Lesson 1.

Introduction to
Physics

General Physics 1
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
 Learning Competency
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to do the
following:

● Solve measurement problems involving

conversion of units, expression of
measurements in scientific notation
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● Differentiate accuracy from precision
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● Differentiate random errors from systematic
errors STEM_GP12EU-Ia3
2
 Performance Standard

• Solve, using experimental and theoretical approaches,

multiconcept, rich-content problems involving measurement,
vectors, motion in 1D and 2D, Newton’s Laws, Work, Energy,
Center of Mass, momentum, impulse and collisions

3
 Learning Competency
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to do the
following:
● Estimate errors from multiple measurements
of a physical quantity using variance
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● Differentiate vector and scalar quantities
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● Perform addition of vectors STEM_GP12V-Ia-
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● Rewrite a vector in component form
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4
Interactive Quiz

5
Check Your
Understanding

● What comes in your mind when you

hear “PHYSICS”?
● How do feel about the subject and
why?

Subject #: 1.1. Lesson title 6

 Here are a list of
significance of “PHYSICS”
to the Modern World

7
Helps remove
irrationality from our
explanations of the
world around us.
Prescientific thinking
resorted to
mythology to explain
natural phenomena
8
One of the biggest
discoveries that
humankind has ever
made is electricity.
Through a proper
understanding of
physics, we have been
able to harness it into
something useful for
electricity, which is just
a large collection of
electronics.
9
 Introduction to Physics

● Physics is science. Physics is fun. It is an exciting

adventure in the quest to find out patterns in
nature and find means of understanding
phenomena through careful deductions based on
experimental verification.

● Studying physics requires a sense of discipline.

● Physics is an experimental science.

10
 Introduction to Physics

● Physicists perform experiments to test

hypotheses. Conclusions in experiments are
derived from measurements. And physicists use
numbers to describe measurements. Such a
number is called a physical quantity.

● However, a physical quantity would make sense

to everyone when compared to a reference
standard. 11
Measurements are observed daily from speed
limits on highways to mass of grocery items.

12
Measurement is a
process of assigning a
quantity to describe a
property of an object by
comparing it with a
standard. This standard
requires it to be used by
different people from
different places and
getting the same result.
13
 International System or SI

● It is the standard system of measurement for the

fundamental quantities abbreviated from Système
International.

● It is established in 1960. It recognizes two systems of

measurements. The Metric System and the English
System

● The SI has recognized 7 quantities as physical quantities

which are: length, mass, time, electric current,
thermodynamic temperature, amount of substance, and 14
 SI Base Units

SI base units with their corresponding symbols

Quantity Typical symbol Unit Symbol

time t second s

length l, x, r, etc. meter m

mass m kilogram kg

electric current I, i ampere A

15
 SI Base Units

SI base units with their corresponding symbols

Quantity Typical symbol Unit Symbol

thermodynamic
T kelvin K
temperature

amount of
n mole mol
substance

luminous
Iv candela cd
intensity
16
International System Prefixes

17
International System Prefixes

18
Conversion of Units in Scientific
Notation

a) To convert length from a larger unit into a

smaller unit, multiply by the relevant power
of 10.
b) To convert length from a smaller unit into a
larger unit, divide by the relevant power of
10.
Conversion of Units in Scientific
Notation

Example:
You have 50,000 kg of rice as your yield in your
farm. How much is this amount in unit kg and
grams?

Move the decimal point to

50,000.0 the left.

kg
Conversion of Units

● Convert (a) 55 km to meters and (b) 12 g to

kilograms. Express your answers in scientific
notation.

a. 55 km = 55 km x 1000m/1km = 55 x 1000 m
= 5.5x104 m

b. 12 g = 12 g x 1kg/1000 g = 1.2x10-2 kg
Conversion of Units Example
Conversion of Units
Conversion of Units
Errors

● Errors are unavoidable.

● We have two forms of errors which are;
a) Random errors
- as the name suggest, result from
unpredictable or inevitable changes during
data measurements
b) Systematic errors
-on the other hand, usually come from
the measuring instrument or in the design of
 Measurement

Suppose you want to measure the thickness of this

book. What unit of measurement will you use?

26
Measurement

What instrument or equipment will you use in

measuring the thickness of this book?

27
 Measurement

Can a measuring tape be used in measuring the

thickness of the book?

28
 Measurement

Can a ruler be used in measuring the thickness of the

book?

29
Measurement

Can a vernier caliper be used in measuring the

thickness of the book?

30
Check Your
Understanding

• From your given ideas, how will you

differentiate accuracy from precision?

• When measuring, do you always get an

accurate and precise measurement?

Subject #: 1.1. Lesson title 31

• Which of the
following shows
high accuracy?

• Which of the A B

following shows high

precision?

• Which of the
following shows low
accuracy and low C D
precision?
Check Your
Understanding
Question:

The volume of a liquid is 26 mL. A student measures the volume and

finds it to be 26.2 mL, 26.1 mL, 25.9 mL, and 26.3 mL in the first,
second, third, and fourth trial, respectively. Which of the following
statements is true for his measurements?
a. They are neither precise nor accurate.
b. They have poor accuracy.
c. They have good precision.
d. They have poor precision.
Subject #: 1.1. Lesson title 33
Check Your
Understanding

Question:

If the player shoots ball into the goal in one shot, he is said
to be accurate or precise?

Subject #: 1.1. Lesson title 34

 Accuracy vs. Precision
• The ability of an instrument to measure the accurate value is known as
accuracy. it is the the closeness of the measured value to a standard or true
value. Accuracy is obtained by taking small readings. The small reading reduces
the error of the calculation.
• The closeness of two or more measurements to each other is known as the
precision of a substance. If you weigh a given substance five times and get 3.2
kg each time, then your measurement is very precise but not necessarily
accurate. Precision is independent of accuracy.
• Accuracy is the degree of closeness between a measurement and its true value.
Precision is the degree to which repeated measurements under the same conditions
show the same results.

35
 Basic Statistical Calculations

Measuring the thickness of a book once may result in

low accuracy.

21.7
mm
36
 Basic Statistical Calculations

Measuring the thickness of a book multiple times may

increase accuracy.

21.7
mm,
21.5
37
 Measured Value

• Measurements always have some degree of

uncertainty due to unavoidable errors. Errors is the
deviation of a measured value from the expected or
true value.

• Uncertainty is a way of expressing this error

Measured Value = (True value + Uncertainty)

38
 Variance

• Another way to estimate errors from multiple

measurements of a physical quantity is to
determine the variance of the set of
measurements. The variance measures the
squared deviation of each number in the set from
the mean.

39
 Variance

During an experiment in a physics laboratory class, a group of five

students was asked to measure the period of a simple pendulum.
Their measurements were as follows: 2.3 s, 2.4 s, 2.2 s, 2.5 s, and
2.1 s. Determine the (a) mean, (b) variance, (c) standard deviation,
and (d) measured period of the pendulum.

40
Variance

True
Value

Uncertainty

41
 Vocabulary

• Accuracy - how close an answer is to the true value

• Precision - how close repeated measurements are to each other
• Percent error - measure of accuracy:
• Percent Error=|ExperimentalValue−TheoreticalValue|/ Theoretical
Value x (100)
• Random error - error that is random
• Significant figures - all certain digits plus first uncertain (guess value
that is smaller than smallest unit of scale)
• Standard deviation - measure of precision
• Systematic error - error with a bias

42
 Activity

A. Convert the following measurements.

1. 1,000 mm to centimeter
2. 750 kg to g
3. 3.2 km to m
4. 62 hrs to s
5. 12 minutes to hr

43
 Activity

B. Express each number in scientific notation.

1. 12,000 kg
2. 0.00012 hr
3. 765,000 m
4. 820 min
5. 9,200,000 km

44
Check Your
Understanding

• When do you consider a quantity is a scalar?

• When do you consider a quantity is a vector?

Subject #: 1.1. Lesson title 45

 Scalar and Vector Quantities

Scalar Quantities
● are quantities that are fully described by a
magnitude (or numerical value) alone
Vector Quantities
● are quantities that are fully described by
both a magnitude and a direction.

