UNITS AND
DIMENSIONS 1
CONTENT
a) Synopsis.........................................................................2
b) Basics ............................................................................4
c) Dimensional correctness of equation ...............................5
d) Deriving relation between physical quantities ................6
e) Converting system of units ............................................7
f) Answer Keys ..................................................................8
SYNOPSIS
Common Dimensional
Physical quantity SI unit
Symbol Formula
1 Displacement S m L
2 Mass m, M Kg M
3 Time t Second T
4 Area A m2 L2
5 Volume V m3 L3
6 Density Kg/ m3 M L 3
1
7 Velocity v m/s LT
2
8 Acceleration a m/s2 LT
2
9 Force F Newton M LT
WD 2
10 Work, Energy Joule M L2 T
(E, U, K)
3
11 Power P Watt M L2 T
1
12 Momentum p Kg m/s M LT
1 2
13 Gravitational constant G N m2/kg2 M L3 T
0
14 Angle , , Radian M L0 T 0
0 1
15 Angular velocity rad/sec M L0 T
0 2
16 Angular acceleration α rad/sec2 M L0 T
1
17 Angular momentum L Kg m2/s M L2 T
18 Moment of inertia I Kg m2 M L2 T 0
2
19 Torque N-m M L2 T
1
20 Angular frequency rad/s M 0
L0 T
0 1
21 Frequency f Hertz M L0 T
0 1
22 Time Period T sec M L0 T
23 modulus of elasticity Y, B, N/m2 M L 1 T 2
0
24 Strain l/l Unitless M L0 T 0
25 Pressure P N/m2 M L 1 T 2
28 Coefficient of viscosity N-s/m2 M L 1 T 1
2
29 Surface Tension T, α, N/m MT
30 Wavelength m L
3
31 Intensity of wave I W/m2 M L0 T
32 Temperature T K K
2
33 Specific heat capacity s, c J/kg-K 0 2
M L T K 1
3
34 Stefan’s constant W/m2-K4 M L0 T K 4
2
2
35 Heat Q J M L2 T
3
36 Thermal conductivity K W/m-K M LT K 1
37 Current i, I Ampere I
38 Charge q,Q Coulomb IT
39 Current density J A/m2 I L 2
40 Electrical conductivity mho/m M L 3 I 2T 3
41 Dielectric constant K, r Unitless M 0
L0 T 0
42 Electric dipole moment p C-m LIT
43 Electric field E V/m (=N/C) M I 1 T 2
3
44 Electric potential, Emf V, volt (V)(= J/C) M L2 I T
45 Electric flux E V-m M L3 I T 3
1
46 Capacitance C farad (F) M L 2 I 2 T 4
47 Resistance R Ohm () M L2 I 2 T 3
1
48 Permittivity of space o C2/N-m2 (= F/m) M L3 I 2 T 4
2 3
49 Permeability of space µo N/A2 M LI T
Tesla (T)
50 Magnetic field B M I 1 T 2
(= weber/m2)
51 Magnetic flux B weber (Wb) M L 2 I 1 T 2
Magnetic dipole
52 µ N-m/T I L2
moment
53 Inductance L Henry (H) M L2 I 2 T 2
3
PROBLEMS
Basics
1. A physical quantity is measured and the result is expressed as ' n u ' where
' u ' is the unit used and ' n ' is the numerical value. If the result is expressed
in various units then
(A) n size of u (B) n = u 2
1
(C) n u (D) n
u
2. Which of the following physical quantity is not based on universally constant
measurement?
(A) time (B) length (C) mass (D) none
3. Which of the following is not one of the seven fundamental SI units?
(A) Henry (B) Ampere (C) Candela (D) Mole
4. The clock used to maintain Indian Standard time is
(A) Pendulum clock (B) Cesium Atomic Clock
(C) Quartz clock (D) None
5. Meter is the distance travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of
1
second. Standard based on distance travel by light ensures (Speed
299792458
of light in vacuum is same for all the observers)
(A) invariability (B) reproducibility
(C) indestructibility (D) None of these
6. Which among the following are wrong?
A) A physical quantity can have unit but no dimension.
B) A physical quantity may have no unit and no dimension.
C) Two different physical quantities can have same unit but different
dimensional formula.
D) Two different physical quantities can have different unit but same
dimensional formula.
7. Find the unit for molecular mass of a substance.
(A) gm (B) gm/mol (C) mol (D) mol/gm
8. Which of the following pairs have same dimensions?
(A) work and angular momentum
(B) light year and wavelength
(C) stress and work
(D) energy and modulus of elasticity
9. Which of the following sets cannot enter into the list of fundamental
quantities in any system of units?
(A) length, mass and velocity (B) length, time and velocity
(C) mass, time and velocity (D) length, time and mass
10. Dimensional analysis gives:
A) no information about dimensionless constants
B) information about dimensionless constants
4
C) information about dimensionless constant if quantity does not depend
upon more than three variables.
