Chapter – 1

Unit and Measurement

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Physical Quantity

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Physical Quantity
All those quantities which can be measured directly or
indirectly and in terms of which the laws of physics can be
expressed are called physical quantities.

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Types of Physical Quantity

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 Physical Quantity

Fundamental Quantities Derived Quantities

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Fundamental Quantity
The physical quantities which can be treated as
independent of other physical quantities and are not
usually defined in terms of other physical quantities are
called fundamental quantity.
• They are the basic building blocks upon which all other
physical quantities are defined.
• In International system of Units (SI), there are seven
fundamental quantities.
 Length (meter, m)  Mass (kilogram, kg)  Time (second, s)
 Current (Ampere, A)  Temperature (Kelvin,  Amount of substance
K) (mole, mol)
 Luminous intensity (candela, cd)

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Derived Quantities:
The physical quantities which are defined in terms of two or
more fundamental quantities are called derived quantities.

They are obtained by mathematical combinations of the

fundamental quantities.
m / s 
• Velocity: The rate of change of displacement. Unit: meter per
second

  The rate of change in velocity. Unit: meter per

m / s
• Acceleration:
2

second square
N kg m / s2 
• Force: The product of mass and acceleration. Unit: Newton

W J / s kg m 2 / s3 
• Power: The rate of doing work. Unit: Watt
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Measurement

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Measurement
The process of comparing physical quantity with a
standard amount of the physical quantity of the same kind
is called measurement.
To express the measurement of the physical quantity, we
need to know two things:

i. The unit in which the quantity is measured.

ii. The numerical value or the magnitude of the quantity.

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Therefore,
Q nu
Where, Q is the measure of the physical quantity,
n is the
numerical value of the physical quantity,u and is the size of
the unit.

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Unit or Physical Unit

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Unit or Physical Unit
The standard amount of a physical quantity chosen to
measure the physical quantity of the same kind is called a
physical quantity.

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Desirable Characteristics of a Physical Unit
1. It should be well – defined.
2. It should be of convenient size.
3. It should not change with time.
4. It should be easily reproducible.
5. It should be indestructible.
6. It should not be affected by the change in physical
condition.
7. It should be internationally acceptable.
8. It should be easily accessible.
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Types of Units

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 Units

Fundamental Units Derived Units

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Fundamental or base units
The physical units which can neither be derived from one
another, nor they can be further resolved into more simpler
units are called fundamental units.

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Derived units
All the physical units which can be expressed in terms of
the fundamental units are called derived units.

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System of Units
A complete set of units which is used to measure all kinds
of fundamental and derived quantities is called a system of
unit.

Some of the commonly used systems of units are:

• C. G. S unit: The cgs unit system is a metric system of
unit setup in France. It is based on centimetre, gram,
and second as the fundamental units of length, mass and
time respectively.

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• F. P. S unit: The fps unit system is a non – metric system
of units used primarily in the US, UK and other
countries. It is based on foot, pound, and second as the
fundamental units of length, mass and time respectively.
• M. K. S unit: The mks unit system is also known as the
International System of Units is a metric system of unit.
It is based on meter, kilogram, and second as the
fundamental units of length, mass and time respectively.

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Dimension

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Dimension
The power raised over the unit of fundamental quantity is
called dimension of that quantity.

Fundamental quantity Dimension quantity

Mass M
Length L
Time T
Electric current A or I
Temperature K
Luminous intensity cd
Amount of substance mol

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Dimension of some common
formulas

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Note: The constant (numbers) term has no dimension.

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Dimension formula or equation
To express the dimension of a physical quantity in the form
of formula is called dimension formula or equation.

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Q. Deduce the dimensional formula for the following physical
quantities:

i. Gravitational constant

ii. Planck’s constant

iii. Gas constant

iv. Boltzmann’s constant

v. Specific heat

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Principle of Homogeneity
According to this principal for any right equation, the
dimension of each and every term is same. Example:
1 2
s ut  at
2
s L
Dimension on the left side of the equation:

Dimension of the first term of right side of the equation:

ut  LT  1   T   L 
Dimension of the second term of right side of the equation:
1 2
at  LT  2   T 2   L 
2
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Q. In the given formula find the dimension of and : . Here, is
the energy.

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Q. Find the dimension of in the equation: , where is the force, is
the distance, and is the time.

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 b  x2
P
Q. Find the dimension of in the relation ; where is power,
at
is the distance, and is time.

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Q. The distance covered by a particle in time is given by . Find
the dimensions of , , , and .

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  a 
V  b  RT
Q. The Vander Wall’s equation for aP gas2  is .
 V 
Determine the dimensions of and .

Note: is the pressure, is the volume, is the gas constant, and is

the temperature.

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Use of Dimension Formula
i. To check the accuracy of the given formula. Example:
v u  at
1
v 
Dimension on the left side of the equation:
 LT 
1
u  LT
Dimension of the first term of right side of the equation:
 

Dimension of the second term of right side of the equation:

at  LT  2   T   LT  1 

Since dimension on the right-hand side equals the

dimension of the left-hand side. Hence, the formula is
dimensionally correct.
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Q. Check the correctness of the following formula:

i.

ii.

iii.

iv.

v.

