G.E.

ELECT 110
Instructor: HASSEL T. ABAYON - ABADILLA
MODULE 1
Units of Measurement
Physicists, like other scientists, make observations and ask basic questions. For example,
how big is an object? How much mass does it have? How far did it travel? To answer these
questions, they make measurements with various instruments (e.g., meter stick, balance,
stopwatch, etc.).
The measurements of physical quantities are expressed in terms of units, which are
standardized values. For example, the length of a race, which is a physical quantity, can be
expressed in meters (for sprinters) or kilometers (for long distance runners). Without standardized
units, it would be extremely difficult for scientists to express and compare measured values in a
meaningful way.

Physical Quantities

All physical quantities in the International System of Units (SI) are expressed in terms of
combinations of seven fundamental physical units, which are units for: length, mass, time, electric
current, temperature, amount of a substance, and luminous intensity.

SI Units: Fundamental and Derived Units

There are two major systems of units used in the world: SI units (acronym for the French Le
Système International d’Unités, also known as the metric system), and English units (also known as
the imperial system). English units were historically used in nations once ruled by the British
Empire. Today, the United States is the only country that still uses English units extensively.
Virtually every other country in the world now uses the metric system, which is the standard
system agreed upon by scientists and mathematicians.

Some physical quantities are more fundamental than others. In physics, there are seven
fundamental physical quantities that are measured in base or physical fundamental units: length,
mass, time, electric current temperature, amount of substance, and luminous intensity. Units for
other physical quantities (such as force, speed, and electric charge) described by mathematically
combining these seven base units. In this course, we will mainly use five of these: length, mass,
time, electric current and temperature. The units in which they are measured are the meter,
kilogram, second, ampere, kelvin, mole, and candela. All other units are made by mathematically
combining the fundamental units. These are called derived units.

Table 1. SI Base Units

Quantity Name Symbol

Length Meter M
Mass Kilogram Kg
Time Second S
Electric current Ampere A
Temperature Kelvin K
Amount of substance Mole Mol
Luminous intensity Candela Cd

Metric Prefixes
Physical objects or phenomena may vary widely. For example, the size of objects varies from
something very small (like an atom) to something very large (like a star). Yet the standard metric
unit of length is the meter. So, the metric system includes many prefixes that can be attached to a
unit. Each prefix is based on factors of 10 (10, 100, 1,000, etc., as well as 0.1, 0.01, 0.001, etc.). 

Table 2 Metric Prefixes and symbols used to denote the different various factors of 10 in the metric
system
 Example Example Example Example
Prefix Symbol Value
Name Symbol Value Description

Distance
Exa E 1018 Exameter Em 1018 m light travels
in a century

30 million
Peta P 1015 Petasecond Ps 1015 s
years

Powerful
Tera T 1012 Terawatt TW 1012 W
laser output

A
9 9
Giga G 10 Gigahertz GHz 10  Hz microwave
frequency

High
Mega M 106 Megacurie MCi 106 Ci
radioactivity

About 6/10
Kilo K 103 Kilometer Km 103 m
mile

hecto
H 102 Hectoliter hL 102 L 26 gallons
r

Teaspoon of
Deka Da 101 Dekagram Dag 101 g
butter

____ ____ 100 (=1)

Less than
Deci D 10–1 Deciliter dL 10–1 L
half a soda

Fingertip
Centi C 10–2 Centimeter Cm 10–2 m
thickness

Example Example Example Example

Prefix Symbol Value
Name Symbol Value Description

Distance
Exa E 1018 Exameter Em 1018 m light travels
in a century

30 million
Peta P 1015 Petasecond Ps 1015 s
years

Powerful
Tera T 1012 Terawatt TW 1012 W
laser output

A
Giga G 109 Gigahertz GHz 109 Hz microwave
frequency

High
Mega M 106 Megacurie MCi 106 Ci
radioactivity

About 6/10
Kilo K 103 Kilometer Km 103 m
mile
 Example Example Example Example
Prefix Symbol Value
Name Symbol Value Description

hecto
H 102 Hectoliter hL 102 L 26 gallons
r

Teaspoon of
Deka Da 101 Dekagram Dag 101 g
butter

100 (=1
____ ____
)

