LESSON 01: Measurements of Units ▪ Apparatus for controlled

experiments became available.

Physics
• Fundamental Science Modern Physics
o Concerned with the fundamental • Began near the end of the 19th Century.
principles of the universe. • Phenomena that could not be explained by
o Foundation of other physical sciences. Classical Physics.
o Has the simplicity of fundamental • Includes theories of relativity and quantum
concepts. mechanics.

Physics Content: Special Relativity

• Classical Mechanics • Correctly describes motion of objects moving
• Relativity near the speed of light.
• Thermodynamics • Modifies the traditional concepts of space, time,
• Electromagnetism and energy.
• Optics • Shows the speed of light is the upper limit for the
• Quantum Mechanics speed of an object.
• Shows mass and energy are related.
Classical Physics
• Mechanics and Electromagnetism are basic to all Quantum Mechanics
other branches of classical and modern physics. • Formulated to describe physical phenomena at
o Classical Physics the atomic level.
▪ Developed before 1900 • Led to the development of many practical
▪ First part of text deals with devices.
Classical Mechanics.
• Also called Newtonian Measurements
Mechanics or • Used to describe natural phenomena.
Mechanics. • Each measurement is associated with a physical
o Modern Physics quantity.
▪ From about 1900 to the present. • Need defined standards.
• Characteristics of standards for measurements:
Objectives of Physics o Readily Accessible
• To find the limited number of fundamental laws o Possess some property that can be
that govern natural phenomena. measured reliably.
• To use these laws to develop theories that can o Must yield the same results when used by
predict the result of future experiments. anyone anywhere.
• Express the laws in the language of mathematics. o Cannot change with time.
o Mathematics provides the bridge
between theory and experiment. Standards of Fundamental Quantities
• Standardized Systems
Theory and Experiments o Agreed upon by some authority, usually
• Should complement each other. a governmental body.
• When discrepancy occurs, theory may be • SI – Systeme International
modified or new theories formulated. o Agreed to in 1960 by an international
o A theory may apply to limited conditions. committee.
▪ Ex: Newtonian Mechanics is o Main system used in this text.
confined to objects travelling
slowly with respect to the speed Fundamental Quantities and their Units
of light.
o Try to develop a more general theory. Quantity SI Unit
Length Meter
Classical Physics Overview Mass Kilogram
• Classical Physics includes principles in may Time Seconds
branches developed before 1900. Temperature Kelvin
o Mechanics Electric Current Ampere
▪ Major developments by Newton, Luminous Intensity Candela
and continuing through the Amount of Substance Mole
18th century.
o Thermodynamics, Optics, and Quantities Used in Mechanics
Electromagnetism
• In mechanics, three fundamental quantities are
▪ Developed in the latter part of
used:
the 19th century.
 o Length Prefix Abbreviation Power
o Mass Tera T 1x1012
o Time Giga G 1x109
• All other quantities in mechanics can be Mega M 1x106
expressed in terms of the three fundamental Kilo K 1x103
quantities. Deci d 1x10-1
Centi c 1x10-2
Length Milli m 1x10-3
• Length is the distance between two points in Micro μ 1x10-6
space. Nano n 1x10-9
• Units Pico p 1x10-12
o SI – Meter, m
• Defined in terms of meter – the distance traveled Fundamental and Derived Units
by light in a vacuum during a given time. • Derived quantities can be expressed as a
mathematical combination of fundamental
Mass quantities.
• Units o Ex:
o SI – Kilogram, Kg ▪ Area
• Defined in terms of a Kilogram – based on a • A product of two
specific cylinder kept at the International Bureau lengths.
of Standards. ▪ Speed
• A ratio of a length to a
Time time interval.
• Units ▪ Density
o Seconds, s • A ratio of mass to
• Defined in terms of oscillation of radiation from a volume.
cesium atom.
Model Building
Reasonableness of Results • A model is a system of physical components.
• When solving a problem, you need to check your o Useful when you cannot interact directly
answer to see if it seems reasonable. with the phenomenon.
• Reviewing the tables of approximate values for o Identifies the physical components.
length, mass, and time will help you test for o Makes predictions about the behavior of
reasonableness. the system.
▪ The predictions will be based on
Number Notation interactions among the
• When writing out numbers with many digits, components and / or
spacing in groups of three will be used. ▪ Based on the interactions
o No commas between the components and
o Standard International Notation the environment.
o Ex:
▪ 25 100 Models of Matter
▪ 5 123 456 789 12 • Some Greeks thought matter is made of atoms.
o No additional structure.
US Customary System • JJ Thompson (1897) found electrons and showed
• Still used in the US, but text will use SI. atoms has structure.
Quantity Unit • Rutherford (1911) determined a central nucleus
Length Foot surrounded by electrons.
Mass Slug
Time Second Models of Matter Content
• Nucleus has structure, containing protons and
Prefixes neutrons.
• Prefixes correspond to powers of 10. o Number of protons gives atomic number.
• Each prefix has a specific name and specific o Number of protons and neutrons gives
abbreviation. mass number
• The prefixes can be used with any basic units. • Protons and neutrons are made up of Quarks.
• They are multipliers of the basic unit.
o Ex: Models of Matter Final
▪ 1mm = 10-3 m • Quarks
▪ 1mg = 10-3 g o Six Varieties
 ▪ Up, Down, Strange, Charmed, o Ex. Lengths may be x,y,z,r,d,h, etc.
Bottom, Top. • The dimensions will be given with a capitalized,
o Fractional Electrons Charges non-italic letter.
▪ +2/3 of a proton • The algebraic symbol will be italicized.
• Up, Charmed, Top
▪ 1/3 of a proton Conversion of Units
