BIOPHYSICS

MIDTERM: LECTURE
Lecture 1: Units and Physical Quantities
Fundamental Physical Quantities
Learning Outcomes
International System (SI) Base Quantities and
 Describe physical quantities and state Units
their importance in studying physical
phenomena; SI Base Quantity Base Unit
 Convert measured values from one Name Symbol Name Symbol
unit to another unit; time t second s
 Express measured values in scientific length l, x, d, r meter m
notation; mass m kilogram kg
 Recognize the importance of
significant figures. electric I, i ampere A
current
 Apply dimensional analysis to
determine whether an equation is
thermo- T kelvin K
dimensionally consistent or not,
dynamic
 Determine the dimension of a variable
temperature
or constant in an equation using
amount of n mole mol
dimensional analysis.
substance
luminous lv candela cd
What is Physics?
intensity
 Branch of science devoted to
understanding the Universe;
Derived Physical Quantities
 The study of all natural phenomena
 Quantites that are defined in terms of
ranging from the macroscopic scale
the fundamental quantities.
(i.e. galaxies, stars, planets) to the
microscopic scale (i.e. atoms, and
elementary particles); Derived Si Unit Unit Symbol
Quantity
 Fundamental of all branch of sciences,
area square m2
and the foundation of all engineering
meter
and technology;
velocity meter per m/s
 An experimental science.
second
Physical Quantity force newton N = kg m/s2
 A physical quantity is any number that current density ampere A/m2
is used to describe a physical per square
phenomenon quantitatively. It is meter
defined by specifying how it is
measured, or how it is calculated from
other quantities.
Other System Units
Example: Temperature
Bristish System
Quantity British Definition in Terms
T = 273.15 K System
Unit
of Corressponding
SI Unit
Length inch (in) 1 in = 2.54 x 10-2 m
Time second
Physical Quantity Magnitude Unit (s)
Mass slug 1 slug =14.5939 kg
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MIDTERM: LECTURE

 1 microgram (µg) = 106 g

CGS System  1 millisecond (ms) = 10-3 seconds (s)
Qu B Defini
ant ri tion in Some conversion factors
ity tis Terms  1 in = 2.54 cm
h of  1 m = 102 cm = 3.281 ft 1
S Corre  kg = 103 g = 0.0685 slug
ys sspon  1 newton (N) = 105 dyne (dyn) =
te ding
0.2248 pounds (lbs)
m SI
 1 mile = 1.609 km = 5280 ft
U Unit
ni  1 minute = 60 seconds
t  1 hr = 60 minutes = 3600 s
Le in 1 cm =  1 year = 365.25 days
ngt ch 10-2 m
h (i Example 1
n) (a) How many inches are ther in 2.00 km?
Ti se Solution:
me co Relevant conversion factors :
nd (i) 1 km = 103m,
(s (ii) 1 in = 2.54 x 10-2 m
)

( )
3
Ma gr 1 g = 10
ss a 10-3 kg 2.00 km × ×¿
1 km
m
(g 4
) ¿ 78740∨7.87× 10 ∈¿

Conversion of Units (b) The magnitude of acceleration due to

Prefixes for Powers of 10 gravity at the earth’s surface is 9.81 m/s2 . What
Power of Prefix Abbreviation Pronunciation cm
10 is this value in 2?
hr
10-24 yocto- y yoc-toe
10-21 zepto- z zep-toe m
10 -18
atto- a at-toe 2 9.81 2
׿
10-15 femto- f fem-toe s
10-12 pico- p pee-koe 10
10-9 nano- n nan-oe ¿ 1.27 x 10 cm/hr
10-6 micro- µ my-crow
10-3 milli- m mil-i Scientific Notation
10-2 centi c cen-ti
103 kilo- k kil-oe
106 mega- M meg-a
109 giga- G jig-a or gig-a
1012 tera- T ter-a
1015 peta- P pet-a Further Examples:
1018 exa- E ex-a  420 000 = 4.2 x 105
1021 zetta- Z zet-a  0.000000970 = 9.70 x 10-7
1024 yotta- Y- yot-a  302 = 3.02 x 10

Steps:
Examples :
 1 kilometer (km)=103 meters (m)
 BIOPHYSICS
MIDTERM: LECTURE

 Identify the original location of the

decimal point.
 If the number is greater than one,
move the decimal point to the left and
place it before the leftmost nonzero
digit
 If the is less than one, move the
decimal point to the right, and place it
after the nonzero digit.
 Find the exponent by determining the
number of pplace from its original
position.
 The sign of the exponent is positive if
the places are converted off to the left
 Negative if the places are converted
off to the right

65000000. = 6.50x 107 0.0000055= 5.5 x 10-6

Accuracy, Precision, Uncertainty

Uncertainty – range in which the actual value

of a measured quantity lies within. It depends
on several factors such as: