MEASUREMENT

Physics is a science. Science works according to the scientific method. The scientific method accepts
only reason, logic, and experimental evidence to tell between what is scientifically correct and what is
not. Scientists do not simply believe – they test, and keep testing until satisfied.

- Natural philosophy whose aim is the discovery & formulation of the fundamental laws of Nature.
-Science of Matter motion and energy.

Typical branches

a). Classical Mechanics, which deals with the motion of bodies under the action of forces. This is often
called Newtonian mechanics as well.

b). Electromagnetism, whose objective is to study how charges behave under the influence of electric
and magnetic fields as well as understand how charges can create these fields.

c). Thermal Physics, in which one studies the nature of heat and the changes that the addition of heat
brings about in matter.

d). Quantum Mechanics, which primarily deals with the physics of small objects such as atoms, nuclei,
quarks, etc. However, Quantum Mechanics will be treated only briefly for lack of time.
 FORMULATION & SCIENTIFIC METHOD of the fundamental laws of Nature

Physics involves experiments to support, refute or validate a hypothesis or a theory. These experiments
require measurement. Measurement is the process of comparing something with a standard. To carry
out measurements, a system of standards and a system of units should be defined.

Unit- Standard measure of a quantity

Measure- Quantity capacity or weight compared to a designated standard

All through time there are two system of units that have evolved: METRIC system and the English
System. The metric system have the mks system (meter kilogram second system) and the cgs system
(centimeter gram second system). The English system having the fps system ( feet pound second
system).

The international System of Units abbreviated SI from the French Le Systeme International d’Unites,
and known as the Modern form of Metric System. It is the system of units that the General Conference
on Weights and Measures has agreed upon and is legally enforced in almost all parts of the world

7 Basic FUNDAMENTAL units in Physics - independent on one another.

A. MASS - grams, pounds, tons, ounce

One kilogram is the mass of the standard platinum-iridium cylinder kept at the International
Bureau of Weights and Measures in France
B. LENGTH - meter, feet, yard, either can be width height distance
One meter is the distance traveled by light in a vacuum during a time interval of 1/299792458 of
a second

C. TIME - seconds, hour minutes

One second is the duration of 9192631770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the
transition between two hyperfine levels of the ground state of cesium-133 atoms
D. TEMPERATURE, Celsius, Fahrenheit , rankine, kelvin
One kelvin is the fraction 1/273.15 if the triple point of water
E. ELECTRIC CURRENT Ampere
One ampere is the constant current flowing in each of two long parallel wires, 1.0m apart, that
would produce between these wires a force equal to 2x10^-7 newton per meter of length of
each wire
F. LUMINOUS INTENSITY candela
 One candela is the luminous intensity in a given direction of a source that emits a
monochromatic radiation of frequency 540x10^12 Hz that has a radiant intensity in that
direction of 1/683 watts per steradian
G. AMOUNT OF SUBSTANCE molecules
One mole is the amount of substance that contains as many atoms or molecules as there are
atoms in 0.012 kg of carbon-12

Every physical quantity can be expressed in terms of three fundamental dimensions: Mass (M), Length
(L), Time (T). Some examples:

You cannot add quantities that have different dimensions. So force can be added to force, but
force can never be added to energy, etc. A formula is definitely wrong if the dimensions on the left and
right sides of the equal sign are different.

DERIVED UNITS- UNITS DERIVED FROM THE 7 BASE UNITS

DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS- DENOTES THE PHYSICAL NATURE OF A QUANTITY.
-CAN GIVE YOU THE NUMERICAL VALUE OF CONSTRAINTS OF PROPORTINALIITY THAT MAY APPEAR
IN ALGEBRAIC EQUATION.

MATTER AND MODEL BUILDING –Directly interacting with said phenomenon, if cannot interact directly
a model is made. Either Coordinate system or Cartesian coordinate system.

