Scribd
Upload
238 views14 pages

PHY111 Unit and Dimension

This document provides information about a physics course titled "Mechanics and Properties of Matter" with course code PHY111. The objectives of the course are to help students understand fundamental and derived units as well as the concept of dimension as algebraic quantities. It discusses the International System of Units (SI units) including fundamental units like meters, kilograms, and seconds. It also covers derived units, SI prefixes, dimensional analysis, and provides two assignment questions involving units and dimensions.

Uploaded by

Oluwaferanmi Ogunleye
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
238 views14 pages

PHY111 Unit and Dimension

This document provides information about a physics course titled "Mechanics and Properties of Matter" with course code PHY111. The objectives of the course are to help students understand fundamental and derived units as well as the concept of dimension as algebraic quantities. It discusses the International System of Units (SI units) including fundamental units like meters, kilograms, and seconds. It also covers derived units, SI prefixes, dimensional analysis, and provides two assignment questions involving units and dimensions.

Uploaded by

Oluwaferanmi Ogunleye
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 14

COURSE TITLE: MECHANICS AND PROPERTIES OF

MATTER
COURSE CODE: PHY111 (2 UNITS)
Introduction
Physics is the science that deals mainly with the
description of matter, energy, space and times as
they affect the universe. Physics attempt to find the
most basic laws that govern these occurrences and
express these laws in the most precise and
simplified way possible.

Objectives: To help the students understand the


concept of (a) Fundamental/ basic units, and derived
units. (b) The concept of dimension as algebraic
quantities.
UNITS
Unit indicates the standard used in the
measurement of a parameter.

The Metric system is the most acceptable


international form of unit. It is based on powers of ten
and referred to as the SI units (Systeme International
d’Unites in French).
We have two types of unit; fundamental basic units
and the derived units.

Fundamental Units are those units taken as


independent, that do not depend on one another.
The SI fundamental units used in mechanics are
meter (m) for length, kilogram (kg) for mass and
second (s) for time. For electrical current the base
unit is ampere (A), for Temperature Kelvin (K), for
amounts of matters (mol), for luminous intensity
candela (cd).

Derived units are formulated from combinations of


the basic units.
Example: Unit of velocity = ms-1
Unit of volume = (Unit of length) 3 = m3
Rules on Applications of SI Units
1. When spelling out a unit in full small letters are
used. The symbols are also small letters except
when a unit is named after a scientist.

2. The letter “s” is not attached to a symbol when the


numerical value of a measurement is plural; but it
can be attached if the unit is spelt out fully.

Classwork
1. Derive the units for the following (a) force (b) work
(c) power
The equation for the velocity V, in a gas
states that

V=
γkbT
m
v is velocity, ɣ is a constant, T is
temperature in Kelvin (K), m is mass. What
is the unit of the Boltzmann constant kb.?
SI Prefixes
Prefix(abbre Multiplying Example

viation) Factor
tera (T)
1012 Freq. of mid. infra red waves 10THz (tera

Hertz)

giga (G) 109 Memory of computer 37.2GB (giga bytes)

mega (M) 106 Capacity of a diskette 1.44MB (mega byte)

Kilo (k) 103 Power consumed by an electric iron (kilo

watt)

deci (d) 10-1 Length of a ruler 3dm (decimeter)


centi (c) 10-2 Length of a ruler 30cm (centimeter)

milli (m) 10-3 Period of a sound wav 1ms (milli second)

micro (μ) 10-6 Leakage current in diode 3.5 μm (micro

amp)

nano (n) 10-9 Wavelength of UV-B radiation 220nm

(nanometer)

pico (p) 10-12 Capacitance of a capacitor 4.7pf

(picofarad)

femto (f) 10-15 Energy of an X-ray photon 1fJ (femto joule)


Classwork
1. A chain of micro organisms each of 12 μm in
length formed on a river, if the length of the chain is
0.60km, what is the maximum number of organisms
that can be found in the chain.
2. A task was accomplished within 3.2 x10-6 year.
Express the time taken in minutes and seconds.
Solution
0.60 10 60
3

6
 10  5 10
7 7

12 10 12
3.2 x10-6year = 0.0000032 x 365days x 24hours x 60min
= 1.68 min
= 0.0000032 x 365days x 24hours x 60mins x 60mins
= 100.9 s
DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS
Dimensions are algebraic quantities of the same
basic unit which can be converted one to another.
Mass [M], Length [L], time [S], Ampere [A]
Example: Dimension for area is L2, volume is L3,
density is ML-3, and speed is LT-1
Classwork
1. Derive the dimensions for the following (a)
acceleration (b) force (c) work (d) power.
2. Determine the values of the indices x, y and z in
the relation T = kax ρy γz , where T is the period of
vibration of a string, a is the radius, ρ is the density
and γ is the surface tension which is force per unit
length.
work
Power 
time
Work = Force x distance = mass x acceleration x
distance length
Work = Force x distance = mass x time2 x length

Power = mass x (length)2. (time)-3


= M(L2)T-3
Solution to 2:
T the period has dimension of time = T
k is a constant and has no dimension
a the radius has dimension of length = L
dimension of density, ρ = M.L-3
γ the surface tension has dimension of force per
unit length = MLT-2L-1 = M.T-2
Equate the indices of M, L, and T on both sides,
both M and L must cancel out on the right side
leaving only T.
T = kax ρy γz
Equating the dimensions, we have
T = (L)x.(ML-3)y.(MT-2)z
= Lx . My . L-3y . Mz . T-2z
Equating the indices of M , L, and T on both sides
0=y+z . . . (1)
0 = x – 3y . . . (2)
1 = -2z . . . (3)
From equation (3),
z= -1/2
Plug z = -1/2 into equation (1),
y = 1/2
Plug y = 1/2 into equation (2),
x = 3/2 3
Thus, aρ
T = k a3/2 ρ1/2 γ-1/2 = k(a3 ρ γ-1)1/2 = k γ
ASSIGNMENT 1
1. Using unit and dimension, determine x, y, z in the
expression v =kηxry(P/L)z where v is the volume
of liquid passing per second, η (in Pa. s) is the
viscosity of liquid, r is the radius of the pipe, P is
pressure difference and L is the length of the
pipe.
2. The Force between two wires 1, 2, length 1
metres separated a distance d metres and carrying
currents I1, I2 amperes is given by F  kI1 I 2
d
Find (i) the units of the constant k (ii) dimension of k

You might also like