Less than
Deci D 10–1 Deciliter dL 10–1 L
half a soda

Fingertip
Centi C 10–2 Centimeter Cm 10–2 m
thickness

Flea at its
Mili M 10–3 Millimeter Mm 10–3 m
shoulder

Detail in
Micro µ 10–6 Micrometer µm 10–6 m
microscope

Small speck
Nano N 10–9 Nanogram Ng 10–9 g
of dust

Small
Pico P 10–12 Picofarad pF 10–12 F capacitor in
radio

Size of a
Femto F 10–15 Femtometer Fm 10–15 m
proton

Time light
takes to
Atto A 10–18 Attosecond As 10–18 s
cross an
atom

The metric system is convenient because conversions between metric units can be done simply by
moving the decimal place of a number. This is because the metric prefixes are sequential powers of
10. There are 100 centimeters in a meter, 1000 meters in a kilometer, and so on. In nonmetric
systems, such as U.S. customary units, the relationships are less simple—there are 12 inches in a
foot, 5,280 feet in a mile, 4 quarts in a gallon, and so on. Another advantage of the metric system is
that the same unit can be used over extremely large ranges of values simply by switching to the
most-appropriate metric prefix. For example, distances in meters are suitable for building
construction, but kilometers are used to describe road construction. Therefore, with the metric
system, there is no need to invent new units when measuring very small or very large objects—you
just have to move the decimal point (and use the appropriate prefix).

Unit Conversion and Dimensional Analysis

A conversion factor relating meters to kilometers. A conversion factor is a ratio expressing how
many of one unit are equal to another unit. A conversion factor is simply a fraction which equals 1.
You can multiply any number by 1 and get the same value. When you multiply a number by a
conversion factor, you are simply multiplying it by one. For example, the following are conversion
factors:

1 foot/12 inches = 1 to convert inches to feet, 1 meter/100 centimeters

= 1 to convert centimeters to meters,

1 minute/60 seconds = 1 to convert seconds to minutes

In this case, we know that there are 1,000 meters in 1 kilometer.

Now we can set up our unit conversion. We will write the units that we have and then multiply
them by the conversion factor (1 km/1,000m) = 1, so we are simply multiplying 80m by 1:

Using Scientific Notation with Physical Measurements

Scientific notation is a way of writing numbers that are too large or small to be conveniently
written as a decimal. For example, consider the number 840,000,000,000,000. It’s a rather large
number to write out. The scientific notation for this number is 8.40 × 1014. Scientific notation
follows this general format

x   ×   10y

In this format x is the value of the measurement with all placeholder zeros removed. In the example
above, x is 8.4. The x is multiplied by a factor, 10 y, which indicates the number of placeholder zeros
in the measurement. Placeholder zeros are those at the end of a number that is 10 or greater, and
at the beginning of a decimal number that is less than 1. In the example above, the factor is 10 14.
This tells you that you should move the decimal point 14 positions to the right, filling in placeholder
zeros as you go. In this case, moving the decimal point 14 places creates only 13 placeholder zeros,
indicating that the actual measurement value is 840,000,000,000,000.
Numbers that are fractions can be indicated by scientific notation as well. Consider the number
0.0000045. Its scientific notation is 4.5 × 10–6. Its scientific notation has the same format

x   ×   10y

Here, x is 4.5. However, the value of y in the 10y factor is negative, which indicates that the
measurement is a fraction of 1. Therefore, we move the decimal place to the left, for a negative y. In
our example of 4.5 × 10–6, the decimal point would be moved to the left six times to yield the original
number, which would be 0.0000045.

ACTIVITY TO BE ANSWERED:
Activity 1.1 Conversion of Units

Convert the given quantities:

1. 150 cm to m
2. 360 mm to m
3. 2100 cm3 to l
4. 1.2 GV to V
5. 4.6 ms to s
6. 450 K to 0F

Activity 1.2 Scientific Notation

 Express the following numbers in scientific notation.

1. 98
2. 0.0026
3. 0.0000401
4. 643.9
5. 816
6. 45800
7. 0.0068
8. 5600
9. 902
10.0.0045

 Transform the following scientific notation to standard notation

1. 6.455 x 104
2. 3.1 x 10-6
 3. 5.00 x 10-2
4. 7.2 x 103
5. 9 x 105
6. 7.4 x 10-3
7. 9.3 x 102
8. 2.5 x 10-4
9. 4.01 x 101
10.2.4 x 100

Activity 1.3 Problem Solving

Problem Solving: Solve the given problem. Identify the given quantities solve for the unknown
quantities. BOX the final answer.

1. The temperature of a windshield on a winter morning is 10 0F. If the melting point is 0 0C,
how many degrees must the temperature of the windshield be raised before the ice can melt?
2. Farmers must monitor their cattle for signs of infection or disease. A cow’s healthy body
temperature is 102.50F. What is its body temperature in degrees Celsius?
3. Conrad is making veggie burgers for 18 children with special dietary needs at summer camp.
The burgers should be 50 g each. How many pounds of veggies burger mix should he
defrost?
4. A train on a roller coaster ride can safely carry up to 10 000 lb. If the average adult weighs
72 kg, how many passengers can ride the roller coaster at once?
5. A diving platform at a public swimming fool has a maximum load of 300 lb. How many 40 kg
children can stand on the platform?