1.1.2 — Describe how to measure a variety of time intervals using clocks and digital timers

Time intervals range from minutes to fractions of a second, and we select tools depending on precision needed.

Common timing devices:

• Clocks / stopwatches: for seconds and minutes.
• Digital timers / smartphone timers: for fast events, accurate to 0.01 s or 0.001 s.
• Light gates (in labs): for very short intervals (not required but useful context).

Good practice when starting and stopping by hand:

• Anticipate the start/stop — human reaction time adds a delay of about 0.1–0.3 s.
• Repeat several times and take an average.

Real-world example:

Athletics uses electronic timing because human reaction time would introduce large errors in sprint races.