EXERCISE:

1. Fill in the Table of Measurement, Unit and Dimensional analysis

GIVEN MEASURMENT UNIT DIMENSIONAL QUANTITY
a. 9.81 N
b. 50 km/s
c. 50 miles / hr
d. 50 hr/ miles
e. 250 kN∙m
f. 40 kg/m3
g. 10 lb/ft3
h. The Speed of light ( use
scientific notation)
i. 1 light Year
j. 50 liter
k. 2 gallon
l. 200 ft/min
m. 500 lbm
n. 14.696 Psi
o. 10 dyne
p. 5.8 atm
 2. Determine which of the following equation is dimensionally consistent
x is distance
v is velocity
t is time
a is acceleration
θ is angle

EXERCISE:

3. Convert the following

a. 3.4 m into cm d. 36000s to hr
b. 10 kg to g e. 500 in to ft
c. 200 s to min f. 2 nm to m
4. Convert the following into cgs system and mks system
a. 9.81 N i. 1 light Year
b. 50 km/s j. 50 liter
c. 50 miles / hr k. 2 gallon
d. 50 hr/ miles l. 200 ft/min
e. 250 kN∙m
m. 500 lb
f. 40 kg/m3
n. 14.696 Psi
g. 10 lbm/ft3
o. 10 dyne
h. The Speed of light ( use
p. 5.8 atm
scientific notation)

.
 Scientific notation- a convenient and widely
used method of expressing large and small
numbers Any quantity may be expressed in the
form of a value x 10n where any value is raised
to any number to the power of 10. (value
usually ranges between 1 to 10)

EXERCISE

5. Convert the following to non prefix metric system and use scientific notation
a. 9.81 MN i. 1 light Year
b. 50 km/s j. 3000 ft/min
c. 50 miles / hr k. 500 lb
d. 50 hr/ miles l. 28.92x103 Psi
e. 250 kN∙m
m. 10 dyne
f. 40 kg/cm3
n. 5.8 atm
g. 10 klb/ft3
h. The Speed of light ( use
scientific notation)

6. A 20 km long, 8 m wide, two-lane highway is to be paved with a 4 cm thick layer of

asphalt. A fleet of three dump trucks is to be employed, each with an empty mass of
20 metric tons and a carrying capacity of 20 m3. Asphalt with a density of 0.72 g/cm3
will be used. Determine…
a. the total volume of asphalt needed
b. the gross mass of each truck
c. the number of dump truck load required

ACCURACY- refers to the closeness of a measured value to the expected or true value of a physical
quantity

PRECISION represents how close or consistent the independent measurements of the same quantity are
to one another.
Having Precision and Accuracy or comparison to a certain value, Errors can be taken or can occur
whenever Accuracy and precision is accounted.

Random Errors – Result from unpredictable or inevitable changes during data measurement. These
errors may be reduced by increasing the number of trials of a measurement and averaging out the
results.

While Systematic errors, on the other hand usually come from the measuring instrument or in the
design of the experiment itself. These errors limit the accuracy of results.

Percent error can be calculated = (value – true value)/(true value) *100

percentage error or percent error usually considered in judging the accuracy of a measurement

Percent Difference is a measure of how far apart the different measured values are from each other,
and therefore the indication of precision.

Percent difference or percentage difference can be calculate =| (value1 – value2)/ (average of 2

value)|*100

EXERCISE:

1. Two trials were performed in an experiment to determine the latent heat of vaporization (Lv) f
water at 1000C. The value of Lv of water obtained were 532 cal/g and 536 cal/g. Find the Percent
difference between the two values? And if the correct value for latent heat is 530 determine
the accuracy or percent error of the two?
2. The class discusses the dimensions of a computer monitor’s size. The length of the diagonal of
the screen tells the screen’s size. Before discussion, select three students to measure the
diagonal of a 15-inch screen (in inches) using a ruler. A sample list of each student’s
measurement is recorded in a list below.

Determine the Percentage error and Percentage Difference of each student.

Video for measurement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cryvZJ0KNqk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAtDAoqdExw