Chapter one

Introduction to physics, units and

measurements
 Units of chapter one:
• Physics and its relation to other fields
• Models theories and laws
• Significant figures
• Measuring things and The international system of
units
• Converting units
• Order of magnitude: Rabid estimating
• Dimensions and Dimensional analysis
The major goals of this chapter are to enable you to:

• Determine what physics governs and controls.

• Conclude that physics is a building a block of all the
sciences.
• Explain the need for standardization of measurement.
• Use the metric system of measurement.
• Convert measurements from one system to another.
• Use significant digits to determine the accuracy of
measurement.
• Solve problems with measurements and consistently
express the results with the correct significant digits.
• Use the systematic approach to solving physics problems.
 1-1 Physics and its relation to other field:

Physics is most basic of the

sciences.
It deals with the behavior and
structure of matter.
The field of physics is usually
divided into classical physics and
modern physics.
Physics is needed in both
architecture and engineering.
Other fields that use physics, and
make contributions to it:
physiology, zoology, life sciences, …
 1-1 Physics and its relation to other field:
• Communication between architects and engineers is
essential if disaster is to be avoided.
 1-2 Models, Theories, and Laws:
• Models are very useful during the process of
understanding phenomena.
• A model creates mental pictures; care must be taken
to understand the limits of the model and not take it
too seriously.
• A theory is detailed and can give testable predictions.
• A law is a brief description of how nature behaves in
a broad set of circumstances.
• A principle is similar to a law, but applies to a
narrower range of phenomena.
1-3 Significant Figures:
Measurements
Numbers
Exact Inexact
Five fingers in your hand Any measurement
2m 2m 2m

1.8

1m 1m 1m
1.7

Height = 1.8 m Height = 1.82 m Height = 1.819 m

Correct digit Correct digits Correct digits
doubtful digit doubtful digit doubtful digit
2 significant figures 3 significant figures 4 significant figures
Number of significant figures depends on the instrument used in the measurement.
1-3 Significant Figures:
Number of significant figures
A significant figure is a digit in a number.

15.07 This number has four significant figures.

The least significant figure is the significant figure farthest to the right.

10.68 The 8 is the least significant figure.

All leading zeros are not significant figures.

0.00064 This number has two significant figures.

All trailing zeros to the right of the decimal point are significant figures

12.000 This number has five significant figures.

The trailing zeros to the left of the decimal point might or might not
3000 be significant figures.
The zeros might not be significant and they are just being used to
locate the decimal point.
However, in this course, we will take them as significant figures.
1-3 Significant Figures:
Rounding off

When the left-most of the digits to be discarded is 5 or

more, the last remaining digit is rounded up; otherwise it is
retained as is.

Round up

2.36502 = 2.37
5 or more

Do not change

80.76493 = 80.76
Less than 5
1-3 Significant Figures:
Multiplication or division

When multiplying or dividing quantities, the result should

have the same number of significant figures as the
quantity with the lowest number of significant figures.

2.31563 × 0.25 = 0.58 Your calculator gives 0.578908.

You should round off your answer

6 2 to two significant figures.
significant significant
figures figures

2.751  3.22 = 0.854 Your calculator gives 0.854348.

You should round off your answer

4 3 to three significant figures.
significant significant
figures figures
1-3 Significant Figures:
Addition or subtraction
When adding or subtracting quantities, the least significant figure in the
result has the same position relative to the decimal point as that of the
quantity whose least significant figure is farthest to the left.

Least significant figure Your calculator gives 16.365.

9.1 Least significant figure
Since 9.1 is the quantity with its least
+ 7.265 significant figure farthest to the left relative
16.4 to the decimal point, your answer should
Least significant figure be rounded off so that the position of its
least significant figure match that of 9.1.

Least significant figure Your calculator gives 0.0457.

1.02 Least significant figure
Since 1.02 is the quantity with its least
- 0.9743 significant figure farthest to the left relative
0.05 to the decimal point, your answer should
Least significant figure be rounded off so that the position of its
least significant figure match that of 1.02.
1-4 Measuring Things:
Units

Physical quantity
to measure
Table
Length of the table

Unit = meter 2.0 meters

Unit = foot 6.6 feet

Unit = x 2.9 x

For the unit to be useful, people should agree on its definition.

We can use a standard or naturally occurring phenomenon to define a measuring unit.
Standard Your A day is the time Earth takes to make
1 kg 1 kg one revolution about itself.

Balance
Standard naturally occurring phenomenon
1-4 Measuring Things:
Base physical quantities
There are many physical quantities, for example,
pressure, mass, force, …
We can derive the units of these quantities from the units of a small
number of physical quantities called base physical quantities.
The selection of the base physical quantities is not unique.
A set of base physical quantities has been selected by an agreement.
In phys101, we will only deal with three base physical quantities: length,
mass, and time. The units of all other quantities in phys101 can be derived
from the units of these three quantities.

What is the unit of speed?

Derived physical quantity Base physical quantities
length
speed =
time
unit of length meter
unit of speed = =
unit of time second
1-4 The International System of Units:
Seven base quantities
The International System of Units (the SI system of units) was established
in 1971.
The SI system of units has seven base quantities.
In phys101, we will only deal with three base physical quantities: length,
mass, and time. The units of all other quantities in phys101 can be derived
from the units of these three quantities.
Quantity Unit name Unit symbol
Length meter m
Time second s
Mass kilogram kg

For example, the SI unit of energy is the joule which can be written in terms
of SI base units as follows
SI derived unit 2
SI base units
kg m
joule =
s2
One joule is one kilogram-meter squared per second squared.
1-4 The International System of Units:
Meter, second, and kilogram
The meter is defined as the length of the path traveled by light in a vacuum
during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 of a second.
The time interval was chosen so that the speed of light c is exactly
c = 299 792 458 m/s.

One second is defined as the time taken by 9 192 631 770 oscillations of
the light emitted by the cesium atom.

The SI standard of mass is a platinum-iridium cylinder kept a the

International Bureau of Weights and Measures near Paris and assigned a
mass of 1 kilogram.
The masses of atoms can be compared with one another more
precisely than they can be compared with the standard kilogram.
For this reason, the mass of carbon atom is used as a second
mass standard. By agreement,
mass of carbon atom = 12 atomic mass unit (u).
1 u = 1.66054 x 10-27 kg
1-4 The International System of Units:
Scientific notation
Scientific notation is used to simplify expressing very large or very small quantities.

Quantity In scientific notation With prefixes

2 560 000 joule 2.56 x 106 J 2.56 megajoule = 2.56 MJ
0.000 003 21 second 3.21 x 10-6 s 3.21 microsecond = 3.21 ms
5 460 meter 5.46 x 103 m 5.46 kilometer = 5.46 km
Factor Prefix Symbol
The number is in scientific notation 109 giga- G
when it is expressed as some 106 mega- M
power of ten multiplied by another
103 kilo- k
number between 1 and 10.
10-2 centi- c
10-3 mille- m
In some calculators, "exponent to
10-6 micro m
ten" is written as "E"
6.52 x 10-7 written as 6.52 E-7 10-9 nano- n
10-12 pico- p
1- 5 Converting Units:

Converting between metric units, for example from kg

to g, is easy, as all it involves is powers of 10.
Converting to and from British units is considerably
more work.
For Example:
1m = 3.28084 ft, this
8611m mountain is
28251 feet high.
(see your notebook examples
6.7.8.9 and 2.3.4 page 17 ).
1- 5 Converting Units:

the table below shows the relation between units:

1 km = 1000 m 1 m = 0.001 km 1 foot = 12 inch 1 inch = 0.083 feet

1 m = 100 cm 1 cm = 0.01 m 1 kg = 1000 g 1 g = 0.001 kg

1 inch = 2.54 cm 1 cm = 0.394 inch 1 min = 60 s 1 s = 0.017 min

1 mile = 1609 m 1 m = 0.0006 mile 1 hours = 3600s 1 s = 0.00028 hours

1 mile = 1.609 km 1 km = 0.62 mile 1 pound = 0.45 kg 1 m2 = 10000 cm2

1 foot = 0.3 m 1 m = 3.33 feet 1 m3 = 1000000 cm 3 1m3 = 1000 L

1-5 Changing Units:
Conversion factor
60 s
3 min = (3 min)(1) = (3 min)( ) = 180 s
1 min

