Open main menu

Stopwatch

Key Stage 1

Meaning

A picture of a stopwatch.

A stopwatch is a piece of equipment used to find out how long something takes to happen.

Singular Noun: Stopwatch
Plural Noun: Stopwatches

About Stopwatch

A stopwatch can tell how long it takes for something to happen, but it doesn't tell the time of day.

Examples

A chef made sure the eggs were only boiled for 5 minutes.
A scientist measured how long it takes to count to 100.
A scientist wanted to see who could get to the other side of the field in the least time.

Used in a sentence

A scientist used a stopwatch to time how long it took to count to 100.
A scientist used a stopwatch to measure how long it took each person to run across the field.

Key Stage 2

Meaning

A stopwatch, usually called a stopwatch, is a scientific instrument used to measure how much time it takes for something to happen.

About Stopwatch

A stopwatch can measure the time taken for something to happen, but it doesn't tell the time of day.

Key Stage 3

Meaning

A picture of a stopwatch.

A stopwatch is a measuring instrument used to measure how much time it takes for something to happen.

About Stopwatches

A stopwatch can usually give a time to an accuracy of to 10 milliseconds.
Most stopwatches have a 'lap' function that will keep the timer going in the background while the time that the 'lap' button was pressed will stay on screen until it is pressed again.
Stopwatches are subject to human error because humans cannot always react instantly to an event. Any time recorded is probably longer than the real time because it took time for the human to react.

Key Stage 4

Meaning

A stopwatch is a measuring instrument used to measure how much time it takes for something to happen.

About Stopwatches

A stopwatch can usually give a time to an accuracy of to 10 milliseconds.
Most stopwatches have a 'lap' function that will keep the timer going in the background while the time that the 'lap' button was pressed will stay on screen until it is pressed again.
Stopwatches are subject to human error because humans cannot always react instantly to an event. Any time recorded is probably longer than the real time because it took time for the human to react.

References

AQA

Stopwatches, page 104, GCSE Physics; The Revision Guide, CGP, AQA

OCR

Stopwatches, page 218, Gateway GCSE Combined Science; The Revision Guide, CGP, OCR