Metric Mastery B

[Jim_R]

Discussion for Metric Mastery B

Metric Mastery Wiki
Metric Mastery Test Exchange 2013

[thehydrogenpoptart]

So, what are some good ways to prepare for this event? It seems like something that's well, really difficult to prep for.

[Skink]

At first glance, it seems analogous to prepping for something like WIDI, Exp Design, or Fermi Questions. Set up problems yourself and get a feel for what you're doing. The rules outline what measurements you have to be able to make, so I would tackle each one and get an idea for A)how big certain things are (ex: is the volume of a penny .5mL, 5mL, 50mL, or 500mL? I'd guess it's closer to 5mL than the others) and B)how to use standard measurement tools for each of the listed parameters you'd have to measure. So, know HOW to measure that volume and what could be given to you to do so.
I'd take them one by one, personally. Distance is easy. Temperature I'd think is, too...now, estimating temperature? You got me, man.

[EastStroudsburg13]

The main thing to prepare is to get a background for certain values of distance, mass, temperature, etc. That was you have a standard to compare new objects to, which can make estimation a lot easier. Naturally, the more things you're familiar with, the more standards you will have and the easier the estimation will be.

[thehydrogenpoptart]

All of these ways sound awesomesauce. I've started "going metric," that is to say, referring to distances and temperature in the metric system whenever I can.

Also, in the rules, it says that you may be required to estimate time? How exactly would you go about doing that?

[Skink]

I'd think you've been 'calibrated' to measure time since preschool...can you count to five? One sec-ond, two sec-ond, three sec-ond, four sec-ond...and so forth. I'm not entirely sure *what* they might give yet, but at least that's a start. Then, if you're measuring something faster than a second (say, a dot or a word appearing and disappearing on a screen), how many milliseconds was it there? If you do experiments sorta like that with standards in the hundreds of milliseconds, you'll get a concept of how long 400msec is. Far as measuring, I imagine you'd be provided with a stopwatch in all cases. This will need practice for stuff in the hundreds of milliseconds since your reaction time skews the measurement a little. Can anyone think of any other instruments that can measure time other than a stopwatch/digital clock?

[chalker]

Can anyone think of any other instruments that can measure time other than a stopwatch/digital clock?

There are lots of other instruments. I'd suggest you check out the wiki for the 'Its About Time' event that ran a couple years ago. Many of the most successful 'clocks' at Nationals were nothing more than a string with a weight on the end (a simple pendulum).

[JustDroobles]

When I did Metric Mastery in 2008 I had some time stations at various competitions. The time stations usually involved measuring the period of a pendulum or the time for an object to fall in seconds. A tip for pendulums is to measure the time for a large number of swings and take the average time per swing. I usually do the time for ten swings divided by ten.

[Cjkowalcz]

Hi Guys. I was wondering if you had any useful sample tests/websites (such as significant digit websites, tips, etc.) for us to use.
Thanks!

[Blwrunner]

Hey Cjkowalcz! As a matter of fact I do have some wonderful links for this event. Good luck this year!

http://www.sciencenc.com/2013%20BC%20Ev ... rial-2.pdf (2012 Coaches Institute Presentation and Sample Test)

http://www.sciencenc.com/eventhelp/exam ... 20Test.pdf (Metric Mastery Sample Test)

http://www.think-metric.com/ (Think Metric)

http://www.upscale.utoronto.ca/PVB/Harr ... meter.html (How to use a micrometer)

http://www.phy.uct.ac.za/courses/c1lab/vernier1.html (How to read a vernier caliper and micrometer)