conversion factor

1 min
180 s = (180 s)(1) = (180 s)( ) = 3 min
60 s
A conversion factor is a ratio of units that is equal to one.
Multiplying any quantity by unity leaves the quantity unchanged.
Appendix D of your textbook gives conversion factors
between SI and other system of units.
How many centimeters are there in 5.30 inches?
From Appendix D, 1 inch = 2.540 cm
2.540 cm
5.30 in = (5.30 in)( ) = 13.5 cm
1 in

conversion factor
1- 5 Converting Units:
Examples
•(1)  A silicon chip has an area 1.25 square inches
express this in square centimeters.
solution
1 in. = 2.54 cm, then (1 in2 ) = (2.54 cm)2 = 6.45 cm2 .
So 1.25 in2 = 1.25 x 6.45 cm2 = 8.06 cm2 .
(2) Where the posted speed limit is 55 miles per hour
what is this speed in meter per second (m/s)
solution
55 mi/h = 55 () = 25 m/s .
1-5 Changing Units:
Example 3
A car moves at speed of 1.14 miles per minute. Use the following
conversion factors to find its speed in kilometers per hour (km/h)
1 mile = 5280 feet
1 foot = 0.3048 meter

Solution

miles miles 5280 feet 0.3048 m 1 km 60 min

1.14 = (1.14 )( )( )( )( )
min min 1 mile 1 foot 1000 m 1h
= 110 km/h
1-6 Order-of-Magnitude Calculations
Order-of-magnitude
An order-of magnitude calculation is a rough estimate that is accurate to
within a factor of about 10.
It is useful if you want to get a quick rough answer.
You may use this estimate to check your detailed calculation.

The order of magnitude of a quantity is the power of ten when the quantity
is expressed in scientific notation.

A = 7 600 = 7.6 x 103 The order of magnitude of A is 3

B = 3 700 = 3.7 x 103 The order of magnitude of B is 3

A = 7 600 ≈ 10 000 = 104 The nearest order of magnitude of A is 4

B = 3 600 ≈ 1 000 = 103 The nearest order of magnitude of B is 3
1-7 Dimensional Analysis
Dimensions
The dimension of a quantity is its property that we measure.
For distances, we measure length.  Dimension of distance = length
For periods, we measure time.  Dimension of period = time

Although any quantity might be measured in different units, it has one

unique dimension. For example, a distance can be measured in meters or
in feet. The dimension of distance is unique = length.
All quantities in phys101 can be expressed in terms of three dimensions:
Length (L)
Time (T)
Mass (M)
The brackets [ ] is used to denote the dimension of a quantity.
[acceleration] stands for the dimension of acceleration
Length L
[distance] = Length = L [speed] = =
Time T
[pure number] = 1 Quantities with dimension 1 are
[angle] = 1 called dimensionless quantities
[argument of a trigonometric function] = 1
1-7 Dimensional Analysis
Adding quantities
Quantities can be added or subtracted
only if they have the same dimensions.
Acceptable Given

x+vt
[x] = L
x = distance [x] = L
L
[v t] = T= L
T
The terms have the same dimensions. t = time [t] = T

Not acceptable L
v = velocity [v] =
T
x+at
[x] = L L
a = acceleration [a] =
L L T2
[a t] = T=
T2 T
The terms have different dimensions.
1-7 Dimensional Analysis
Equating quantities
The terms on both sides of an equation
must have the same dimensions.
Acceptable Given

L v=at
[v] =
T x = distance [x] = L
L L
[a t] = 2 T=
T T
Both sides have the same dimensions. t = time [t] = T

Not acceptable L
v = velocity [v] =
T
L v=xt
[v] = L
T a = acceleration [a] =
T2
[x t] = LT

The two sides have different dimensions.

1-7 Dimensional Analysis
Example:
Suppose the distance x is given in terms of acceleration a and time t as in
the following expression x = k an t m,
where k is a dimensionless constant. Find m and n.

Solution
Both sides of the equation should have the same dimensions.
[x] = L
L L = Ln Tm-2 n
[k an t m ] =(1)( 2 )n Tm = Ln Tm-2 n
T
L = L1 T 0
n=1
m-2n=0  m=2n=2

x = k a t2
1-7 Dimensional Analysis
HW
Suppose the acceleration a of a particle moving with uniform speed v in a
circle of radius r is given by
a = k v n r m,
where k is a dimensionless constant. Find m and n.
 PROBLEMS

See EXAMPLES
PAGES 16 ,17 ,18,19,20 21