D) information about dimensionless constants if quantity depends upon
single variable
11. The dimension ML– 1 T – 2 can correspond to
(A) moment of a force (B) surface tension
(C) modulus of elasticity (D) coefficient of viscosity
12. If E, M, J and G denote energy, mass, angular momentum and gravitational
EJ 2
constant respectively, then has dimensions of
M 5G 2
(A) length (B) angle (C) mass (D) time
Dimensional correctness of equation
13. What is dimension of ‘0.5’ in the equation E = 0.5mv2
(A) 0 (B) 1 (C) 2 (D) 3
14. What is the dimensional formula of “20” in x = 20t2
(A) MoLoTo (B) MoLoT – 2 (C) MoL1T – 2 (D) none
15. Which of the following equations are dimensionally correct?
(A) Pressure = Energy per unit volume
(B) Pressure = Energy per unit area
(C) Pressure = Force per unit area
(D) Pressure = Momentum ×Volume × Time
16. Given that v is the speed, r is radius and g is acceleration due to gravity.
Which of the following quantity is dimensionless
(A) v 2 g /r (B) v 2 g r (C) v r 2 g (D) v 2 /g r
a
17. If the velocity of the particle is given by v bt 2 ; the dimensions of a & b
t
are given as
(A) L; LT – 3 (B) L2; LT – 3 (C) L; LT – 2 (D) L; L2 T – 3
18. If force (F) is given by F p t 1 t , where t is time. The unit of P is same
as that of
(A) velocity (B) displacement (C) acceleration (D) momentum
x
19. The equation of a wave is given by: y A sin K
v
where is angular velocity and v is the linear velocity. The dimension of K
is:
(A) LT (B) T (C) T – 1 (D) T2
20. The Vander Waal’s equation of state for some gases can be expressed as
a
P 2 (V b) RT
V
5
where P is the pressure, V the molar volume and T is the absolute
temperature of the given sample of gas, a, b and R constants. The dimensions
of ‘a’ are:
(A) ML5 T – 2 (B) ML– 1 T – 2 (C) L3 (D) L6
21. In the above question, the dimensions of constant ‘b’ are :
(A) ML5 T – 2 (B) ML– 1 T – 2 (C) L3 (D) L6
a a t2
22. The dimensions of in the equation P where P is pressure, x is
b bx
distance and t is time are
(A) M2 LT – 3 (B) MT – 2 (C) LT – 3 (D) ML3T– 1
23. The position of a particle at time 't' is given by the relation
v
x (t ) 0 1 e t , where vo is a constant and α > 0. The dimensions of vo
and α are respectively:
(A) MoL1T0 and T–1 (B) MoL1T0 and T–2
(C) MoL1T–1 and T–1 (D) MoL1T–1 and T–2
24. Which of the following combinations of three dimensionally different
physical quantities P, Q, R can never be a meaningful quantity?
(A) PQ – R (B) PQ/R (C) (P – Q) / R (D) (PR – Q2)/ QR
25. A problem in I. E. Irodov's book is stated as: "A particle of mass m is located
in a region where its potential energy [U(x)] depends on the position x as
a b
Potential Energy U ( x ) 2 here a & b are positive constants ...". Write
x x
dimensional formula of a & b.
a
nRT RTV
26. In the formula P e . Find the dimensions of a and b, where
V b
P: pressure n: no. of moles
T: temperature V: volume and
R: universal gas constant.
Deriving relation between physical quantities
27. If force (F), acceleration (A) and the time (T) are used as the fundamental
units, the dimensional formula for length will be:
(A) F0 aT2 (B)Fa0T2 (C) Fa2 T0 (D) FaT
28. A particle of mass m is attached to the end of a light string of length l. The
other end of the string is attached to a fixed point on a smooth table. The
particle is travelling in a horizontal circle on the table with angular velocity
rad/sec. Assuming that the force in the string depends only upon m, l &
find an expression for this force.
29. If energy (E), density () and power (P) form a fundamental system of units.
Find the dimensional formula of momentum in terms of these quantities.
6
30. If energy (E), density () and power (P) form a fundamental system of units,
find the dimensional formula of universal gravitational constant (G) in this
system.
31. The loss of pressure when a fluid flows through a pipe is given by
P k a l v b d c , where d and l are diameter and length of the pipe
respectively, and µ are the mass density and coefficient of viscosity of the
fluid, v is the mean velocity of flow through the pipe and k is a pure
numerical constant. Find the values of a, b and c.
Converting System of Units
32. The units of length, velocity and force are doubled. Which of the following is
the correct change in the other units?
(A) unit of time is doubled
(B) unit of mass is doubled
(C) unit of momentum is doubled
(D) unit of energy is doubled
33. In a given system of units, 1 unit of mass = 2 kg, 1 unit of length = 5 m and 1
unit of time = 5 sec. Then in this system, 1 N represents:
5 2
(A) units of force (B) units of force
2 5
1
(C) 2 units of force (D) units of force.
2
34. The density of mercury is 13600 kg/m3. Its value in CGS system will be :
(A) 13.6 g/cm3 (B) 1360 g/cm3 (C) 136 g/cm3 (D) 1.36 g/cm3
35. In a particular system of unit, if the unit of mass becomes twice and that of
time becomes half. Then find the value of 8 J in new system of units.
36. If the unit of length be doubled then find the numerical value of gravitational
constant G with respect to the new value.
37. In a new system of units, 1 unit of force is 100 N, 1 unit of velocity is 2 m/s
and 1 unit of time is 4 s. Then find the density of water (1000 kg/m3) in new
system of units.
7
ANSWER KEYS
1. D 22. B
2. C 23. C
3. A 24. C
4. B 25. [a] = ML4 T – 2;
5. ABC [b] = ML3 T – 2
6. C 26. [a] = ML5T – 2mol–1 [b] = L3
7. B 27. A
8. B 28. F k m 2 l.
9. B
29. E 7/ 5 1/ 5 P 3/ 5
10. A
11. C 30. E 2 1 P 2
12. B 31. a = 0; b = 1; c = – 2
13. A 32. C
14. C 33. A
15. AC 34. A
16. D 35. 1
17. AD 1
18. D 36. 1 SI unit of G n.u. of G
8
19. B
37. 2560
20. A
21. C
