GENERAL PHYSICS 1

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LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET 1

Units, Physical Quantities, Measurement, Errors and

Uncertainties
Background Information for the Learners (BIL)

Physics is an experimental science and it is largely a science of

measurement. Physicists observe the phenomena of nature and try to find and
invent patterns and principles that relate these phenomena.
Lord Kelvin, a British physicist, emphasized the importance of
measurement when he said “when you can measure what you are speaking
about and expressed it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you
cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory
kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your
thoughts, advanced to the stage of science.” The Greek philosopher Plato
pointed out that “if arithmetic, measurement, and weighing is taken away from
any art, that which remains will not be much.”
Physics begins with measurement. Measurement is simply a
comparison with a standard. To carry out accurate measurements, it is
necessary to establish a system of standards and a system of units in which to
express the standards.

PART 1: PHYSICAL QUANTITIES

Standards and Units
Any number that is used to describe a physical phenomenon
quantitatively is called a physical quantity. Some physical quantities are so
fundamentals that we can define them only by describing a procedure for
measuring them. Such a definition is called operational definition. In other
cases, we define a physical quantity by describing a way to calculate the
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quantities from other quantities that we can measure. In the first case we might
use a ruler to measure distance, or a stopwatch to measure a time interval. In
the second case we might define average speed of a moving object as a
distance travelled (measured with a ruler) divided by the time travel (measured
with a stopwatch)
Quantities in physics may either be fundamental or derived.
Fundamental quantities include length, mass, time, temperature, electric
charge, luminous intensity, and amount of substance. Derived quantities are
combination of fundamental quantities. For example, speed may be described
as length of space travelled divided by time. Other familiar examples of derived
quantities are acceleration, density, work, and energy.
When we measure a quantity, we always compare it with some reference
standards. When we say that a rope is 20 meters long, we mean that it is 20
times as long as a meter stick, which is defined to be 1 meter long. We call such
a standard a unit of the quantity. The meter is a unit of distance, and a second
is a unit of time. When we use a number to describe a physical quantity, it is
essential to specify the unit we are using; to describe a distance simply as “20”
would have no meaning.
Units have been defined for each fundamental quantity. These units are
called base or fundamental units. The combination of base units is called a
derived unit.
Since 1960 the system of units used by scientists and engineers is the
“metric system”, which is officially known as the “International System” or SI
units (abbreviation for its French term, Système International).
To make sure that scientists from different parts of the world understand
the same thing when referring to a measurement, standards have been defined
for measurements of length, time, and mass.
Length – 1 m is defined as the distance travelled by light in a vacuum in
1/299,792,458 second. Based on the definition that the speed of light is exactly
299,792,458 m/s.
Time – 1 second is defined as 9,192,631,770 cycles of the microwave
radiation due to the transition between the two lowest energy states of the
Cesium atom. This is measured from an atomic clock using this transition.

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 Mass – 1 kg is defined to be the mass of a cylinder of platinum-iridium
alloy at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (Sèvres, France).

The table below shows the seven base units of the SI system.

Quantity Unit Symbol

Length Meter M
Mass Kilogram Kg
Time Second S
Temperature Kelvin K
Electric Current Ampere A
Luminous Intensity Candela Cd
Amount of Substance Mole Mol
Table 1 Seven base (or fundamental) units of the SI system.

Answers in physics problems are sometimes too small or too large. For
convenience, The General Conference on Weights and Measures
recommended the use of prefixes.

The table below is a list of SI prefixes, symbols and their values.

Prefix Symbol Value Prefix Symbol Value
yotta- Y 1024 yocto- y 10-24
zeta- Z 1021 zepto- z 10-21
exa- E 1018 atto- a 10-18
peta- P 1015 femto- f 10-15
tera- T 1012 pico- p 10-12
giga- G 109 nano- n 10-9
mega- M 106 micro- μ 10-6
kilo- K 103 milli- m 10-3
hecto- H 102 centi- c 10-2
deka- Da 101 deci- d 10-1
Table 2. SI prefixes, symbols and their values.

