Ch.

1: Introduction, Measurement,
Estimating
 Physics
The most basic of all sciences!
• Physics:
The “Parent” of all sciences!

• Physics =
The study of the behavior of and the structure
of matter and energy and of the interaction
between matter and energy.
 Sub Areas of Physics
• This Course (1403, Physics of the 16th & 17th Centuries):
– Motion (MECHANICS) (Most of our time!)
– Fluids & Waves
• Next Course (1404, the Physics of 18th & 19th Centuries):
– Electricity & magnetism
– Light & optics
• Advanced Courses (The Physics of the 20th Century!):
– Relativity, atomic structure, condensed matter, nuclear physics,
The most interesting topics & the most
relevant topics to modern technology!
 1-1 Physics: General Discussion
• Goal of Physics (& all of science):
To quantitatively and qualitatively
describe the “world around us”.
• Physics IS NOT merely a collection of facts
and formulas!
• Physics IS a creative activity!
Physics  Observation  Explanation.
• Requires Research & IMAGINATION!!
 The Nature of Science
• Physics is an EXPERIMENTAL science!
Experiments & Observations:
– Are important first steps toward a scientific theory. It
requires imagination to tell what is important, to develop a
theory, & to test it in the laboratory.
Theories
– Are created to explain experiments & observations. Can
also make predictions
Experiments & Observations:
– Can tell if predictions are accurate.
• But, no theory can be absolutely 100% verified!
– But a theory can be proven false.
 Theory
A Quantitative (Mathematical) Description
of experimental observations.
• Not just WHAT is observed but WHY it is
observed as it is and HOW it works the way it does.
Tests of Theories
1. Experimental Observations:
More experiments & more observation!!
2. Predictions
Made before observations & experiments.
1-2 Physics & its Relation to Other Fields
• The “Parent” of all Sciences!
• The foundation for and is connected to ALL
branches of science and engineering.
• Useful in everyday life & in MANY professions:
– Chemistry
– Life Sciences (Medicine, tec.)
– Architecture
– Engineering.
– ….
Physics Principles are used in many practical
applications, including construction. As the photo on the
right clearly shows, communication of physics principles
between Architects & Engineers is sometimes
essential if disaster is to be avoided!!
 1-3 Model, Theory, Law
• Model: An analogy of a physical phenomenon
to something we are familiar with.
• Theory: More detailed than a model. Puts
the model into mathematical language
Law
• A concise & general statement about how
nature behaves. Must be verified by many,
many experiments! Only a few laws.
– Not comparable to laws of government!
 How does a new theory get accepted?
• It’s Predictions:
Agree better with data than those of an old theory
• It Explains:
A greater range of phenomena than old theory
Example
• Aristotle:
Believed that objects would return to rest once put in motion.
• Galileo:
Realized that an object put in motion would stay
in motion until some force stopped it.
• Newton:
Developed his Laws of Motion to put Galileo’s
observations into mathematical language.
 1-4 Measurement & Uncertainty;
Significant Figures
No measurement is exact.
There is always some uncertainty due to limited
instrument accuracy & difficulty reading results.

The photograph to the

left illustrates this – it
would be difficult to
measure the width of this
2×4 to better than a
millimeter.
 Measurement & Uncertainty
• Physics is an EXPERIMENTAL science!
It finds mathematical relations between physical
quantities. It also expresses those relations in
math language.
This gives rise to LAWS & THEORIES
• Experiments are NEVER 100% accurate.
– They ALWAYS have UNCERTAINTY in the final result.

 Experimental Error.
– It is common to state this precision (when known).
• Consider a simple measurement of the width
of a board. Suppose the result is 23.2 cm.
• However, suppose we know that our measurement
is only accurate to an estimated 0.1 cm.
 The width is written as (23.2  0.1) cm
 0.1 cm  Experimental Uncertainty

• The Percent Uncertainty is then:

 (0.1/23.2)  100   0.4%
 Significant Figures
(“sig figs”)
 The number of significant figures is the number
of reliably known digits in a number.
• It is usually possible to tell The Number of
Significant Figures by the way the number is written:
23.21 cm has 4 significant figures
0.062 cm has 2 significant figures
(initial zeroes don’t count)
80 km is ambiguous:
It could have 1 or 2 significant figures.
If it has 3, it should be written 80.0 km.
 Calculations Involving Several Numbers
• It is usually possible to tell The Number of
Significant Figures by the way the number is written:
When Multiplying or Dividing Numbers:
The number of significant digits in the result 
The same as the number used in the calculation
which have the fewest significant digits.
When Adding or Subtracting Numbers:
The answer is no more accurate than the least
accurate number used.
 Example
(Not to scale!)
• Calculate the area A of a board with dimensions
11.3 cm & 6.8 cm.
 Example
(Not to scale!)
• Calculate the area A of a board with dimensions
11.3 cm & 6.8 cm.
A = (11.3)  (6.8) = 76.84 cm2
11.3 has 3 sig figs & 6.8 has 2 sig figs
 A has too many sig figs!
 Example
(Not to scale!)
• Calculate the area A of a board with dimensions
11.3 cm & 6.8 cm.
A = (11.3)  (6.8) = 76.84 cm2
11.3 has 3 sig figs & 6.8 has 2 sig figs
 A has too many sig figs!
Proper number of sig figs in the answer = 2
 Round off 76.84 & keep only 2 sig figs
 A Reliable Answer for A = 77 cm2
 Sig Figs
General Rule
• The final result of a multiplication or
division should have only as many sig figs
as the number used in the calculation
which has the with least number of sig figs.
NOTE!!!!
All digits on your calculator are NOT
significant!!
Calculators will not give you the
right number of significant
figures; they usually give too
many, but sometimes give too
few (especially if there are trailing
zeroes after a decimal point).
The top calculator shows the result of
2.0 / 3.0.
The bottom calculator shows the result of
2.5 × 3.2.
 Conceptual Example 1-2:
Significant figures
• Using a protractor, you measure an angle of 30°.
(a) How many significant figures should you quote in this
measurement?
(b) Use a calculator to find the cosine of the angle you measured.
(a) Precision ~ 1° (not 0.1°).
So 2 sig figs & angle is 30°
(not 30.0°).
(b) Calculator: cos(30°) =
0.866025403. But angle
precision is 2 sig figs so
answer should also be 2 sig
figs. So cos(30°) = 0.87
 Powers of 10 (Scientific Notation)
• READ Appendices A-2 & A-3
• It is common to express very large or very small
numbers using power of 10 notation.
• Examples:
39,600 = 3.96  104
(moved decimal 4 places to left)

0.0021 = 2.1  10-3

(moved decimal 3 places to right)

PLEASE USE SCIENTIFIC NOTATION!!

 Accuracy vs. Precision
• Accuracy is how close a measurement
comes to the accepted (true) value.
• Precision is the repeatability of the
measurement using the same instrument &
getting the same result!
It is possible to be accurate without
being precise and to be precise without
being accurate!
 1-5 Units, Standards, SI System
• All measured physical quantities have units.
• Units are VITAL in physics!!
• In this course (and in most of the modern
world, except the USA!) we will use (almost)
exclusively the SI system of units.
SI = “Systéme International” (French)
More commonly called the “MKS system”
(meter-kilogram-second) or more simply,
“The Metric System”
 SI or MKS System
• Defined in terms of standards for length, mass, & time.
• Length unit: Meter (m) (kilometer = km = 1000 m)
– Standard meter. Newest definition in terms of speed of light 
Length of path traveled by light in vacuum in (1/299,792,458)
of a second!
• Time unit: Second (s)
– Standard second. Newest definition  time required for
9,192,631,770 oscillations of radiation emitted by cesium
atoms!
• Mass unit: Kilogram (kg)
– Standard kilogram  Mass of a specific platinum-iridium alloy
cylinder kept at Intl Bureau of Weights & Measures in France
– Discussed later (Ch. 4)
 Larger & smaller units defined
from SI standards by powers of 10
& Greek prefixes

These are the standard SI prefixes  __

for indicating powers of 10. Many
(k, c, m, μ) are familiar; Y, Z, E, h,
 __
da, a, z, and y are rarely used.  __
 __
Typical Lengths (approx.)




Typical Times (approx.)
Typical Masses (approx.)




We will work only in the SI system, where the basic
units are kilograms, meters, & seconds.
Other systems of units:

cgs: units are grams,

centimeters, & seconds.