46
 Representing Vector Quantities

Vectors are represented by a single letter with an arrow

above them.

speed velocity
scalar quantity vector quantity

47
 Representing Vector Quantities

The magnitude of vectors is represented by the same

letter used in a vector quantity.

The magnitude is a scalar quantity and it is always

positive. 48
How do we represent vector
quantities?

49
Representing Vector Quantities

Displacement is a vector quantity, and it is

represented by an arrow.

50
Representing Vector Quantities

The length of the arrow represents the vector’s

magnitude.

shorter arrow,
smaller
magnitude

longer arrow,
bigger
magnitude
51
 Representing Vector Quantities

The arrowhead indicates the direction of the vector.

going more
north than east

going more east

than north

A more accurate description requires the use of xy 52

 Representing Vector Quantities

Rules in Representing Vectors

1. Begin by deciding on the scale that you want to use.

Scale: 1 cm = 1
km

This 5-cm arrow is 5 km in reality.

53
Representing Vector Quantities

Rules in
Representing
Vectors
2. Identify where
to place the
vector based
on its
direction.

54
Representing Vector Quantities

The direction of
the vector is
expressed as an
angle of rotation
either from the
north, south,
east, or west.

55
Representing Vector Quantities

By default, angles
are measured
from the east
direction.

56
 Let’s Practice!

Illustrate the displacement of a student

walking from one room to another taking up
30 meters to the west.

57
 Let’s Practice!

Illustrate the displacement of a student walking

from one room to another taking up 30 meters to
the west.

30 meters west

58
 Let’s Practice!

A car moved 12.5 km, 35° south of west.

Illustrate this displacement.

59
 Let’s Practice!

A car moved 12.5 km, 35° south of west.

Illustrate this displacement.

South of west

60
Try It!

A person traveled a total of 28 km,

85° south of east. Illustrate the
vector.

61
 Activity

Using your graphic paper, illustrate the vector

stated.

1. A car moved 12.5 km, 20° south of west.

Illustrate this displacement.
2. Your house is located 50km eastward away from
your school. What is the distance you will be
travelling everyday?
3. With list of errands to run, you travel 200m to
north for the grocery store, after you walked
50m southeast to the clinic, and 100m 45 ° 62
 Vectors

The Importance of Vectors

● Displacement, Gravity, Motion are best represented

in vectors.

● Where all these requires direction, therefore we

need to understand on how to use vectors.

63
 Vector Addition

● The sum of the vectors is called the resultant R→.

● Vectors are considered equal only if they have the

same magnitude and direction.

● Parallel vectors are those that are pointing in the

same direction. On the other hand, antiparallel
vectors are those that are in opposite directions.
64
 Vector Addition

● Vector addition follows the commutative and

associative laws of addition.

● Vectors can be added graphically using the head to

tail method. The tail of the next vector is connected
to the head of the previous vector. The resultant
vector can be obtained by connecting the tail of the
first vector to the head or tip of the last vector.
65
 Sample Problem

● Suppose a person covered two different

displacements:
A = 30 m, 30° north of east and B = 55 m, 70°
south of east. What is her total displacement?

66
1 cm = 10 m

Given:
A = 30 m, 30° north of east
B = 55 m, 70° south of east.
3cm 70°
A Find:
30° R= ?
?° B

5. 5c
m
Measure the length of R using ruler.
R Find the angle using protractor
?c
m

67
Solution

Vector Addition
(Graphically)

68
How are the components of
a vector calculated?

69
 Components of a Vector

Consider a displacement vector pointing northeast.

70
 Components of a Vector

It also has a component along the north (vertical

axis).

71
 Components of a Vector

It has a component along the east (horizontal axis).

72
Components of a Vector

A vector can be resolved into its components.

73
Components of a Vector

Can you resolve the components in this vector?

74
 Components of a Vector

The direction of the vector

angle 𝜃 (Greek letter

can be presented as

for theta), measured in a

counterclockwise
direction from the +x-
axis.

75
 Components of a Vector

Consider a right triangle below.

