Physics

Unit and Dimension

PHYSICAL WORLD

What is Physics ?
Wonderful description given by Feynman that physics is "understanding the
nature".

Physics is study of nature and its laws.

PHYSICAL QUANTITIES

All the quantities which are used to define the laws of nature are called
PHYSICAL QUANTITIES.

Magnitude of a physical quantity = (Its Numerical value) (unit) = (n) (u)

Example 10 kg

| |
5 meter

Magnitude of a physical quantity always remains constant, it will not

change if we express it in some other unit.
Classification on the Basis of Dependency

FUNDAMENTAL

Independent of each other

PHYSICAL
QUANTITIES

DERIVED

Dependent on fundamental quantities

Fundamental or Base Quantities
The quantities which do not depend upon other quantities for their
complete definition are known as fundamental or base quantities.
(In S.I. System)
Fundamental or Base Quantities
1. MASS

2. LENGTH

3. TIME

4. TEMPERATURE

5. CURRENT

6. LUMINOUS INTENSITY

7. AMOUNT OF SUBSTANCE
Derived Quantities
Physical quantities which depend upon fundamental quantities, or
which can be derived from fundamental quantities are known as
derived quantities.

Example

Volume

Force
UNITS OF PHYSICAL QUANTITIES

All physical quantities are measured w.r.t. standard magnitude of the

same physical quantity and these standards are called UNITS.

Example
Second, meter, kilogram, etc.
Properties of Units

They must be well defined.

They should be easily available.

They should be invariable.

They should be accepted by all.

 System of Units

FPS CGS MKS

Foot Centimeter Meter

Pound Gram Kilogram
Second Second Second
 International System of Units (SI)
MASS kilogram kg

LENGTH metre m MKS

TIME second s

TEMPERATURE kelvin K

CURRENT ampere A
ADDITIONAL
LUMINOUS INTENSITY candela cd

AMOUNT OF SUBSTANCE mole mol

PLANE ANGLE radian rad

SUPPLEMENTARY
SOLID ANGLE steradian sr
FUNDAMENTAL OR BASE QUANTITIES

The units of fundamental quantities are called base units.

MASS kilogram kg

LENGTH metre m

TIME second s

TEMPERATURE Kelvin K

CURRENT Ampere A

LUMINOUS INTENSITY candela cd

AMOUNT OF SUBSTANCE mole mol

DERIVED UNITS
The units of derived quantities or the units that can be expressed in terms of
the base units are called derived units.

SPEED

FORCE

DENSITY
SUPPLEMENTARY UNITS

Plane Angle
Plane angle θ is defined as the ratio of length of arc to the radius.

Arc l
θ= =
Radius r

radian

2π = 360°
SUPPLEMENTARY UNITS
Solid Angle
Solid angle Ω is defined as the ratio of the intercepted area A of the spherical surface,
described about the apex O as the center, to the square of its radius r.

Area A
Ω= 2
=
Radius r2

steradian(sr)
Dimensions

Dimensions of a physical quantity are the powers to which the fundamental

quantities must be raised to represent the given physical quantity.

MASS M

LENGTH L

TIME T

TEMPERATURE K

CURRENT A

LUMINOUS INTENSITY Cd

AMOUNT OF SUBSTANCE Mol

Dimensional Formula
The dimensional formula of any physical quantity is that expression which
represents how and which of the base quantities are included in that quantity.

It is written by enclosing the symbols for base quantities with appropriate

powers in square brackets.

MASS [M1L0T0]

MOMENTUM [M1L1T-1]
FORCE [M1L1T-2]
Dimensional Equation
The equation obtained by equating a physical quantity with its dimensional
formula is called a dimensional equation.

Example

[MASS] = [M1L0T0] is a Dimensional Equation.

Dimensional Formula

MASS [M1L0T0]

LENGTH [M0L1T0]

TIME [M0L0T1]

TEMPERATURE [M0L0T0K1]

CURRENT [M0L0T0A1]

LUMINOUS INTENSITY [M0L0T0Cd1]

AMOUNT OF SUBSTANCE [M0L0T0mol1]

 Example Write dimensional formula of –
(a) Momentum (b) Torque
(c) Gravitational constant (d) Kinetic energy

Solution

Ans. (a) [MLT −1 ]

(b) [ML2 T −2 ]
(c) [M−1 L3 T −2 ]
(d) [ML2 T −2 ]
Dimensions of Some Physical Quantities
Quantity Dimensions
Displacement [L]
Mass [M]
Time [T]
Area [L2]
Volume [L3]
Density [ML-3]
Velocity [LT-1]
Acceleration [LT-2]
Force [MLT-2]
Work [ML2T-2]
Energy [ML2T-2]
Power [ML2T-3]
Momentum [MLT-1]
Gravitational Constant [M-1L3T-2]
Angle [M0L0T0]
Angular Velocity [T-1]
Angular acceleration [T-2]
Dimensionless Quantities
Dimensionless Quantities are:

Ratio of physical quantities with same dimensions.

All mathematical constants.

All standard mathematical functions and their inputs

(exponential, logarithmic, trigonometric).
Applications of Dimensional Analysis
1. Principle of Homogeneity
If in a given relation, terms on both the sides have the same dimensions,
then the relation is dimensionally correct.

This is known as the Principle of Homogeneity of Dimensions.

