Units and Measurement

Physical quantities:
The quantities which can be measured accurately are called physical quantities.
Physical quantities are of two types, fundamental and derived.
1. Fundamental quantities: The physical quantities which are measured independently are called
fundamental quantities.
Ex: Mass, length, time
2. Derived quantities: The physical quantities which are derived from fundamental quantities are called
derived quantities.
Ex: Area, volume, force, pressure, etc…

Measurement: The measurement of a physical quantity is the process of comparing the given quantity with a
standard amount of the physical quantity of the same kind, called its unit.
(Measure of a physical quantity) = (numerical value of the physical quantity) x (size of the unit)
Ex: length of a room = 5m. Here, length of the room is 5 times m where, m is the standard length.

Physical unit: The standard amount of a physical quantity chosen to measure the physical quantity of the
same kind is called physical unit.
There are two types of units, fundamental and derived units.
1. Fundamental or base units: They are the units independent of each other.
The units of fundamental quantities such as mass, length etc are called fundamental units.
Ex: Metre, kilogram, second.
2. Derived units: All the physical units which are obtained from fundamental units are called derived
units.
Ex: Area→m2, acceleration→m/s2

System of units: A complete set of units which are used to measure all kinds of fundamental and derived
quantities is called a system of units.
Some of the commonly used systems of units are as follows.
1. CGS system: It is based on centimetre, gram and second as the fundamental units of length,mass and
time respectively.
2. FPS system: It is based on foot, pound and second as the fundamental units of length, mass and time
respectively.
3. MKS system: it is based on metre, kilogram and second as the fundamental units of length, mass and
time respectively.
SI system (The International System of Units):
SI is the abbreviation for “System International of units”. It is modernized and extended form of the metric
systems like CGS and MKS systems. SI system is based on the following seven basic units and two
supplementary units.
Fundamental quantities and their units in SI System:
S.No Fundamental Basic Symbol S.no Supplementary quantity Basic unit Symbol
quantity unit
1. Length Metre M 1. Plane angle radian Rad

2. Mass kilogram Kg 2. Solid angle steradian Sr

3. Time Second S
4. Temperature Kelvin K
5. Electric current ampere A
6. Luminous Intensity candela Cd
7. Quantity of matter Mole Mol
Abbreviations in powers of ten:
When the magnitudes of physical quantities are very large or very small, it is convenient to express them in
the multiples or submultiples of the SI units as shown below.
Prefix Symbol Sub multiple Prefix Symbol
Multiple
101 deca da 10-1 deci d
2 -2
10 hecto h 10 centi c
3 -3
10 Kilo k 10 milli m
106 mega M 10-6 micro 
109 giga G 10-9 nano n
12 -12
10 tera T 10 pico p
15 -15
10 peta P 10 femto F
18 -18
10 Exa E 10 atto a

Significant figures:
Significant figures in a measurement are defined as the known digits in the measurement. Number of
significant figures or significant digits in a measurement is equal to the number of all certain digits and the first
uncertain digit.
Significant figures indicate precision in the measurement.

Rules to find the number of significant figures:

1. All non-zero digits are significant.
Ex: 13.75 has four significant figures.
2. All zeros between two non-zero digits are significant.
Ex: 100.05 km has five significant figures.
3. All zeros to the right of a decimal point are significant.
Ex: 161cm, 161.0cm and 161.00cm have three, four and five significant figures respectively.
4. In numbers less than one, the zeroes that appear between the decimal point and the first non-zero digit
are insignificant.
Ex: 0.161cm and 0.0161cm, both have three significant figures.
5. In a number without decimal point the terminal zeroes are insignificant.
Ex: 86400 has three significant figures. Bur such zeros are significant if they come from a measurement.

Rounding of the uncertain digits:

The process of omitting the non-significant digits and retaining only the desired number of significant digits,
incorporating the required modifications to the last significant digit is called rounding off the number.

Rules for rounding off numbers:

1. The preceding digit is raised by 1 if the immediate insignificant digit to be dropped is moiré than 5.
Ex: 4728 – 4730(rounded off to three significant figures)
1.376 - 1.4 (rounded off to two significant figures)
2. The proceeding digit is to be left unchanged if the immediate insignificant digit to be dropped is less than 5.
Ex: 4728 – 4700 (rounded off to two significant figures)
5.323 – 5.32(rounded off to three significant figures)
3. If the immediate insignificant to be dropped is 5, then there will be two different cases
(a) If the preceding digit is even, it is to be unchanged and 5 is dropped.
Ex: 4.7258 = 4.72(rounded off to two significant figures)
(b) If the preceding digit is odd, it is to be raised by 1 and 5 dropped.
Ex: 4.7158 = 4.72(rounded off to two significant figures)

