1

PHYSICS AND MEASUREMENT IN

EVERYDAY LIFE

[A] Physical Quantities And Units
Physical quantity:
Any number that is used to describe
a physical phenomenon
quantitatively.

Consists of:
- Basic quantities.
- Derived Quantities.

International System, SI Unit:
The most common unit used by
scientists and engineers around the
world

Basic quantities & SI Units
Quantities SI Units Symbols
Time second [s]
Length meter [m]
Mass kilogram [kg]
Current ampere [A]
Temperature Kelvin [K]
Amount of
Substance mole [n]
(Light Intensity) candela [cd]





Derived Quantities:
Combinations of the basic quantities.

- Units for derived quantities can be
deduced if the definitions are given

Determining the Derived Units:
- Example:

i) Define the quantity:

Density () is the mass (m) of an
object per unit volume (V).
Hence the defining equation in SI
units:
= m / V
(kg / m
3
)
This gives the derived SI unit for
density as kilograms per cubic
meter, (kg / m
3
).
ii) What are the units of t?
*(Clue : The relationship between the
circumference (c) and the diameter
(d) of a circle is given by the
equation c = td


2

If length is measured in meters, then
t = c / d
(m / m)
Thus the constant t has no units,
because they cancel out. It is
unitless or dimensionless constant.

Unit Prefixes
Prefix Symbol Factor
Tera T 10
12

Giga G 10
9

Mega M 10
6

Kilo k 10
3

Hecto h 10
2

Deka da 10
1

Deci d 10
-1

Centi c 10
-2

Milli m 10
-3

Micro 10
-6

Nano n 10
-9

Pico p 10
-12

Femto f 10
-15





Unit Consistency and Conversions
- Equation must always be
dimensionally consistent

- example:

d= 10m, v = 2ms
-1
and t = 5s

d = vt
In terms of unit:



Conversion of Unit
- When converting between units,
write down the units explicitly in the
calculations and treat them like any
algebraic quantity.

- In particular, take advantage of the
fact that multiplying or dividing an
equation by a factor of 1 does not
alter and equation.

- Example:

Express 979.0 m in feet.
(3.281 feet = 1 meter)
Solution:
Use (3.281 feet / 1 meter) as a
conversion factor to multiply the
equation Length = 979.0 meters
Length = (979.0 m)(1)
= (979.0 meters) (3.281 feet / 1 meter)
= 3212 feet
()1025 mmss||=|\.
3

Significant Figures
- Measured quantities contain
uncertainty.

- Only retain figures that contain
meaningful information.

- Significant figures (sometimes
called significant digits) is:

- all non-zero digits plus zeros that
do not just hold a place before or
after a decimal point.
- used to indicate the number of
meaningful digits.

- The number of s.f. of a numerical
quantity is the number of reliably
known digits it contains.

example: 2.91mm ( 3 s.f.)

- For a measured quantity, s.f. is
usually defined as all of the digits
that can be read directly from the
instrument used in making the
measurement plus one uncertain
digit that is obtained by estimating
the fraction of the smallest division of
the instruments scale.

- Zeros at the beginning of a
number are not significant. They
merely locate the decimal point.

e.g. 0.0254 (3 s.f. - 2,5,4)

- Zeros within a number are
significant.

e.g. 104.6 m (4 s.f. - 1,0,4,6)



- Zeros at the end of a number after
the decimal point are significant.

e.g. 2705.0 m (5 s.f. - 2,7,0,5,0)

- In a whole number without a
decimal point that end in one or
more zeroes ..




How Many Significant Figures
0.089 2
1.089 4
12000 2
12001 5
300.0 4
300.01 5
0.0105 3
0.01 1

4

*Addition and Subtraction
*Multiplication and Division
- Result should have the same
number of significant figures as the
least accurate number


Scientific Notation



- The result of a calculation usually
has no more significant figures than
the input data



Mathematical
operation
Significant figures in
result
Multiplication or
division
No more than in number
with the fewest
significant figures
e.g. 0.745 x 2.2 /
3.885=0.42
Addition or
subtraction
Determined by the
number with the
smallest uncertainty
e.g.27.153+138.2
11.74=153.6
5

Accuracy and precision
- Accuracy:

How close a measurement is to
being correct.

- Precision:

The number of significant figures
(or the uncertainties) in a
measurement.

For gravitational acceleration
near the earth,
g = 9.532706 m/s
2
and g = 9.7 m/s
2
.
Which is more
(i) precise?
(ii) accurate?
*(Greater precision does not
mean greater accuracy! )