USE PHYSICAL QUANTITIES

A PowerPoint Presentation by
Projecte Lecturer of Physics
RCA

Academic year 2022-2023

 • What is Physics?
• The Scientific Method.
• How Should I Study Physics?

Testing the Mars Rover Photo: Courtesy of NASA

 What is Physics?
Physics
Physics isis the
the science
science of
of nature
nature which
which
describes
describes thethe basic
basic components
components of of the
the
universe,
universe, thethe forces
forces and
and their
their effects.
effects.

Physics is the most basic of

the sciences, underpinning all
other disciplines of science,
medicine, and engineering.
Physicists are problem solvers,
often meeting new challenges
NASA and developing new theories.
 Where might I work as Mars Rover

a physicist?

A strong physics background

prepares you for almost any NASA

occupation that involves science High

or engineering. Voltage

NIST
The main objective of physics
Is to help people to understand the origin
of natural phenomena. Through

1.
1. Observation
Observation:: Consists
Consists ofof examining
examining
attentively
attentively and
and in
in detail
detail all
all stages
stages of
of
the
the phenomenon
phenomenon
2.
2. Experimentation
Experimentation:: Consists
Consists of
of
reproducing
reproducing aa phenomenon
phenomenon to to derive
derive
its
its general
general laws.
laws.
  In
In the
the quest
quest to
to understand
understand nature,
nature,
scientists
scientists use physical quantities to
use physical quantities to
describe
describe the
the world
world around
around us.
us.

Physical
Physical Quantities
Quantities and
and measurements
measurements
 1.PHYSICAL QUANTITIES

A physical quantity is a quantity that can be
measured.

A physical quantity have numerical value
and unit of measurement.
●
For example temperature of 30 degrees
celcius, 30 is numerical value & ‘degree
celcius’ is the unit. Written as 30o C.

Temperature = 30 degree Celcius = 30o c

Physical quantity = numerical value x unit measurement

*
Basic Quantities
●

are physical quantities that cannot be

derived from other physical quantities.
In physics we have 7 basic quantities

•
Derived Quantities are physical quantities
derived from combination of basic quantities
through multiplication or division or both
some of the derived quantities and their respective derived unit
Derived Quantities Symbol Relationship with basic quantities Derived units
Area A Length x Length m2
Volume V Length x Length x Length m3
Density ρ Mass kg/m3
Length x Length x Length
Velocity v Displacement m/s
Time
Acceleration a Velocity m/s2
Time
Force F Mass x Acceleration N
Work W Force x Displacement J
Energy Ep Mass x gravity x high @ J
Ek ½ x mass x velocity x velocity
Power P Force x Displacement W
Time
Pressure p Force N/m 2
Area
 measurement of physical
quantity
To measure a physical quantity is to compare it with
other quantity of comparable nature taken as unit.
No measurement is ever perfectly accurate. Even with
high precision instruments, some error is inevitable.
An error is the difference between the measured value and
the actual value.
There are 2 main types of errors in measurement

Systematic errors and Random errors

Systematic errors are due to the error in calibration of
instruments
Eg: Zero error is due to non-zero reading when the actual
reading should be zero
Random errors
Are Due to mistakes made by observer when taking
measurement either through incorrect positioning of the eye
(parallax) or the instruments when taking measurement
 It may also occur when there is a sudden change of
environmental factors like temperature, air circulation and
lighting
 PREFIXES
●
Prefixes are used to simplify the description of physical
quantities that are either very big or very small.

some commonly used SI prefixes

Prefix Symb Value
ol
tera T 1012
giga G 109
mega M 106
kilo k 103
hecto h 102
deka da 10
desi d 10-1
centi c 10-2
mili m 10-3
micro H 10-6
nano n 10-9
pico P 10-12
Scalar quantities and vector quantities
1.Scalar quantities
Scalar quantities (or sometimes known as
scalars) are those quantities which are
characterized by magnitude only .
Example
Example ofof scalar
scalar quantities:
quantities: mass,
mass,
density,
density, volume,
volume, pressure,
pressure, work,
work, etc.
etc.

