PowerPoint

Presentations for
Physics for the
Life Sciences

Adapted for the

Third Edition by
Philip Backman
University of
New Brunswick

Copyright © 2017 by Nelson Education Ltd.

Physics and the
Life Sciences

Chapter 1

Copyright © 2017 by Nelson Education Ltd.

 Contents
1. The Predictable Universe
2. Significant Figures
3. Scientific Notation
4. Units of Measure
5. Dimensional Analysis
6. Proportionality
7. Order of Magnitude Estimation

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 The Predictable Universe

• Physicists produce models that focus our

attention on the most important properties of
a system.

• Complexity that is unlikely to significantly

change the outcome is ignored.

• These models must predict results that can be

tested in the real world.

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The Heart as a Pump
The force needed to
pump blood to the brain

measurement

From model

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KEY POINT

The last significant digit in a quantity is an

approximate indicator of the uncertainty in
that quantity.

KEY POINT

The number of significant digits in a quantity

is an approximate indicator of the relative
uncertainty in that quantity.

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Identifying Significant Figures
• All nonzero digits are significant

• Zeroes between non-zero digits are significant

• Leading zeros are never significant

• In a number with a decimal point, trailing zeros

(those to the right of the last non-zero digit)
are significant.

• In a number without a decimal point, trailing

zeros may or may not be significant

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 Scientific Notation

a ×10b

a is a real number between 1 and 10

b is an integer that describes the order of

magnitude of the quantity

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 Determining number of significant
figures to retain in a calculation

When multiplying or dividing numbers, the

result has the same number of significant figures
as the least accurate number used in the
calculation.

When adding or subtracting numbers, the

result has the same precision (position of the
rightmost significant digit) as the least precise
number used in the calculation.

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Concept Question

A typical student has a mass of 62 kg. Each student

is carrying a book with a mass of 1.45 kg. What is
the total mass of 152 of
these book-carrying students?
(a) 9600 kg 62 + 1.45 = 63.45 = 63
0 𝑑. 𝑝. 2 𝑑. 𝑝. 0 𝑑. 𝑝.
(b) 9640 kg
𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 2 𝑠. 𝑓.
(c) 9420 kg
𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑤𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑓𝑢𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠
(d) 9400 kg 𝑤𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔

63.45 ∗ 152 = 9644.4 = 9600

*2 𝑠. 𝑓. 3 𝑠. 𝑓. 2 𝑠. 𝑓.

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KEY POINT

Physics, by and large, is communicated using

SI units.

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Example

Convert the following squared and cubed units:

(a) How many cm2 are in 1 m2?

(b) Write 15 cm3 in units of m3.

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Example (continued)

(a) 1 m = 100 cm. Therefore,

2
100 cm 
1m 1m  
2 2
  10 4
cm 2
.
 m 

(b) Similarly,
3
 1m  5
15 cm  15 cm  
3 3
  1.5  10 m 3
.
100 cm 

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 Dimensional Analysis

Dimensional analysis is based on the idea that

only quantities with the same dimensions can be
added or subtracted, or equal to each other. For
instance, it wouldn't make sense to add
5 seconds to 3 metres. Therefore, checking the
dimensions is a quick way of finding mistakes in
an equation.

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Concept Question

The position of a mass attached to the end of a

spring is given by the equation y = 25sin (wt),
where y is measured in metres and t is measured
in seconds. What must the unit of w be?

(a) s
(b) m
(c) m s−1
(d) s−1

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Example

Let’s try to derive a formula for the period of a

grandfather clock.

The key component in a grandfather clock is a

pendulum, which is a weight attached to a light
rod that can swing back and forth about a hinge
on the top.

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Example (continued)

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Example (continued)

The length of the pendulum is l and the mass of

the weight is m.

Ignore the mass of the rod since it is much lighter

than the weight.

What are the factors that possibly affect the

period of swing? Besides m and l, the gravity due
to Earth must play a role as it is gravity that
causes the swinging motion.

The effect of gravity is characterized by g, the

acceleration due to gravity.

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Example (continued)

We can postulate that the period of swing

depends on m, l, and g in a simple power form
with the powers to be determined:

T cm l g x y z

C is a dimensionless coefficient.

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Example (continued)

z
L
[T ]  [ M ] [ L]  2  , that is,
x y

T 
y z 2 z
[T ]  [M ] [ L] x
[T ] .

x0

y
1 l
2
T c
g
1
z
2
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 Proportionality

There is a distinct correlation between brain

mass and body mass.

brain mass  (body mass) 0.68

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Source: Based on data from Crile and Quiring (1940); Australopithecus Afarensis data from “An Introduction to Human
Evolutionary Anatomy,” p. 191, Aiello & Dean, 1990; Homo Floresiensis data from Nature 431, 1055–1061, 2004.

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Example

Suppose in a certain fictitious island, the arm length

(A) of a person is directly proportional to height (H) of
that person. A ∝ H. A certain man in this island is 1.80
m in height and his arm length is 82 cm. If his son’s
arm length is 70 cm only, what is the son’s height?
𝐴 = 𝑘𝐻 𝐴𝐹 = 𝑘𝐻𝐹 𝐴𝑆 = 𝑘𝐻𝑆
𝐴𝑆 𝑘𝐻𝑆 70 𝐻𝑆 70 ∗ 1.80
= = 𝐻𝑆 = = 1.54 𝑚
𝐴𝐹 𝑘𝐻𝐹 82 1.80 82

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 Order of Magnitude
Estimation

Enrico Fermi popularized the use of this order

of magnitude analysis in the middle of the
20th century.

Order of magnitude estimation is the first tool

that should come out of your toolbox when
developing a physical model.

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Example
How many times an average human heart beats
before dying?

= 80 times/min * 80 (years converted to min)

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