• Down, Strange, Bottom • When units are not consistent, you may need to
convert appropriate ones.
Modeling Technique • Units can be treated like algebraic quantities that
• An important problem-solving technique is to can cancel each other out.
build a model for a problem.
o Identify a system of physical components Conversion
for the problem. • Always include units for every quantity, you can
o Make predictions of the behavior of the carry the units through the entire calculation.
system based on the interactions among o Will help detect possible errors.
the components and/or the components • Multiply original value by a ratio equal to one.
and the environment. o Ex.
▪ 15.0in to cm
Basic Quantities and Their Dimension 15.0𝑖𝑛 2.54𝑐𝑚
▪ ( 1 ) ( 1𝑖𝑛 ) = 38.1𝑐𝑚
• Dimension has a specific meaning – it denotes
the physical nature of a quantity. ▪ Note the value inside
• Dimensions are often denoted with square parentheses is equal to 1, since 1
brackets []. inch is defined as 2.54cm.
o Length [L]
o Mass [M] Order of Magnitude
o Time [T] • Approximation based on a number of
assumptions.
Dimensions and Units o May need to modify assumptions if more
• Each dimension can have many actual units. precise results are needed.
Quantity Area Vol Speed Acceleration • The order of magnitude is the power of 10 that
(A) (V) (v) (a) applies.
Dimensions L2 L3 L/T L/T2
SI Units M2 M3 m/s m/s2 Order of Magnitude – Process
US Ft2 Ft3 Ft/s Ft/s2 • Estimate a number and express it in scientific
Customary notation.
Codes o The multiplier of the power of 10 needs
to be between 1 and 10.
Dimensional Analysis • Compare the multiplier to 3.162 (√10)
• Technique to check the correctness of an o If the remainder is less than 3.162, the
equation or to assist in deriving an equation. order of magnitude is the power of 10 in
• Dimensions (length, mass, time, combinations) the scientific notation.
can be treated as algebraic quantities. o If the remainder is greater than 3.162, the
o Add, subtract, multiply, divide order of magnitude is one more than the
power of 10 in the scientific notation.
• Both sides of equation must have the same
dimensions.
Using Order of Magnitude
• Any relationship can be correct only if the
• Estimating too high for one number is often
dimensions on both sides of the equation are the
canceled by estimating too low for another
same.
number.
• Cannot give numerical factors: this is its limitation. o The resulting order of magnitude is
generally reliable within about a factor of
Dimensional Analysis to determine a Power Law 10.
• Determine powers in a proportionality. • Working the problem allows you to drop digits,
make reasonable approximations and simplify
Symbols approximations.
• The symbol used in an equation is not necessarily • With practice, your results will become better and
the symbol used for its dimension. better.
• Some quantities have one symbol used
consistently. Uncertainty in Measurements
o Ex. Time is t virtually all the time. • There is uncertainty in every measurement – this
• Some quantities have many symbols used, uncertainty carries over through the calculations.
depending upon the specific situation.
 o May be due to the apparatus, the • For multiplying and dividing, the number of
experimenter, and/or the number of significant figures is the important consideration.
measurements made.
o Need a technique to account for this Significant Figures in the Text
uncertainty. • Most of the numerical examples and end-of-
• We will use rules for significant figures to chapter problems will yield answers having three
approximate the uncertainty in results of significant figures.
calculations. • When estimating a calculation, typically work
with one significant figure.
Significant Figures
• A significant figure is one that is reliably known. Rounding
• Zeros may or may not be significant. • Last retained digit is increased by 1 if the last digit
o Those used to position the decimal point dropped is greater than 5.
are not significant. • Last retained digit remains as it is if the last digit is
o To remove ambiguity, use scientific less than 5.
notation. • If the last digit dropped is equal to 5, the retained
• In a measurement, the significant figures include digit should be rounded to the nearest even
the 1st estimated digit. number.
• Saving rounding until the final result will help
Significant Figures – Examples eliminate accumulation of errors.
• 0.0075m has 2 significant figures. • It is useful to perform the solution in algebraic
o Leading zeros are placeholders. form and wait until the end to enter numerical
o Re-write this in Scientific notation to values.
show more clearly: 7.5x10-3m for 2 sig.fig. o This saves keystrokes as well as minimizes
• 10.0m has 3 significant figures. rounding.
o The decimal point gives information
about the reliability of the measurement.
• 1500m is ambiguous
o Use 1.5x103m for 2 sig.fig.
o Use 1.50x103m for 3 sig.fig
o Use 1.500x103m for 4 sig.fig.

Operations with Significant Figures – Multiplying or

Dividing.
• When multiplying or dividing several quantities,
the number of significant figures in the final
answer is the same as the number of significant
figures in the quantity having the smallest
number of significant figures.
o Ex.
▪ 25.57m x 2.45m = 62.6 m2
• The 2.45m limits your
result to 3 significant
figures.

Operations with Significant Figures – Adding or

Subtracting
• When adding or subtracting, the number of
decimal places in the result should equal the
smallest number of decimal places in any term in
the sum or difference,
o Ex,
▪ 135cm + 3.25cm = 138cm
▪ The 135cm limits your answer to
the units decimal value.

Operations with Significant Figures – Summary

• The rule for addition and subtraction are different
than the rule for multiplication and division.
• For adding and subtracting, the number of
decimal places is the important consideration.