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 Examples of using prefixes with units:
kilo- means 1000 times of a meter
Therefore 1 kilometer is 1000 times a meter
milli- means a one thousandth of a meter
Therefore 1 millimetre is 0.001 meter

Unit Conversions
In some of the problems you encounter in this activity, you may be
required to convert one system of unit to another. Because a single quantity
can be expressed in many different units, it is deemed practical to use a
consistent set of units to avoid confusion. Thus, SI units are used to express
different quantities. Quantities that are not expressed in SI units are converted
for practical purposes. Conversion of units is done using the factor-label method
with the aid of the conversion table shown in Table 3.

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Table 3. Factors for Unit Conversions
Quantity Equivalent Values
1 kg = 1000 g = 0.001 metric ton = 2.20462 lbm = 35.27392
Mass oz
1 lbm = 16 oz = 5x10-4 ton = 453.593 g = 0.453593 kg
1m = 100 cm = 1000 mm = 106 microns (µm) = 1010
angstrom (Å)
= 39.37 in. = 3.2808 ft = 1.0936 yd = 0.0006214 mile
Length
1 = 1000 m
km
1 ft = 12 in. = 1/3 yd = 0.3048 m = 30.48 cm
1 m3 = 1000 L = 106 cm3 = 106 mL
= 35.3145 ft3 = 220.83 imperial gallons = 264.17 gal
Volume = 1056.68 qt
3
1 ft = 1728 in.3 = 7.4805 gal = 0.028317 m3 = 28.317 L
= 28,317cm3
1N = 1 kg∙m/s2 = 105 dynes = 105g∙cm/s2 = 0.22481 lbf
Force
1 lbf = 32.174 lbm∙ft/s2 = 4.4482 N = 4.4482x105 dynes
1 = 1.01325x105 N/m2 (Pa) = 101.325 kPa = 1.01325 bar
atm
= 1.01325x106dynes/cm2
Pressure
= 760 mm Hg at 0℃ (torr) = 10.333 m H2O at 4℃
= 14.696 lbf/in.2 (psi) = 33.9 ftH2O at 4℃
= 29.921 in. Hg at 0℃
1J = 1 N∙m = 107 ergs = 107dyne∙cm
Energy = 2.778x10-7kW∙h = 0.23901 cal
= 0.7376 ft∙lbf = 9.486x10-4 Btu
1W = 1 J/s = 0.23901 cal/s = 0.7376 ft∙lbf/s = 9.486x10-4
Power Btu/s
= 1.341x10-3hp
1s = 0.016666666 minute (min)
Time = 2.777777778 x 10-4 hour (h)

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 Study the following examples on converting units of measurement using
the factor-label method.

Example 1: Convert 20 minutes to seconds

Solution:
Step 1: Create the conversion factor(s) using the conversion table.
A conversion factor is a fraction with the given unit and
the unknown unit. If the given unit is located in the numerator of
the given quantity, the similar unit will be located in the
denominator of the conversion factor, and vice versa. Hence,
Given: 15 min numerator
Conversion from Table 3: 1 s = 0.016666666 min
Conversion factor:

1s 0.016666666 𝑚𝑖𝑛
denominator

Step 2: Multiply the given quantity by the conversion factor(s). The

product should contain the target unit.

1s
(15 min) ( )
0.016666666 min
= 900.000036 s

Example 2: Convert 30 kilometers to meters.

Solution:
Step 1. Create the conversion factor(s) using the conversion table.
Given: 30 km
Conversion from Table 3: 1 km = 1000 m

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 Conversion factor:
1000 m
1 km
Step 2: Multiply the given quantity by the conversion factor(s). The
product should contain the target unit.

(30 km) ( )

= 30 000 m

Example 3: A woman drives a car in Tuguegarao at 50 km/h (50 kilometers per

hour) express this speed in meters per second.
Solution:
Step 1. Create the conversion factor(s).

Given: 50 km/h

Conversion from Table 3: 1 km = 1000 m

1 h= 3600 s

Conversion factor:

1000 m
1 km

1h
3600 s

Step 2: Multiply the given quantity by the conversion factor(s). The

product should contain the target unit.

