way. The advancement in the computing methods has revolutionised the way measurement of physical elements is made. It has become apparent that most of the measuring instruments have been digitised or they have a