Lesson 1 Exponents

Physics usually dealt with numbers and variables with numerical superscripts.  This lesson will
help you to understand the importance of exponents in everyday math applications.
Exponents tell us how many times a number is multiplied to itself.
Example:
b2 = (b)(b) 
Where b is the base and 2 is the exponent
Rules on the use of exponents:
1. When multiplying two powers of the same base, add the exponent.
Ex. (2 m2) (3 m) = (2 m2) (3m1)
= (2)(3)(m2+1)
= 6 m3
2. To obtain a power of a power, multiply the exponents.
Ex. (2 m)2 = 22 m2
= (2)(2)(m2)
= 4 m2
3. When dividing two powers of the same base, subtract the exponent.
25 cm3 25 3 −2 1
Ex. 2
= cm =5 cm ∨5 cm
5 cm 5

4. To find a power of a fraction, simplify the fraction and raise the numerator and the
denominator to the specified power.
2 2
10 km2 10 2 km2
Ex. (2 km ) ( )( )
=
2 km
2
= (5 ) ( km2−1 )
2

2
= 25 ( km 1 ) =25 km 2

Lesson 2 Scientific Notations

In studying Physics, we sometimes deal with very large or very small quantities like the
mass of the atom and mass of the Earth respectively. Scientific notation is a convenient way of
writing very large or very small numbers. In scientific notation, numbers are represented by the
product of multiplying factor (base number) and a power of ten (exponential term). 
Base number
6.4 x 104 exponential term

To convert whole number or decimal numbers into scientific notation, this can be done by
moving the decimal point until only one digit which is non-zero remains on the left. Count the
numbers of places the decimal point was moved and use the number of places as exponent of ten.
The sign of the exponent depends whether you count off places to the right (-) or to the left (+).
 Example:
600000000000000000000000 6 x 1024

0.000000000000000000000000000000911 9.11 x 10 -31

Quantities to be added or subtracted must have the same exponents as well as units. If the
powers of ten are not the same, they must be made the same.
Example: 4.5 x 106 m – 3 x 105 m = 4.5 x 106 m – 0.3 x 106 m
= 4.2 x 106 m

The product of two numbers written in scientific notation is the product of the base
numbers times 10 raised to the sum of their exponents.
Example: (5 x 103) (3 x 102) = (5)(3) x 10 5+2 m1+1
= 1.5 x 108 m2

The quotient of two numbers is the quotient of the base numbers times 10 raised to the
difference of their exponents.

5 x 107 m2 5 7−5 2−1 2

Example: 5
= x 10 m =2 .5 x 10 m
2 x 10 m 2

Prefixes for Metric Units

Prefix Abbreviation Power of 10 Equivalent
yocto y 10-24 septillionth
zepto z 10-21 sextillionth
atto a 10-18 quintillionth
femto f 10-15 quadrillionth
pico p 10-12 trillionth
nano n 10-9 billionth
micro µ 10-6 millionth
milli m 10-3 thousandth
centi c 10-2 hundredth
deci d 10-1 tenth
deka or deca da 101 ten
hecto h 102 hundred
kilo k 103 thousand
mega M 106 million
giga G 109 billion
tera T 1012 trillion
peta P 1015 quadrillion
exa E 1018 quintillion
zetta Z 1021 sextillion
yotta Y 1024 septillion
Lesson 3 Significant Figures
Significant figures are numbers or digits that are known with certainty. The number of
significant figures of a numerical quantity is the number of reliably known digits it contains and
is based on the precision of the instrument used in measuring the quantity.
Rules in Determining the Number of Significant Figures
1. All non-zero digits are significant
Example: 2368 has four significant figures (2,3,6,8)
2. Leading zeroes are not significant; they simply locate the decimal point.
Example: 0.000143 m has three significant figures. (1,4,3)
3. Zeroes between two non-zero digits are significant.
Example: 105.03 m has five significant figures (1,0,5,0,3)
4. Trailing zeroes are usually significant but can be ambiguous.
Examples: ´ cm has three significant figures
100
100. cm has three significant figures
1.00 cm has three significant figures
P100 has three significant figures
100 cm is ambiguous: the zeros may or may not be significant
1.1 x 102 cm has two significant figures
1.00 x 102 cm has three significant figures

Lesson 4 Formula Transformation

Formula is an equation, usually expressed in letters called variables and numbers. A
variable is a symbol, usually a letter, used to represent some unknown number or quantity. To
solve a formula for a given letter means to express the given letter or variable in terms of all the
remaining letters. Rewrite the formula so that the given letter appears on one side of the equation
by itself and the other letter appears on the other side.

Example 1: A=l x w

The symbol written on the left side of the equality sign is usually the unknown quantity
(subject of the formula) and the symbols on the right side are known the quantities.
Using the example above, if the values of A and l are given and the unknown quantity is
w, the subject of the formula is changed from A to w. By following algebraic rules, the equation
becomes
A
w=
l
 bc 2
Example 2: From the equation w= , solve c
4

bc 2
w= perform cross multiplication of the terms so that,
4

4 w=bc 2 divide both sides by b so that,

4 w bc 2 c 2=
4w
= get the square root of both sides
b b b

4w 4w
√ c 2= √ b
simplify to obtain c=
√ b
answer