1000 m
(50 km/h) ( )( )
1 km 3600 s

= 3.9 m/s

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Learning Competency:
Solve measurement problems involving conversion of units, expression of
measurements in scientific notation (STEM_GP12EU-Ia-1)

Activity 1. CONVERSION OF UNITS

Directions: Convert the following into desired units
1. Convert the following values to the indicated units
(a) 0.0056 km = mm
(b) 6.3km = m
(c) 120 °C = °F
(d) 18mg = g
(e) 2000g = kg
(f) 7.58 cm3 = m3
(g) 120 m/s = km/h
2. A can contains 250 mL of juice. How many liters of juice are there in this
can?

3. Filipino men have an average height of 5 ft 1.57 inches. What is the height
in centimeters? In meters?

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Activity 2. FROM ENGLISH TO METRIC

Introduction
Length is one of the fundamental physical quantities. Using a meter stick
or a foot rule is the simplest way to measure length. Centimetre and inch
are two common units of length. Least count is the smallest value that can
be read from any measuring device.
A meter stick least count is one milimeter or 0.1 centimeter while the
least count of English foot rule is 1/20 of an inch or 0.05 inch.
Note that there may be other models of a foot rule whose least counts
may differ from what was mentioned above.

Objectives
1. Measure length using a meter stick and a foot rule.
2. Determine the number of centimeters in an inch.
Materials
A meterstick
An English ruler
A4 bond paper
Procedure
1. Determine the least counts of your meterstick and foot rule.
2. Measure the length of an A4 bond paper using the meterstick. Make
four other measurements of the same bond paper using different parts
of the meter stick as the starting point for each of the four times.
3. The reading at the mark with which you start the measurement must
be subtracted from the final reading. Record the measurements in the
table below.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 using an English ruler this time. Record the
measurements in the table below.
5. Using the data gathered from step 2, compute for the average of the
length by finding the arithmetic mean of the measurements. Do the
same for the data obtained in step 4.

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 6. Using the averages obtained in step 5, compute the number of
centimeters in an inch. Compare your results with the accepted value
by computing the percentage error.

%error=(experimental − theoretical)/theoretical x 100%

Data
Least count of meterstick: Least count of English Ruler:

Table 1
Length of A4 bond paper
Length
Trial
Meterstick Foot rule
1
2
3
4
5
Average

Experimental value: 1 inch = cm

Accepted value: 1 inch = 2.54 cm
Percentage error =

Computations

Conclusion

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Activity 3. FILL IN THE BLANKS
Directions: Answer the following questions on the spaces provided.

A. Fill in the blanks with the correct words.

1. Physics is an and it is largely a science of
.
2. simply a comparison with a standard.
3. Any number that is used to describe a physical phenomenon
quantitatively is called a .
4. Quantities in physics may either be or .
B. Fill in the table below.
Base quantity Name of base unit Symbol quantities

Length
Mass
Time
Electric current
Temperature
Luminous intensity Candela Cd
Amount of
Mole Mo
substance

Significant Figures and Scientific Notation

Significant figures (sig. figs) are those digits in a number or
measurement that are not being used and considered as place-values. Zeroes
are not significant if they are used only to indicate the position of the decimal
point. For example, if the length of a computer desk, as measured by a ruler
graduated in millimeters, was found to be 1564.3mm, the measurement has five
significant figures.

Here are the Rules for Significant Figures which will help you to understand
them better.
1. Nonzero digits are always significant
38.57 mL (4) 288 g (3)

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 2. Zeroes are sometimes significant, and sometimes they are not.
a. Zeroes at the beginning of a number (used just to position the
decimal point) are never significant.
0.052 g (2) or 5.2X10-2 g 0.00364 m (3) or 3.64x10-3m
b. Zeroes between nonzero digits are always significant.
2007 g (4) 6.08 km (3)
c. Zeroes at the end of a number that contains a decimal point are
always significant.
38.0 cm (3) or 38.0x101 cm 440.0 m (4) or 4.400x102 m
d. Zeroes at the end of a number that does not contain a decimal point
may or may not be significant.
24,300 km (3, 4, 5)
3. Exact numbers can be considered as having an unlimited number of
significant figures. This applies to defined quantities.
1 yard = 3 ft 1 in. = 2.54 cm (we do not apply sig. figures)
4. In addition and subtraction, the last digit retained in the sum or difference
is determined by the position of the first doubtful digit.
a. Add 37.24 mL and 10.3 mL b. Subtract 21.2342 g from
27.87 g
37.24 mL 27.87 g
+10.3 L - 21.2342 g
47.54 mL is reported as 47.5 mL 6.6358 g is reported
as 6.64 g
5. In multiplication and division, an answer contains no more significant
figures than the least number of significant figures used in the operation.
What is the area of a rectangle 1.23 cm wide and 12.34 cm long?
A = l x w = (12.34 cm)(1.23 cm) = 15.2 cm2