British (engineering) system

(everyday US system): force
instead of mass as one of its
basic quantities, which are
feet, pounds, & seconds.
 Other Systems of Units
• CGS (centimeter-gram-second) system
– Centimeter = 0.01 meter
– Gram = 0.001 kilogram
• British (foot-pound-second;
US Customary) system
– “Everyday life” system of units
– Only used by USA & some third
world countries. Rest of world
(including Britain!) uses SI system.
We will not use the British System!
– Conversions exist between the
British & SI systems. We will not use them in this course!
In this class, we will NOT do unit conversions!

We will work exclusively in SI (MKS) units!

 Basic & Derived Quantities
• Basic Quantity  Must be defined in terms of a
standard (meter, kilogram, second).

• Derived Quantity  Defined in terms of

combinations of basic quantities
– Unit of speed (v = distance/time) = meter/second = m/s
– Unit of density (ρ = m/V) = kg/m3
 Units and Equations
• In dealing with equations, remember that the
units must be the same on both sides of an
equation (otherwise, it is not an equation)!
• Example: You go 90 km/hr for 40 minutes.
How far did you go?
– Ch. 2 equation from Ch. 2: x = vt.
– So, v = 90 km/hr, t = 40 min. To use this
equation, first convert t to hours:
t = (⅔)hr so, x = (90 km/hr)  [(⅔)hr] = 60 km
The hour unit (hr) has (literally) cancelled out in the
numerator & denominator!
 1-6 Converting Units
• As in the example, units in the numerator & the
denominator can cancel out (as in algebra)
• Illustration: Convert 80 km/hr to m/s
Conversions: 1 km = 1000 m; 1hr = 3600 s
 80 km/hr =
(80 km/hr) (1000 m/km) (1hr/3600 s)
(Cancel units!)
80 km/hr  22 m/s (22.222…m/s)
• Useful conversions:
1 m/s  3.6 km/hr; 1 km/hr  (1/3.6) m/s
 1-7 Order of Magnitude; Rapid Estimating
• Sometimes, we are interested in only an
approximate value for a quantity. We are
interested in obtaining rough or order of
magnitude estimates.

• Order of magnitude estimates: Made by

rounding off all numbers in a calculation to 1
sig fig, along with power of 10.
– Can be accurate to within a factor of 10 (often
better)
 Example 1-6: V = πr2d

Estimate how much

water there is in a
particular lake, which is
roughly circular, about
1 km across, & you
• Example: Estimate! guess it has an average
depth of about 10 m.
V = πr2h
Example 1-7: Thickness of a page.

Estimate the thickness of

a page of your textbook.
(Hint: you don’t need one of
these!)
Example 1-9: Height
by triangulation.
Estimate the height of
the building shown by
“triangulation,” with the
help of a bus-stop pole
and a friend. (See how
useful the diagram is!)
Example: Estimate the Earth radius.
If you have ever been on the shore of a large
lake, you may have noticed that you cannot
see the beaches, piers, or rocks at water level
across the lake on the opposite shore. The lake
seems to bulge out between you and the
opposite shore—a good clue that the Earth is
round. Suppose you climb a stepladder and
discover that when your eyes are 10 ft (3.0 m)
above the water, you can just see the rocks at
water level on the opposite shore. From a
map, you estimate the distance to the
opposite shore as d ≈ 6.1 km. Use h = 3.0 m
to estimate the radius R of the Earth.
 1-8 Dimensions & Dimensional Analysis

The dimensions of a quantity are the base

units that make it up; generally written using
square brackets.
Example: Speed = distance/time
Dimensions of speed: [L/T]
Quantities that are being added or subtracted must have
the same dimensions. In addition, a quantity calculated
as the solution to a problem should have the correct
dimensions.
 Dimensional Analysis
• If the formula for a physical quantity is known
 The correct units can easily be found!
• Examples: Volume: V = L3  Volume unit = m3
Cube with L =1 mm  V = 1 mm3 = 10-9 m3
Density: ρ = m/V Density unit = kg/m3
ρ = 5.3 kg/m3 = 5.3 10-6 g/mm3
• If the units of a physical quantity are known
 The correct formula can be “guessed”!
• Examples: Velocity: Car velocity is 60 km/h
Velocity unit = km/h
 Formula: v = d/t (d = distance, t = time)
Acceleration: Car acceleration is 5 m/s2
Acceleration unit = m/s2
 Formula: a = v/t (v = velocity, t = time)
Dimensional analysis is the checking of dimensions
of all quantities in an equation to ensure that those
which are added, subtracted, or equated have the same
dimensions.
Example: Is this the correct equation for velocity?

Check the dimensions:

Wrong!