Example

A + B = C ⇒ [A] = [B] = [C]

According to this principle only same physical quantities can added or
subtracted.
 Example If dimension of A and B are different, the which of the following operations is
valid ?
A
(a) A + B (b) A – B (c) e−A/B (d) B
Solution

Ans. (C,D)
Applications of Dimensional Analysis
2. To find the dimensions of unknown physical quantities
 Example Displacement of car depends on time t as x = Pt 4 + Qt 2 + Rt + S . Find the
dimensions of P, Q, R, S.

Solution

Ans. (P) [LT −4 ]

(Q) [LT −2 ]
(R) [LT −1 ]
(S) [L]
 Example If relation between velocity and time is given by V = at + b
c+t
Find the dimensions of constants a, b and c .

Solution

Ans. [a] = [LT −2 ]

[b] = [L]
[c] = [T ]
 Example The force is given in terms of time t and displacement x by the equation
F = A cos Bx + C sin Dt
AD
The dimensional formula of is.
B

(a) [M0LT–1] (b) [ML2T–3] (c) [M1L1T–1] (d) [M2L2T–3]

Solution

Ans. (b)
 Example In a book, the answer for a particular question is expressed as 𝑏 =
𝑚𝑎 2𝑘𝓁
1 + 𝑚𝑎
𝑘

here m represents mass, a represents acceleration 𝓁, represents length. The unit of b

should be –
(a) m/s (b) m/s2 (c) meter (d) /sec
Solution

Ans. (c)
 γv2
Example If F
v2
=
α
t2
sin
βt
x
+ log
x
then find the dimensions of 𝛼,𝛽 and 𝛾 if symbols

have their respective meaning (v is velocity).

Solution

Ans. [α] = M1 L−1 T 2

[β] = [LT −1 ]
[γ] = [L−1 T 2 ]
Applications of Dimensional Analysis
3. To check the correctness of a given equation
 Example Check whether this equation F = m𝜔2R is dimensionally correct or not.
Where:
F = force ω = angular speed
m = Mass R = radius
Solution

Ans. (Correct)
 Example
F⊥
Check whether this equation P = is dimensionally correct or not.
A
Where:
P = Pressure A = Area
F = Force
Solution

Ans. (Correct)
 Example Check whether this equation H = 𝑟𝜌𝑔 is dimensionally correct or not.
2S cosθ
Where:
F
H = Height S = Surface Tension =
L
R = Radius R = Radius
r = density g = Acceleration due to gravity
Solution

Ans. (Incorrect)
Note

If equation is correct, then it must be dimensionally correct but vice versa

is not always true.

Example

(a) v = u + 2at

(b) KE = 4mv2
Applications of Dimensional Analysis
4. To find the relation between unknown physical quantities
 Example If acceleration, time and pressure were chosen as fundamental quantities, find
the dimensions of mass.

Solution

Ans. M = K[at −4 P]
 Example The heat produced in a wire carrying an electric current depends on the current,
the resistance and the time. Assuming that the dependence is of the product of
powers type, guess an equation between these quantities using dimensional
analysis. The dimensional formula of resistance is [ML2 A−2 T −3] and heat is a
form of energy.
Solution
Solution

Ans. (H = kA2 Rt)

 Example It is known that the time of revolution T of a satellite around the earth depends
on the universal gravitational constant G, the mass of the earth M, and the
radius of the circular orbit R. Obtain an expression for T using dimensional
analysis.
Solution
Solution

R3
Ans. T = K GM
Applications of Dimensional Analysis
5. To convert a physical quantity from one system of units into another:
Applications of Dimensional Formula

To convert a physical quantity from one system of units to other:

This is based on the fact that magnitude of a physical quantity remains

same whatever system is used for measurement.

To convert a physical quantity from one system of units to other:

n1u1 = n2u2
 Example Find the value of 1 N in CGS system.

Solution

Ans. (105 dyne)

 Example Young's modulus of steel is 19 × 1010 N/m2. Express it in dyne/cm2. Here
dyne is the CGS unit of force.

Solution

Ans. (19 × 1011 dyne/cm2

 Example Density of wood is 0.5 g/cc in the CGS system of units. The corresponding value
in MKS units is –
(a) 500 (b) 5 (c) 0.5 (d) 5000
Solution

Ans. (a)
 Example The surface tension of water is 72 dyne/cm. Convert it in SI unit.

Solution

Ans. 0.072 N/m

Important point

Different physical quantities may have some dimensions.

Example Impulse and momentum, torque and work

Dimensionless quantities may have the units but unitless quantities does not
have dimensions.
Speed of light in vaccum c
Example Refractive index (μ) = =
Speed of light in medium V

If equation is dimensionally correct then it may be correct but if equation is

dimensionally incorrect then it must be incorrect.
Limitations of Dimensional Analysis
In Mechanics the formula for a physical quantity depending on more than three
physical quantities cannot be derived. It can only be checked.

This method can be used only if the dependency is of multiplication type.

The formulae containing exponential, trigonometrical and logarithmic

functions cannot be derived using this method.

The relation derived from this method gives no information about the
dimensionless constants.

If dimensions are given, physical quantity may not be unique as many physical
quantities have the same dimensions.
APPROXIMATION
Binomial Approximation

n
1±x ≈ 1 ± nx

When

x <<< 1
 Example Find
a 1.0001 3
b (0.9998)2 c 103
Solution
Small Angle Approximation

If θ is small say < 10°

then, we can approximate :

sin θ ≈ θ

H
tan θ ≈ θ 𝛉 P
B
Here θ must be in radians.
cos θ ≈ 1
 Example Find sin 3° :

Solution

𝜋
Ans. 60
 Example Find 2sin 3°cos2° :

Solution

𝜋
Ans. 30