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Chapter 1 Notes: Physical Quantities, Units & Measurement

This document discusses (1) physical quantities and SI units including basic and derived units such as units for density, (2) prefixes used with SI units including various multipliers and factors, (3) addition of vectors including examples using trigonometric and graphical methods to find the resultant force, (4) measurement of length and time using various instruments such as vernier callipers and micrometer screw gauges including examples of measuring actual lengths accounting for zero errors, and (5) description and method to find the period of a simple pendulum.

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697 views8 pages

Chapter 1 Notes: Physical Quantities, Units & Measurement

This document discusses (1) physical quantities and SI units including basic and derived units such as units for density, (2) prefixes used with SI units including various multipliers and factors, (3) addition of vectors including examples using trigonometric and graphical methods to find the resultant force, (4) measurement of length and time using various instruments such as vernier callipers and micrometer screw gauges including examples of measuring actual lengths accounting for zero errors, and (5) description and method to find the period of a simple pendulum.

Uploaded by

terrygoh
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Chapter 1 Notes

Physical
Quantities, Units
_____ & Measurement
Physical quantities and SI units

Basic Quantity Name of SI Unit SI Unit


Length Metre m
Mass Kilogram kg
Time Second s
Thermodynamic temperature Kelvin K
Amount of substance Mole mol

Example 1:
What are the derived units of density?

𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒔
𝑫𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 =
𝑽𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒎𝒆
𝒌𝒈
𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 =
𝒎𝟑

Prefixes

Prefix Multiple Symbol Factor Order of


magnitude
Giga 1 000 000 G 109 9
000
Mega 1 000 000 M 106 6
Kilo 1000 K 103 3
Deci 0.1 D 10-1 -1
Centi 0.01 C 10-2 -2
Milli 0.001 M 10-3 -3
Micro 0.000 001  10-6 -6
Nano 0.000 000 N 10-9 -9
001
Chapter 1: Physical Quantities, Units & Measurement

Example 2:
Express 0.000 0023m in a suitable magnitude

0.000 0023𝑚 = 2.3𝜇𝑚 = 2.3 × 10−6 𝑚

Scalars and vectors

 A scalar quantity has only magnitude but does not have direction.
 A vector has both magnitude and direction

Scalar Vector
Distance Displacement
Speed Velocity
Energy Force
Time Acceleration
Volume Weight
Density
Mass

Addition of Vector

Example 3:
Find the resultant force R at point P due to F = 4N and F = 20N.

2
Chapter 1: Physical Quantities, Units & Measurement

Method 1: Trigonometric Method

Using Pythagoras’ Theorem:

𝑅 = √42 + 202
𝑅 = √416
𝑅 = 20.4𝑁
4
tan 𝜃 =
20
𝜃 = 11.3°
Method 2: Graphical Method

Step 1: select an appropriate scale (E.g. 1cm to 2N)


Step 2: Draw a parallelogram of vectors to scale
Step 3: measure the diagonal to find R
Step 4: Use the protractor to measure angle 𝜃

3
Chapter 1: Physical Quantities, Units & Measurement

Measurement of length and time

Range of length, l Instrument Accuracy Example


l > 100cm Measuring tape ±0.1 cm Waistline of a person
5cm < l < 100cm Metre rule ±0.1cm Height of an object
1cm < l < 10cm Vernier calipers ±0.01cm Diameter of a breaker
l<2cm Micrometer screw ±0.001cm Thickness of a length
gauge of wire

Vernier Callipers

 A pair of vernier callipers can be used to measure the thickness of


solids and the external diameter of an object by using the external
jaws.

 The internal jaws of the calliper are used to measure the internal
diameter of an object.

 The tail of the calliper is used to measure the depth or a hole.

 Vernier callipers can measure up to a precision of ±0.01cm

4
Chapter 1: Physical Quantities, Units & Measurement

Example 4:

𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ = 2.55𝑐𝑚

𝑍𝑒𝑟𝑜 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = −0.02 𝑐𝑚

𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ = 𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ – 𝑍𝑒𝑟𝑜 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟


𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ = 2.55𝑐𝑚 − (−0.02)𝑐𝑚
𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ = 2.57𝑐𝑚

5
Chapter 1: Physical Quantities, Units & Measurement

Micrometre Screw Gauge

 The jaws of the Micrometre screw gauge are used to measure the
external diameter of an object.

 Micrometre screw gauges can measure up to a precision of ±0.01mm

6
Chapter 1: Physical Quantities, Units & Measurement

Example 5:

𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ = 7.50𝑚𝑚 + 0.39𝑚𝑚


= 7.89𝑚𝑚

𝑍𝑒𝑟𝑜 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = +0.05 𝑚𝑚

𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ = 𝐴𝑝𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ – 𝑍𝑒𝑟𝑜 𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟


𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ = 7.89𝑚𝑚 − (0.05)𝑚𝑚
𝐴𝑐𝑡𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ = 7.84𝑚𝑚

7
Chapter 1: Physical Quantities, Units & Measurement

Simple Pendulum

 Period is the time taken to move from P > Q > R > Q > P

 One oscillation is when the bob travels from P > Q > R > Q > P

 The amplitude is the distance between the rest position (point Q) of


the bob to the extreme end of the oscillation (either point P or point R)
 The period of the pendulum, T, is affected only by the
o Length of the string, l
o Acceleration due to gravity, g

 T is not affected by the mass of the pendulum bob.

How to find the period:


1. Take the total time for 20 oscillations
2. Repeat step 1
3. Calculate the average of the two timings
4. Divide the average calculated by 20 to obtain the period

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