76
 Components of a Vector

The sides of the triangle can be defined from the angle.

Legend:
h = hypotenuse
(hyp)
o = opposite (opp)
a = adjacent (adj)

77
 Components of a Vector

Trigonometric functions can be expressed as the

following equations:

78
 Components of a Vector

Suppose we have the following displacement vector.

79
 Components of a Vector

It has a component in the vertical axis.

80
 Components of a Vector

It has a component in the horizontal axis.

81
 Components of a Vector

The relationships between its components and its angle

can be expressed as the given equations:

82
 Components of a Vector

Hence, trigonometrically, we can define the components

as the following equations.

83
 Let’s Practice!

What are the x- and y-components of a

displacement vector with a magnitude of 50 m
and an angle ofGiven:
30°?
𝜃 = 30 SOH-CAH-TOA
d= 50m

X= d cos 𝜃
Solution:
m
50
𝜃 30°
y = (50m) (cos 30)

Y= d sin 𝜃
= 43.3m
x
= (50m) (sin30)
= 25m
84
 Let’s Practice!

What are the x- and y-components of a

displacement vector with a magnitude of 50 m
and an angle of 30°?

m
50
𝜃 30°
y

x
The x-component of the vector is 43.30 m while
its y-component is 25 m.
85
 Let’s Practice!

A car has a displacement of 750 m, 45° north

of west. What are the components of the
displacement vector?
𝜃 = 45° N of W
Given:

d= 750m

𝜃 = 45+90= 135
Solution:
𝜃
X= d cos 𝜃
Note that 𝜃 should be
45°
75

y
0m

= (750m) (cos 135)

90° measured from the
Y= d sin 𝜃
= ‒530.33 m
x positive x-axis.
= (750m) (sin135)
= 530.33 m 86
 Let’s Practice!

A car has a displacement of 750 m, 45° north

of west. What are the components of the
displacement vector?

ɵ 45°

75
y

0m
90°
x
The x-component of the vector is ‒530.33 m
while its y-component is 530.33 m.
87
Try It!

Alexa pushed a crate with a force

of 120 N, at an angle of 15° south
of west. What are its components?

x-component is ‒115.91 N
y-component is ‒31.06 N
88
 Calculating the Resultant Vector

● In the same way that a vector can be resolved into

its components, a vector’s magnitude and direction
can also be calculated using its components.

● Trigonometric functions involving the angle and the

ratio of the sides of a right triangle can also be used
to calculate the resultant vector.

89
 Calculating the Resultant Vector

The resultant vector can be calculated using

Pythagorean theorem.

90
 Calculating the Resultant Vector

The angle or direction of the vector is determined using

the inverse tangent function of the ratio of the x- and y-
components.

To ensure that your final answer is correct it is very

important that you check the signs of the x- and y-
components. 91
 Let’s Practice!

What is the magnitude and direction of a

displacement vector if its components are as
follows: Ax = 10 m, Ay = 5 m?
Given:
X=10m

𝜃=?
Y=5m

d= ?
𝜃= tan-1 5/10
d
𝜃
y=5m Solution:
D= = 26.57°
x=10m =
= 11.18m In your calculator:
Enter shift tan 92
 Let’s Practice!

What is the magnitude and direction of a

displacement vector if its components are as
follows: Ax = 10 m, Ay = 5 m?

d
𝜃
y=5m

x=10m

11.18 m and a direction of 𝜃 = 26.57° or 26.57°

The displacement vector has a magnitude of

north of east.
93
Try It!

A force vector has components of

Fx = 90 N and Fy = 120 N. What is
the magnitude and direction of the
said vector?

d = 150 N, 53.13° (53.13° north of east)

94
 Recall: Graphical Method of Adding
Vectors
Vectors can be added by placing them head to tail.

Graphical method, however, is prone to measurement

errors. 95
 Analytical Method of Adding Vectors

Consider the word problem below.

Denise walks every day from her house to the school.

First, she covers 10 m, 20° north of east. Then, she
walked 15 m in a direction 50° north of east. What is
her resultant displacement?

96
 Analytical Method of Adding Vectors

We can represent the displacements as vectors.