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Use of Dimension Formula
ii. To establish the relation between various physical quantities.
Eg: Let us consider a pendulum of length , mass of bob is
suspended from the ceiling. Let us consider the time period:

Combining all equations we get, ; here is dimensionless

constant.
Writing the dimension of all quantities:

Using the principle of homogeneity:

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From equation (6);

Therefore,

From equation (4);

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Q. The velocity of water waves depends on the wavelength , the
density of water , and the acceleration due to gravity . Deduce by
the method of dimension the relationship between these
quantitates.

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Q. A planet moves around the sun in nearly circular orbit. Its
time period depends on radius of the orbit, mass of the sun,
and the universal gravitational constant . Deduce the formula for
the time period.

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Q. The escape velocity of a body depends upon the acceleration
due to gravity of the planet , and the radius of the planet.
Establish the relation between these quantities.

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Q. The frequency of vibration of a stretched string depends upon
its length , mass per unit length , and tension in the string . Find
the formula for the frequency of vibration.

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Use of Dimension Formula
iii. To convert the system of one unit into another.
Example:

A physical quantity has numerical value as well as unit .

The product of numerical value with unit remains constant.

Consider a physical quantity has numerical value and the

unit in the first system.

The physical quantity has numerical value and unit in

second system, i.e.,
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Here, , , and are dimensions of mass, length, and time,
respectively.

Therefore,

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Q. The force acting on a body is . convert it into CGS system.

Sol: First system (SI) Second system (CGS)

Dimension of force:

Therefore,

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Q. The value of universal gravitational constant in cgs is .
Calculate the value in SI unit.

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Q. The acceleration due to gravity is . Convert it into FPS. ().

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Q. The power of the bulb is . Then calculate it in CGS unit.

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Q. The surface tension of liquid is . convert it into CGS.

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Limitation of Dimensional
Analysis
i. The method does not give any information about
dimensionless constant.

ii. It fails when a physical quantity depends on more than

three physical quantities.

iii. It fails when a physical quantity is the sum or difference

of two or more quantities.

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Significant figures

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Significant figures
Significant figures are the meaningful digits in a measured
or calculated quantity. All the certain digits and at least
one doubtful digit are significant figures.
• Greater the number of significant figures in a
measurement, smaller the uncertainty.

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Rules for counting significant
figure
Rule 1: All non – zero digits are significant. For example has
five significant figures.
Rule 2: The zeros appearing between two non – zero digits are
significant. For example, has four significant figure.
Rule 3: Trailing zeros after decimal places are significant. For
example measurement has four significant figures.
Measuremen Accuracy Lies between Significant Remarks
t (in cm) figure
Two
Three Closer
Four More closer
Thus, the significant figures depend on the accuracy of
measurement. Note the number of significant figures, more
accurate is the measurement.
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Rules for counting significant
figure
Rule 4: The power of ten are not counted as significant figures.
For example has only three significant figures.
Rule 5: If a measurement is less than one, then all zeros
occurring to the left of last non – zero digit are not significant.
For example: has two significant figure.
Rule 6: Change in units of measurement of a quantity does not
change the number of significant figures. For example:

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Rules for counting significant
figure
Rule 7: The terminal or trailing zeroes in a number without a
decimal point are not significant. This also sometimes arises due
to change of unit. For example: all have three significant
figures.
But such zeros are significant if they come from a measurement.
Rule 8: Exact measurement have infinite number of significant
figures.

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Calculation involving Significant figures

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In addition and subtraction
The final result should be reported to the same number of
decimal places as that of the term with least number of decimal
places.

The number has the least number of decimal places (i.e., ).

Therefore, the answer will be

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In multiplication and division
The final result should be reported to the same number of
significant figures as least precise term or the term with least
number of significant figures.

Here, both and have only two significant figures. Therefore, the
answer will be .

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Round off
Rule: We look at the uncertain digit .
i. If , drop .
ii. If , increase the preceding digit by and drop .
iii. If , look at the preceding digit
a. If is even, drop
b. If is odd, increase by and drop

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Q. State the number of significant figures in the following:

i.

ii.

iii.

Q. Add , , and and express the result to an appropriate of

significant figures.

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Q. Subtract from and express the result to an appropriate
number of significant figures.

Q. Subtract from with due regard to significant figures.

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Q. Each side of a cube is measured to be . What is the total
surface area and the volume of the cube to appropriate
significant figure?

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Q. The radius of a sphere is . express its volume to an
appropriate significant figures.

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Q. of a substance occupies . Express its density keeping
significant figures in view.

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Scientific notation
Any number can be represented in the form of scientific notation
as,

Here, is a non – zero number left to the decimal and is an

integer.
• If the decimal is taken to right side value of decreases. Eg: .
• If the decimal is taken to left side value of increases. Eg: .

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