MAP 2142 Physics

Chapter 1: Physical Quantities And SI Units

Answer all questions.

1. Explain these terms:

i. physical quantity
ii. base quantities
iii. derived quantities

2. List base quantities along with the symbol, SI Unit and unit symbol.

Physical Quantity Base S.I. Unit

Base Quantity Quantity Symbol S.I. Unit Unit symbol

3. Derived quantities as well as their units are expressed in terms of base quantities and
base S.I. units as follows:
Given that l: length, m: mass, t: time, I: electric current, T: temperature.

Derived quantities Expressed in base quantities Derived quantities

(Area)
Area (A)
Volume (V)
Density (ρ)

4. Prefixes are used to express some physical quantities that are either very big or very
small. List all prefixes.
 MAP 2142 Physics
Chapter 1: Physical Quantities And SI Units

5. Express (a) a length of 36 mm in metres, (b) 32 400 mm 2 in square metres (c) 8 540 000
mm2 in cubic metres.

6. Determine the area of a room 15 m long by 8 m wide in (a) m2 (b) cm2 and (c) mm2

7. A cube has sides each of length 50 mm. Determine the volume of the cube in cubic
metres.

8. A container has a capacity of 2.5 litres. Calculate its volume in (a) m 3 (b) mm3

9. Convert 2 kmh-1 to ms-1.

10. Evaluate each of the following and express with SI units having an appropriate prefix:
(a) (50 mN)(6 GN)(b) (400 mm)(0.6 MN)2 (c) 45 MN3/900 Gg

11. The speed of a trolley is to be found by measuring the times it takes to travel a distance
of 46.0 m. If three timings taken are 43.25 s, 44.12 s, how should the average time and
average speed of the trolley be expressed?

12. Express the following quantities in their dimensions.

(a) Force (b) Density (c) Pressure (d) Power