Measurement and uncertainty
International system of units,
scientific notation and prefixes ,
significant digits
Properties
Colour
Size
Maximum speed
Describing an object or phenomenon
means indicating their properties
Properties Physical quantities
Units
A physical quantity must provide clear and unambiguous information
about the property it describes.
The measurement or description of any physical quantity is made relative
to a particular standard or unit
Examples
Property Physical quantity Unit
The quantity of matter in a body mass kg
Amount of space that an object volume m3
occupies
How fast a body moves speed m.s-1
The strength and direction of a force N
push or a pull
Do not confuse a physical quantity with its unit!
e.g., F=5N
Units used in Physics
7 base (or fundamental) units
Quantity Unit Symbol
Length Metre m
Mass kilogram kg
Time second s
Electric current ampére A
Thermodynamic kelvin K
temperature
Amount of substance mole mol
Luminous intensity candela cd
SI = International System of Units
Standard measurements
• must be:
1. Invariant in time. Ex.: a standard length that keeps changing would be useless
2. Readily accessible so that it can be easily compared
3. Reproducible so that people all over the world can check their instruments
Standard metre - (in 1983 has been defined in terms of speed of light)
– The metre is the length of path travelled by light in a vacuum during a time interval of 1/299 792
453 seconds
Standard kilogram - The definition of the kilogram changed fundamentally.
– Previous definition :The kilogram is the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram-the
mass of a particular piece of platinum-iridium alloy ,kept in Sevres, France. Which is an artefact
rather than a constant of nature.
– 2019 definition - The kilogram is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the Plank h to
be 6.62607015×10−34 when expressed in the unit J⋅s, which is equal to kg⋅m 2⋅s−1, where the metre
and the second are defined in terms of c and ΔνCs.
– For illustration, an earlier proposed redefinition that is equivalent to this 2019 definition is: "The
kilogram is the mass of a body at rest whose equivalent energy equals the energy of a collection of
photons whose frequencies sum to [1.356392489652×10 50] hertz."
Standard second
– The second is the duration of 9192631770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition
between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium 133 atom
Units used in Physics
Units can be combined in a variety of ways to
Secondary/Derived Units form complex units, many of which have their
own names/symbols
quantity formulation Complex unit For short
velocity distance/time m/s —
acceleration velocity/time m/s2 = m/s/s = m/s per s —
force F=ma kg·m/s2 Newton (N)
work/energy W=F·d kg·m2/s2 Joule (J = N·m)
power energy/time kg·m2/s3 Watt (W = J/s)
frequency cycles/second 1/s Hertz (Hz)
Pascals (Pa =
pressure force/area kg/m·s2
N/m2)
Length:
Distance Length (m)
Radius of visible universe 1 x 1026
To Andromeda Galaxy 2 x 1022
To nearest star 4 x 1016
Earth to Sun 1.5 x 1011
Radius of Earth 6.4 x 106
Sears Tower 4.5 x 102
Football field 1.0 x 102
Tall person 2 x 100
Thickness of paper 1 x 10-4
Wavelength of blue light 4 x 10-7
Diameter of hydrogen atom 1 x 10-10
Diameter of proton 1 x 10-15
Time:
Interval Time (s)
Age of universe 5 x 1017
Age of Grand Canyon 3 x 1014
32 years 1 x 109
One year 3.2 x 107
One hour 3.6 x 103
Light travel from Earth to Moon 1.3 x 100
One cycle of guitar A string 2 x 10-3
One cycle of FM radio wave 6 x 10-8
Lifetime of neutral pi meson 1 x 10-16
Lifetime of top quark 4 x 10-25
Mass:
Object Mass (kg)
Milky Way Galaxy 4x 1041
Sun 2x 1030
Earth 6 x 1024
Boeing 747 4x 105
Car 1x 103
Physics Student 7 x 101
Dust particle 1x 10-9
Top quark 3x 10-25
Proton 2 x 10-27
Electron 9 x 10-31
Neutrino 1 x 10-38
Conversion of Units
Example:
Distance Buffalo – Andromeda Nebula given in ly is 2 x106 ly .
What is the distance in km ?
1. Conversion factor: 1 ly=9.5 x 1012 km
2. Insert conversion factor:
d= 2 x 106 ly = 2 x 106 x 1 ly = 2 x 106 x 9.5 x 1012 km
= 1.9 x 1019 km
Remember: 10a x10b = 10a+b
10a/10b = 10a-b
Examples:
• Speed limit on german autobahn is 150 km/h. What is
the speed limit in m/h ?
• A very good fastball pitcher can throw the ball 100 m/h.
What is the ball speed in m/s?
1 - 450 m/s
2 - 45 m/s
3 - 0.045 m/s
Activity 1
1. Which of the following isotopes is associated with the standard measurement of time
a. Uranium -235
b. Krypton 86
c. Cesium 133
d. Carbon 12
2. Convert the following to fundamental SI units:
a. 5.6g
b. 3.5µA
c. 3.2 dm
d. 6.3mm
e. 2.25 tonnes
f. 440 Hz
3. Convert the following to SI units:
1. 2.24 MJ
2. 2.50 kPa
3. 2.7 km h-1
4. 2.5 mm2
5. 2.4 l
6. 3.6 cm3
Activity 1- answers
1. Which of the following isotopes is associated with the standard measurement of time
a. Uranium -235
b. Krypton 86
c. Cesium 133
d. Carbon 12
2. Convert the following to fundamental SI units:
a. 5.6g = 5.6 10-3
b. 3.5µA =3.5 x 10-6
c. 3.2 dm =3.2x 10-2
d. 6.3mm =6.3x10-9
e. 2.25 tonnes =2.25x103
f. 440 Hz =440 s-1
3. Convert the following to SI units:
1. 2.24 MJ =2.24x106 J
2. 2.50 kPa =2.50 x 103 Nm-2
3. 2.7 km h-1 =7.5x10-1 ms-1
4. 2.5 mm2 = 2.5 x 10 -6 m2
5. 2.4 l =2.4x 10 -3 m3
6. 3.6 cm3 =3.6 x 10 -6 m3
Rounding, Orders of Magnitude, Significant
Figures