2. Vector quantities
Vector quantities are those quantities which
are characterized by magnitude and
direction.
Example of vector quantities: Force, displacement, acceleration,
velocity, etc.
Characteristics of a vector
1. Point of application (origin)
2. Direction (line of action of a vector)
3. Orientation
4. Magnitude
 Graphical representation and properties of vectors
1. Graphical representation of Vectors

A vector is schematically represented as an oriented segment

of a straight line from point A, called the origin (or the
tail) of the vector, to point B, called the end (or the
head) of the vector. *
 The length of a vector is called its magnitude.
 The magnitude of vector is denoted by but sometimes
the magnitude of is denoted by AB.
Types of vectors
 Collinear vectors: are vectors which have common line of
action.

 Equal vectors: The vectors, which are parallel to each

other and have the same direction (i.e. same sense) and
equal in magnitude are known as equal vectors.

 Opposite Vectors: The vectors having same magnitude

but opposite direction, are known as opposite vectors.
 Unit vector: vector whose magnitude is unity i.e magnitude is equal to1, is
known as unit vector.
 Null Vector: The null vector is a vector whose origin is at the same time as its
end. The magnitude of zero vector is zero. Its direction is not defined.
 Coplanar Vectors: Vectors lying in the same plane are called coplanar vectors.
 Co-initial Vectors (concurrent): Vectors are said to be co-initial, if they have
a common initial point.
 Properties of vectors
On vectors, one can perform operations of
addition, subtraction and multiplication.
Addition of vectors

1. Addition of vectors by graphical method

 Given two vectors , their sum or their resultant
is the vector obtained by joining the tail of the first
vector to the head of the second vector when the head of
the first vector is coinciding with the tail of the second
vector.
a) Triangle method of adding vectors
Polygon method of adding vectors

•Parallelogram method of adding vectors

 Subtraction of vectors
• Given a vector , we define the negative
of this vector to be a vector with the
same magnitude as but opposite in
direction.

Eg.
2. Adding vectors by components
Consider first a vector that lies in a particular
plane. It can be expressed as the sum of two other
vectors, called the components of original vectors

Vy
sin  
V
Vx
cos  
V
V y
tan  
Vx

and
 In space, a vector has three
components and

The sum of two vectors

• and
 Properties of addition of vectors

1. The addition of vectors is

commutative:

2. The addition of vectors is

associative:

1. HANDOUTS 4. EXAMS
Hole
2. NOTES 5. LABS Punch
3. PROBLEMS 6. RESOURCES
Multiplication of vectors
1. The scalar product of vectors

The scalar product (dot product) of two vectors ,

denoted by , is a scalar equal to the product of their
magnitudes A and B, multiplied by the cosine of the
angle between those vectors.

Properties of a scalar product

1. The scalar product of 2 vectors is commutative

2. For any vector , the following relation holds:

 3. Given 2 vectors ,

Thus the equality to zero of the scalar product of two

non zero vectors expresses the condition of the
perpendicularity of two vectors
iff

4. The vectors of the orthonormal basis verify the following

relations:

5. Scalar product is distributive relative to the addition.

For any vectors
6.
6. Given
Given 22 vectors
vectors
Then,
Then,

This property allows us also to find the expression for

the cosine of the angle between vectors
 The vector product of two vectors

 The direction of is perpendicular to the plane

formed by and is obtained using right hand rule
or Screw rule.
 The magnitude is the area of a
parallelogram constructed by using these two vectors:
 Properties of the vector product
1. The vector product is anti-commutative:
2. The vector product is distributive relative to the addition of
vectors:
3. Given 2 vectors , if or at least one of vectors
is zero.
Thus the equality to zero of the vector product of two non zero
vectors expresses the condition of the parallelism of two tw
vectors. iff
4. Let be unit vectors forming an orthonormal
basis, then

Given and , then

Salus Method
Law Method