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Activity 4. SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
A. Identify how many significant figures each given quantity has
1. 0.000103 g
2. 398,000 mL
3. 26.7 m
4. 7.3200x103 g
5. 43.15 L
6. 3 gal
7. 2.00000 m
8. 634.009 L
9. 0.0723 g
10. 0.0088x10-5 m
11. 77.83 g + 233.672 g = 311.50 g
12. 16.2 m – 971.43 m = -955.2 m
13. 17.43 g / 3.21 g = 5.43 g
14. 4qt
15. 88.23 cm x 2.796 cm = 246.7 cm2

What is scientific notation?

Scientific notation (also referred to as standard form or standard index
form) is a way of expressing numbers in decimal form. Scientific notation was
developed in order to easily represent numbers that are either very large or very
small. In this way, very large or very small numbers can be represented in a
much simpler way
(any number between 1 and 10) x 10n

How to convert a Real or Raw number into a Scientific Notation?

1. Move the decimal place until you get a number between one and ten
(standard).
2. Count how many places you moved the decimal point. The number of places
would be the exponent of the ‘10’ in the scientific notation. If the decimal point
is moved to the right, then the power of ten would be negative, and positive
if it moved to the left.

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 9876543210.123456789

Example:
Convert 2 890 000 000 to scientific notation

Solution:
Step 1. Move the decimal place until you get a number between one and
ten.

Step 2. Count how many places you moved the decimal point. The
number of places would be the exponent of the ‘10’ in the scientific
notation. If the decimal point is moved to the right, then the power of ten
would be negative, and positive if it moved to the left.

Nine places to the left, therefore the resulting Scientific notation would be
2.89 x 109

The following examples are measurements of mass in milligram (mg)

that are expressed in scientific notation.
1. 45 000 = 4.5 x 104
2. 0.000 075 = 7.5 x 10-5
3. 0.000 251 = 2.51 x 10-4
4. 100 000 = 1 x 105

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Activity 5. SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

1. Convert the following numbers into scientific notation:

(a) 27 000 000 =
(b) 0.000 007 12 =
(c) 821 =
(d) 0.000 101 =
(e) 81 250 000 000 =
(f) 0.000 000 002 05 =

SUMMARY

• Measurement is simply a comparison with a standard. To carry out

accurate measurements, it is necessary to establish a system of
standards and a system of units in which to express the standards.
• Physical quantity is any number that is used to describe a physical
phenomenon quantitatively.
• Physical quantities may either be fundamental or derived. There are
seven fundamental quantities: length, mass, time, temperature,
luminous intensity, electric current, and amount of substance. Derived
quantities are defined in terms of fundamental quantities.
• For each fundamental quantity, there is fundamental unit. The
fundamental units in the International System of units are the meter,
kilogram, second, kelvin, candela, ampere, and mole.
• Significant figures (sig. figs) are those digits in a number or
measurement that are not being used and considered as place-values.
• Scientific notation (also referred to as standard form or standard index
form) is a way of expressing numbers in decimal form.

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Reflection:

1. I learned that

2. I enjoyed most on

3. I want to learn more on

_

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 Reference:

Silverio, Angelina A. Exploring Life Through Science: Physics:

Phoenix Publishing House, Inc., 2007.

Sears, Francis W., Zemansky, Mark M., and Young Hugh D.

College Physics, 7th Ed. New Yor: Addison-Wesley
Publishing Company, 1992.

Arevalo, Ryan L. General Physics 1: Diwa Learning System Inc., 2007.

Quexbook Appl General Physics 1

https://fode.
education.g
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https://www.
mathisfun.c
om

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