Denise walks every day from her house to the school.

First, she covers 10 m, 20° north of east. Then, she
walked 15 m in a direction 50° north of east. What is
her resultant displacement?

97
Analytical Method of Adding Vectors

98
 Analytical Method of Adding Vectors

What is Denise’s
resultant displacement?

Step 1: Determine
whether the angles given
were measured from the
+x-axis.

Vector A is 10 m, 20º NE.

99
 Analytical Method of Adding Vectors

What is Denise’s
resultant displacement?

Step 1: Determine
whether the angles given
were measured from the
+x-axis.

Vector B is 15 m, 50º NE.

100
 Analytical Method of Adding Vectors

What is Denise’s resultant displacement?

Step 2: Resolve each vector into its x- and y-

components.

101
 Analytical Method of Adding Vectors

What is Denise’s resultant displacement?

Step 3: Add all components together.

102
 Analytical Method of Adding Vectors

Distanc Angle x-component y-component

e
A = 10 𝜃 = 20° 9.40 m 3.42 m
m
B = 15 𝜃 = 50° 9.64 m 11.49 m
m
Rx = 19.04 m Ry = 14.91 m103
 Analytical Method of Adding Vectors

What is Denise’s resultant displacement?

Step 4: Calculate the magnitude of the vector using

the Pythagorean theorem.

104
 Analytical Method of Adding Vectors

What is Denise’s resultant displacement?

Step 5: Calculate the angle 𝜃 using the inverse

tangent function.

105
 Analytical Method of Adding Vectors

Denise walks every day from her house to the school.

First, she covers 10 m, 20° north of east. Then, she
walked 15 m in a direction 50° north of east. What is
her resultant displacement?

The resultant vector of Denise is 24.18 m, 38.06°

or 38.06° north of east.

106
 Let’s Practice!

A car covered 25 km, 60° north of east on its

initial route. Afterwards, it covered 50 km in
the direction 30° north of west. What is its
resultant displacement?
Given:

𝜃1=60°
d1=25km

𝜃2= 60°+90°=150°
d2=50km
30°

Find:
x1=? x2=?
60°
y1=? y2=?
107
 Let’s Practice!

A car covered 25 km, 60° north of east on its

initial route. Afterwards, it covered 50 km in
the direction 30° north of west. What is its
resultant displacement?

d(cos𝜃) d(sin𝜃)
distance angle X-component Y-component

D1= 25km 𝜃1=60° 12.5km 21.65km

𝜃2=150°
30°
D2= 50km -43.30km 25km
Rx= -30.80km Ry=46.65km

60°

108
 Let’s Practice!

A car covered 25 km, 60° north of east on its

initial route. Afterwards, it covered 50 km in
the direction 30° north of west. What is its
resultant displacement?

𝜃= tan-1 Ry/Rx
Solution:
R=
= =tan-1 46.65/-30.80
30°
= 55.90 km = -56.57°

60°

109
 Let’s Practice!

A car covered 25 km, 60° north of east on its

initial route. Afterwards, it covered 50 km in
the direction 30° north of west. What is its
resultant displacement?

The resultant displacement is 55.90 km,

123.43° or 56.57° north of west.
110
Try It!

During his early morning training,

Louie jogged 10 km, 20° south of
west. He then covered another 15
km in the direction of 60° south of
east before resting. What is his
resultant displacement?
16.52 km, 263.40° or 83.40° south of west
111
 Processing

a. Which of the following is precise and accurate?

b. Which of the following is neither accurate nor
precise?
112
 Processing

2. In an experiment, 10 trials were done to

determine the range of a projectile. The
measurements for the range of the projectile in
centimeters are as follows:
134.8 133.9 135.1 134.7 135.3

134.9 135.2 134.8 135.5 135.4

113
Challenge Yourself

Explain how it is possible for a

distance to have value while its
displacement is zero.

114
 Synthesis

I. Why is there a need to have standard

measurements?
II. Why is there a need to convert units?
III. When do you considered it to be
accurate and precise?
IV. What are systematic errors and random
errors?
V. What are scalar and vector quantities?
115