1.

2 Understanding Base Quantities and Derived Quantities

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to explain what base quantities and derived quantities are. list base quantities and their units. list some derived quantities and their units. express quantities using prefixes. express quantities using scientific notation. express derived quantities as well as their units in terms of base quantities and base units. solve problems involving conversion of units.

Physical Quantities
A physical quantity is a quantity that can be measured. A physical quantity can be divided into base quantity and derived quantity.

Base Quantities
Base quantities are the quantities that are conventionally accepted as functionally independent of one another. It is a quantity that cannot be defined in term of other physical quantity. The base quantities and its units are as in the table below.

Derived Quantities
A derived quantity is a Physics quantity that is not a base quantity. It is the quantities which derived from the base quantities through multiplying and/or dividing them

Example

(Speed is derived from dividing distance by time)

Derived Unit
The derived unit is a combination of base units through multiplying and/or dividing them.

Can you think of any other derived quantities?

Example
Find the derived unit of density. Answer:

Unit Conversion
Area and Volume

Example
Convert the unit of length, area and volume below to the units given. a) 7.2 m = ____________cm b) 0.32 m2 = ____________cm2 c) 0.0012 m3 = ____________cm3 d) 5.6 cm = ____________m e) 350 cm2 = ____________m2 f) 45000 cm3 = ____________m3

Answer
a) 7.2 m = 7.2 x 102 cm b) 0.32 m2 = 0.32 x 104 cm2 = 3.2 x 103 cm2 c) 0.0012 m3 = 0.0012 x 106 cm3 = 1.2 x 103 cm3

d) 5.6 cm = 5.6 x 10-2 m

e) 350 cm2 = 350 x 10-4 m2 = 3.5 x 10-2 m2

f) 45000 cm3 = 45000 x 10-6 m3 = 4.5 x 10-2 m3

Example
Complete the following unit conversion a) 12 kmh-1 = __________ ms-1 b) 12 ms-1 = __________ kmh-1
Answer: a) 12000 m 3.33 ms 1
60 60 s

b)

12 m 12 m 1000 (1 km) 43.2 kmh-1 1s 1s 60 60 (1 h)

Prefixes
Prefixes are the preceding factor used to represent very small and very large physical quantities in SI units.

Conversion of Prefixes
1) Prefixes to normal number Example 1 The frequency of the radio wave is 350M Hz. What is the frequency of the radio wave in Hz? Answer Mega (M) = 1,000,000 or 106 Therefore, 350MHz = 350 x 106Hz

 Example 2 The thickness of a film is 25nm. What is the thickness in unit meter? Answer nano (n) = 0.000000001 or 10-9 Therefore 25nm = 25 x 10-9m

2) Normal number to prefixes Example 3 0.255 s is equal to how many ms. Answer mili (m) = 0.001 or 10-3 To write a normal number with prefixes, we divide the number with the value of the prefixes 0.0255 s = 0.0255 10-3 = 25.5 ms

 Example 4 Convert 265,500,000 W into GW. Answer Giga (G) = 1,000,000,000 or 109 Therefore 265,500,000 W = 265,500,000 109 = 0.2655GW

Scientific Notation (Standard Form)

Scientific notation (also known as Standard index notation) is a convenient way to write very small or large numbers. In this notation, numbers are separated into two parts, a real number with an absolute value between 1 and 10 and an order of magnitude value written as a power of 10. Physical quantities that are very big or very small need to be written in the standard form so that it is neat, simple and easy to read.

Example
1. 2,600 = 2.6 x 103 2. 75,300,000 = 7.53 x 107 3. 0.00023 = 2.3 x 10-4 4. 0.00000004121 = 4.121 x 10-8

Exercise
1. Convert the following quantities into its SI units.
a) 5.7 cm = _______ m b) 0.034 km = _______ m c) 250 mm =_______ m d) 550 =_______ s e) 5670 nm =_______ m f) 2.35 mJ =_______ J g) 0.12 MW =_______ W h) 37.2 mg =_______ g i) 0.054 GV =_______ V j) 93.5 MHz =_______ Hz k) 28 mA =________ A l) 150 =________ A m) 200 pF =________ F n) 0.075 Tm =_________ m

2. Convert the following derived quantities in terms of base units. a) Acceleration (change in velocity / time) b) Momentum (Mass X velocity) c) Density (Mass / volume) d) Force (Mass X acceleration) e) Impulse (Change in momentum) f) Pressure (Force / Area) g) Work done (Force X displacement) h) Electric charge (Current X time)

3. Convert the following quantities to the given units.

a) 0.25 mm2 = ______ m2 b) 150 mm3 = ______ m3 c) 0.062 cm2 =_______ m2 d) 1500 cm3 =_______ m3 e) 0.009 km2 =______ cm2

f) 0.25 g cm-3 =______ kg m-3 g) 180 kg m-3 =______ g cm-3 h) 300 cm s-1 =______ m s-1 i) 72 km h-1 =______ m s-1 j) 18 m s-1 =_______ km h-1

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