Physics 1401

Introduction
Objective:

Introduce and explain Lab Safety, mathematical techniques used in physics and
lab equipment

Background:
Welcome to the first part of a two-part lab series for General Physics course. Physics is
considered the basic science. All other sciences aroused and developed from physics. The
Oxford Press- Dictionary of Physics defines Physics as:
The study of the laws that determine the structure of the universe with reference to the
matter and energy of which it consists. It is concerned not with chemical changes that occur but
with the forces that exist between objects and the interrelationship between matter and energy.
Traditionally, the study was divided into separate fields: heat, light, sound, electricity and
magnetism, and mechanics. Since the turn of the century, however, quantum mechanics and
relativistic physics have become increasingly important; the growth of modern physics has been
accompanied by the studies of atomic physics, nuclear physics, and particle physics. The physics
of astronomical bodies and their interactions is known as astrophysics, the physics of the earth is
known as geophysics, and the study the physical aspect of biology is called biophysics.
The definition above can seem overwhelming, but in this two-part lab series (1401 and
1402) we will only cover a few aspects of the total definition. The topics covered will be:
Forces, Matter, Energy, Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism, and Light.
Lab Safety
Lab safety is the most important aspect of any experiment. Lab safety includes not only
making sure the students are safe but the equipment as well. If the equipment is not functioning
properly the risk of injury to the student increases.
It is the students responsibility to make sure the equipment is not damaged. The lab
equipment will be set out prior to the beginning of the lab with all nuts and bolts in place. The
assembly of the lab will follow the lab step by step. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL
THE STUDENTS REMOVE ANY PARTS OF THE EQUIPMENT OTHER THAN STATED

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IN THE LAB! Points from the lab grade may be deducted if any pieces of the lab are dismantled
beyond the point in which the parts were originally found without approval of the instructor.

Measurements
To be able to understand how things work in the physical world, units of measurement
had to be invented. The earliest forms of measurement were developed by the ancient Sumerians
circa 4000 BC. Each culture throughout time used different references to measure the basic
units.
Careful measurements are an important part of science. To communicate the result of a
measurement for a quantity, a unit must be defined. Defining units allows everyone to relate to
the same fundamental quantity.
Two major systems of measurement prevail in the world today: the United States Customary
System (USCS), formerly called the British system of units and the Systme International (SI)
which is also known as the international system or as the metric system.
The SI system is the standard unit system used in the world of science and everywhere
else other that the U.S. and Burma where the USCS system is still in use. The metric system is a
decimal (base-10) system. The basic units in the metric system used in physics are the MKS (M
is meters, K is kilograms and S is seconds). These are fundamental units for length, mass and
time. It is important to remember these units and the conversion relationships from one unit to
another are extremely important in order to have a final result of a measurement in MKS.
You should be aware that the definitions of the units of measure evolved in time with the
development of science and technology.
The meter is defined as a measure of the distance light travels in a vacuum in a
1/299,792,458 of a second where the number 299,792,458 represents the speed of light in
vacuum.
The mass is defined as the amount of matter an object contains. The definition of mass
has changed a great deal in the past 300 years. The unit of measure for mass (Kilogram (kg)) was
originally defined as the amount of water in a 0.1m cube. Now it refers to a iridium alloy
cylinder kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris.
Time represents the continuous, forward flowing of events. Time has only one direction forward.
The unit of measure for time in both the metric and British systems is second (s). Originally, the
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second was defined as 1/86,400 of a solar day (24 hours). As the science and technology
evolved, also the definition for the time unit of measure evolved. This definition is based now on
133

the radiation frequency of the Cs

atom.

133

In Cs atom the electrons jump from its one atomic level to another with a
frequency of 9,192,631,770 Hertz. Each jump produces a photon which can be detected.
Time is inverse of frequency; hence a second is defined as the inverse of the quantity
9,192,631,770.
Table 1. Common SI units.
Property

Unit

Distance
Time
Mass
Velocity
Acceleration
Force

Meter
Second
Kilogram

Energy

Joule

Power

Watt

Pressure

Pascal

Newton

Symbol
m
s
kg
m/s
m/s2
N (=
kg*m/s2)
J (=
kg*m2/s2)
W (=
kg*m2/s3)
Pa (=
kg/m*s2)

Dimensional Analysis:
According to the Oxford Press Dictionary of Physics:
A method of checking an equation or solution to a problem by analyzing the dimensions in
which it is expressed. It is also useful for establishing the form, but not the numerical
coefficients, of an empirical relationship. If the two sides of an equation do not have the same
dimensions, the equation is wrong. If they do have the same dimensions, the equation may still
be wrong, but the error is likely to be in the arithmetic rather than the method of solution.
This method is very useful in all of the experiments presented in both parts of this course.
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Physics 1401
Dimensional analysis method will work no matter what system of measures you are
currently working with, not just the MKS system. In fact, the dimension represents the
physical nature of a quantity
As mentioned above there are three fundamental quantities: Length, Mass, Time.
You will learn during the lecture the definitions of different quantities mentioned in the table
below:
Quantity

Dimension

Distance
Area
Volume
Velocity
Acceleration
Energy

[L]
[L2]
[L3]
[L]/[T]
[L]/[T2]
[M][L2]/[T2]