Dimensions of a physical quantity: The dimensions of a physical quantity are the powers (or exponents) to
which the fundamental quantities must be raised to express that physical quantity.
mass mass
Ex: density = =
volume length  breadth height
Dimensions of density =
M = ML−3  = M1L−3T 0 
LLL
Here, the dimensions of density are 1 in mass, -3 in length and 0 in time.
Dimensional formula: The expression which shows how and which of the fundamental quantities are to be
used to represent the dimensions of a given physical quantity is called dimensional formula of the given
physical quantity.
Ex: The dimensional formula of momentum is [MLT-1]
Dimensional equation: The equation obtained by equating a physical quantity with its dimensional formula is
called dimensional equation of that physical quantity.
Dimensional formula of force = [MLT-2]
Different types of variables and constants:
On the basis of dimensions, the physical quantities can be classified into four types.
(i) Dimensional variables: the physical quantities which posses dimensions and have variable values are
called dimensional variables. Ex: area, volume, velocity, force etc…
(ii) Dimensionless variables: the physical quantities which have no dimensions but have variable values
are called dimensionless variables.
Ex: Angle, specific gravity, strain etc.
(iii) Dimensional constants: the physical quantities which posses dimensions and have constant values are
called dimensional constants.
Ex: acceleration due to gravity, gravitational constant, plank’s constant etc..
(iv) Dimensionless constants: the constant quantities having no dimensions are called dimensionless
constants.
Ex:  , e, etc..

Dimensional formula and SI units of some physical quantities:

S.no Physical quantity Expression Dimensional Units

formula
1. Area Length x breadth [MoL2To] m2
2. Volume Length x breadth x height [MoL3To] m3
3. Density Mass/volume [MoL-3To] Kgm-3
4. Speed or velocity dis tan ce [MoLT-1] ms-1
time
5. Acceleration change in velocity [MoLT-2] ms-2
time
6. Momentum Mass x velocity [MLT-1] kgms-1
7. Force Mass x acceleration [MLT-2] N
8. Work Force x distance [ML2T-2] J
9. Energy Amount of work [ML2T-2] J
10. Power work [ML2T-3] W
time

Dimensional analysis:
The method of studying a physical phenomenon on the basis of dimensions is called dimensional
analysis. The applications of dimensional analysis are
(i) To check the correctness of a given physical relation.
(ii) To derive a relationship between different physical quantities.
(iii) To convert a physical quantity from one system of units to another.
Principle of homogeneity of dimensions:
According to the principle of homogeneity, the dimensions of all terms on the both sides of a physical
equation must be the same i.e., only dimensionally similar quantities can be added, subtracted or equated.
 1. To check the dimensional correctness of a physical equation: For this purpose, the principle of
homogeneity of dimensions is used. If the dimensions of all the terms on the two sides of the equation
are same, then the equation is dimensionally correct.
Ex: Check the dimensional consistency of the equation of motion.
1 2
x = xo + vot + at
2
Solution: Dimensions of different terms are
[x] = [L]
[xo] = [L]
[vot] = [LT-1][T] = [L]
1 2
[ at ] = [LT-2T2]=[L]
2
As all the terms on both sides of equations have same dimensions, the given equation is dimensionally
correct.

2. Deducing a suitable relation between the physical quantities: If the factors upon which a physical
quantity depends are known, then a relation between the physical quantity and those factors can be
derived dimensionally by using the principle of homogeneity of dimensions.
Ex: Derive the expression for time period of a simple pendulum dimensionally. The period of
oscillations depends on its length (l), mass of the bob (m) and acceleration due to gravity (g).
Solution:
The dependence of time period T on the quantities l,g and m as a product may be written as
T  lx gy mz
T = K lxgymz
Where K is a constant and x, y, z are the exponents.
By considering the dimensions on both sides
[LoMoT1] = [L1]x [L1T-2]y [M]z
= Lx+y T-2y Mz
On equating the dimensions on both sides
x+y = 0 ; -2y = 1 and z = 0
1 1
 x= ; y=− ; z=0
2 2
1 −1
Then T = K l 2 g 2
mo
l
T= K
g

The value of constant K can’t be obtained by the method of dimensions. Actually K = 2

l
 T = 2
g

3. To convert a physical quantity from one system of units to another:

It is based on the fact that the magnitude of a physical quantity remains the same whatever may be the
system of units.
If u1 and u2 are the units of measurement of a physical quantity Q and n1 and n2 are the corresponding
numerical values, then
Q = n1u1 = n2u2
Let M1, L1, T1 and M2, L2, T2 be the sizes of fundamental units of mass,length and time in the two systems.

 
 n1 M1a Lb1 T1c = n 2 M a2 Lb2 T2c  
 a b c
M  L  T 
n2 = n1  1   1   1 
 M 2   L 2   T2 
This equation can be used to find the numerical value in the second or new system of units.
Ex: Convert joule in erg
Solution: Joule is SI unit of energy and erg is CGS unit of energy.
Dimensional formula of energy is ML2T-2
 a = 1 b = 2 c = -2
n1 Joule = n2 erg
1 Joule = n erg
1 Joule
n =
1 erg
a b c
M  L  T 
n2 = n1  1   1   1 
 M 2   L 2   T2 
1 2 −2
1000  100  10 
= 1
 1   1   1 
= 1 x 103 x 104 = 107

 1joule = 107erg

Limitations of the dimensional analysis:

(i) The value of constant of proportionality cannot be determined by this method.

(ii) In a physical equation, if the right-hand side of the equation contains sum or difference of physical
quantities, then such equations cannot be derived using dimensional analysis.
1 2
Ex: x = vot + at
2
(iii) Physical relations involving trigonometric, logarithmic and exponential functions cannot be derived
using dimensional analysis.
(iv) Using this method, dimensionally correct equations can only be verified.

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