In an equation that you want to verify through dimensional analysis, each dimension
(length, mass, time, combinations) can be treated as algebraic quantity (you can add, subtract,
multiply, divide these quantities). Both sides of equation must have the same dimensions.
For example: Which formula is dimensionally consistent with an expression yielding a value for
velocity? (a is acceleration, x is distance, and t is time)
2

a. v/t
2

b. vx
2

c. v /t
d. at
For this analysis we will use the following:
Length = [L]

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Mass = [M]
Time = [T]
Lets start with answer d): v=at
Look in the table and see which the dimension for each quantity is:
[v]=[L]/[T]
[a]=[L]/[T2]
Lets plug them in the equation that we want to verify through dimensional analysis (v=at):
[L]/[T]=( [L]/[T2]) [T]= [L]/[T]
As you can observe what you have in the left side of the equation is the same with what you have
in the right side of the equation. So, the right answer for our question is d. Obviously, a), b) and
c) are not the right answers.
Trigonometric Function:
The Pythagorean Theorem is a very useful tool in solving many problems in physics. You
will use it frequently.
The theorem allows you to solve for each of the legs in a right (90) triangle. However;
Pythagoras theorem does not solve for the angles of both the interior and exterior of the triangle.
In physics it is essential to know the angle at which some object is moving.
Expanding what was taught in college algebra we will introduce some new functions
named trigonometric functions. Each function can be manipulated just like any other equation or
function seen in college algebra. The main functions we will focus on are sin, cos, tan. The
angle is a variable such as each leg of the triangle. In some rare occasions in this class you may
have to use the inverse function which will be explained during the lab in which the inverse
function is used.

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Precision and Accuracy:

Measurements are characterized by their precision and accuracy. Precision is a statement of the
number of significant figures in the measurement, while accuracy can be thought of as the
closeness of the result to the correct" answer. One can, for example, make an extremely precise
but inaccurate measurement. This can happen if there are systematic biases in the measurement
system. Because measurements have infinite precision, experiments never prove" a result; we'll
learn how to state the results of our experiments.

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The use of standard deviation () is important in science when looking at the precision
and accuracy of the data. This mathematical concept is hard to define without explaining higher
levels of mathematics. First we will start with obtaining the mean, or average of the data points:

++++
= .

The next step is to take the difference between each value in the numerator and square the
results of each as follow:

( . ) = .
( . ) = .
( . ) = .
( . ) = .
( . ) = .
The next step is to take the sum of the above values and divide by the initial sum. In this
case 5.2 was the original mean. Now you will take the square root of the square of both sums
divided by the number of trials minus one as follows:

. + . + . + . + .
.

=
= . = .

The standard deviation () for the values given in the experiment is 2.38. In science we
will accept a value of +/- 3 for confirmation of results.

Another approach to confirming known values in your experiment is called the percent error.
This approach is an older approach for confirmation; a number of science fields are still using it.
The equation for percent difference is as follows:

| |
(
) =

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Physics 1401

The percent error is a quick calculation to help see if there was a problem with the
experiment. Always remember to see if your collected values make sense before spending hours
on analyzing the data. A collision cart being accelerated only by the acceleration due to gravity
along a 1-meter track will not achieve a velocity of 980m/s.

Bibliography: Oxford Press Dictionary of Physics

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Physics 1401

Name(s):_________________________________________

Class/Section: ___________

Questions:
1) What is 1km in terms of:
a. Meters =
b. Centimeters =
c. Millimeters =

2) Convert 1 mile into kilometers, meters, centimeters, and millimeters

a. 1 mile =
b. 1mile=
c. 1mile =
d. 1 mile=

3) Perform the indicated conversions:

1 m = _________________ cm

13.2 cm = __________________mm

1 km = __________________ m

6.3 cm = __________________ m

0.5 km = ________________ cm

0.71 m = ___________________ cm

1 kg = __________________ g

156 mg = __________________ g

1 g = ___________________ mg

3.5 g = ___________________ kg

0.5 kg = ________________ cg

1.47 kg = __________________ g

1 hr = __________________ min

1 day = ____________________ sec

1 min = _________________ sec

14.3 min = _________________ sec

0.5 day = ________________ hr

1 hr 10 min = _______________ min

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Physics 1401
50 km/hr = ______________ m/s

14.3 m/s = _________________ cm/s

5000 m/s = ______________ km/hr

110 cm/s = _________________ m/s

4) Solve for the following dimensional analysis.

a. Area times distance =
b. Energy times Acceleration =
c. Distance times velocity =
d. Distance times volume =
e. Area divided by distance =
f. Velocity divided by acceleration =
g. Energy divided by acceleration =
5) Answer the following questions by showing your work.
a. What is the percent difference between accepted value of gravity of 9.81

and

the experimental value of 9.762 ?

b. What is the standard deviation of the following sets of data points?

(9.65, 9.89, 9.7, 9.81, 9.69)
6) What is the standard deviation of the following values; 1.608,1.648, 1.61, 1.635, 1.615?

7) What is the percent difference between accepted value of gravity of 1.61 2 and the

experimental value of 1.682

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