UNITS AND MEASUREMENTS (5 marks)

Contents : 1.1 Unit, Physical quantities: fundamental and derived quantities and their units.
1.2 System of units: CGS, MKS, FPS and SI
1.3 Dimensions, dimensional formula
1.4 Errors, types of errors: instrumental, systematic and random error, significant figures
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INTRODUCTION:-
Physics is a branch of science which deals with study of various natural phenomenon. The
method to study natural phenomenon consists of careful & systematic observation of the
phenomenon, performance of experiment & accurate measurement, theoretical explanation in the
form of relationship between the physical quantities.
Need of measurement and unit in engineering and science:
The main purpose of experiment is to establish the laws which show how one quantity
changes with the change in other quantities. Hence accurate measurement is very important
because the validity of any law depends upon accuracy of measurements. Measurement is
necessary for engineers, scientists and to the society in everyday life.
Measurement is done by comparison of given physical quantity with universally accepted
standard. Without unit, measurement is meaningless.
1.1 Unit, Physical Quantity
What are physical quantities?
The quantities which can be measured are called as physical quantities.

Que. Define unit of a physical quantity and state the requirements of standard unit.
Ans.- unit is defined as the standard used for measurement of a physical quantity.
Requirements of an standard unit
1) The unit should be invariable with place and time i.e. it magnitude should not change
with place and time .
2) The unit should be universally accepted.
3) The unit should be easily reproducible, so that its copies can be made.
4) It should be readily available.
5) It should be definite & well defined.

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Que. Define fundamental and derived physical quantities.
Ans.- Fundamental quantities – The physical quantities which do not depend on any other
quantity for their measurement are called as fundamental quantities.
e.g. –length, mass, time, Electric current, luminous intensity, temperature, etc.
Derived quantities—The physical quantities which depend upon two or more fundamental
quantities for their measurement are called as derived quantities.
e.g. area, volume, speed, density, etc.

Que.- Define fundamental and derived units.

Ans.- Fundamental or basic units – The units (standard) used for measurement of fundamental
quantities are called fundamental units.
e.g.- meter, kilogram, second, ampere, candela and kelvin
Derived units- The units (standard) used for measurement of derived quantities are called derived
units.
e.g. m2, m3, m/s, kg/m3 etc.

1.2 System of Units

Que.- State different types of systems of units with their fundamental quantities and units.
Ans.- The fundamental and derived units together form system of units.
Types of systems of units are - 1) FPS 2) CGS 3) MKS 4) SI
Fundamental quantities & units in FPS, CGS & MKS are as follows -

Fundamental quantities System of units

FPS CGS MKS

Length foot centimeter Meter

Mass pound gram Kilogram
Time second second Second

Fundamental quantities & units in SI-

SI stands for System International. This system was adopted from 1962 and is universally
accepted. It contains seven fundamental and two supplementary quantities as given below-
Fundamental quantities in SI-

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 Sr. no. Physical quantity Unit Symbol of unit
1 Length meter M
2 Mass kilogram Kg
3 Time second S
4 electric current ampere A
5 luminous intensity candela Cd
6 Temperature kelvin K
7 amount of substance mole Mole

Supplementary quantities & their units in SI

Sr.no. Physical quantity Unit Symbol of unit

1 Plane angle radian Rad
2 Solid angle steradian Sr

1.3 Dimensions and Dimensional Formula.

Dimension:
The dimensions of a physical quantity are the powers to which fundamental unit must be raised to
obtain the unit of a given physical quantity.

For example dimension of length is [L], mass is [M], time is [T], current is [A] etc

Dimensional Formula:
The expression which shows how and which of the base quantities represents the dimensions of a
physical quantity is called dimensional formula.

For example
Area= Length X bredth
=[L] X [L]= [L2]
Area=[L2 M0 T0 ]

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Dimensional Formula of some physical quantities

Sr. Physical Quantity Formula Dimensional Formula SI Unit

No.
1 Area Length x breadth [L2 M0 T0 ] m2
2 Volume Lxbxh [L3 M0 T0 ] m3
3 Velocity Displacement/time [L1 M0 T-1 ] m/s
4 Density Mass/volume [L-3 M1 T0 ] kg/m3
5 Acceleration Velocity/time [L1 M0 T-2 ] m/s2
6 Momentum Mass x velocity [L1 M1 T-1 ] kgm/s
7 Impulse Force x time [L1 M1 T-1 ] kgm/s
8 Work Force x displacement [L2 M1 T-2 ] kgm2/s2
9 Force Mass x acceleration [L1 M1 T-2 ] Kgm/s2
10 Pressure Force/ area [L-1 M1 T-2 ] kg/ms2
11 Torque τ = rF sin θ [L2 M1 T-2 ] Nm
12 Energy Force x displacement [L2 M1 T-2 ] kgm2/s2
13 Thermal Qd [L1 M1 T-3 K-1] W/mK
K=
conductivity At (θ1 − θ 2 )

14 Electric Current I=q/t [L0 M0 T-1 Q1] A

15 Magnetic Flux φ = B cos θ [L2 M1 T-1 Q-1] wb
16 Resistance R=V/I [L2 M1 T-3 I-2] Ohm

Applications of Dimensional Formula:

1. To derive the relationship between physical quantities.

2. To determine the unit of a given physical quantity.
3. Conversion from one system to another.
4. To validate given equation.
1.4 Errors and Error Estimation
Que.- State the difference between mistakes and errors.
Ans.-1. Mistake is a fault produced due to carelessness of the observer.

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An error is a fault due to the limitations of the instruments , human limitations, atmospheric
conditions.
2. Mistakes can be avoided by taking proper care but errors cannot be avoided, only it can be
minimized.
Que.- Define errors and explain types of errors with examples.
Ans-Error is defined as a fault produced due to limitations of the instruments, human limitations
and experimental conditions.
There are three main types of errors-
1)Instrumental(constant) error 2)Systematic (personal) error 3)Random error.
1)Instrumental or constant errors –
These errors are produced due to use of faulty instrument.
e.g. 1) Micrometer or vernier having zero error.
2) Voltmeter/Ammeter pointer is not at zero mark before passing current.
3) Scale is not properly calibrated or worn out due to prolonged use.
As this type of error is same for every reading hence called as constant error. The instrumental
error can be eliminated by taking the same measurement with accurate(fault free) instrument.

2) Systematic or personal errors –

This error is caused due to human limitations, lack of experience, wrong method such as
parallax. e.g. stop watch is not started or stopped at the correct moment ,line of vision of
observer is not exactly above the pointer of voltmeter (parallax).
This error can be reduced by improving skill ,using digital display.
3)Random errors-
These errors are produced due to change in experimental conditions like temperature and
due to limitation of least count of the instrument. e.g. measurement is small than the least count
of the instrument.

Que.-How to minimize errors ? or How to increase accuracy ?

Ans.-1)The least count of the measuring instrument has to be as small as possible.
2)The magnitude of the quantity to be measured has to be as large as possible.
3)Take more no. of readings and calculate mean value.

Que.- State formulae for estimation of error.

Ans.-The estimation of error can be done by following methods

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 1)Absolute error 2)Average absolute error 3)Relative error 4) Percentage Error.
1)Absolute error-
The difference between the average value and each measured value taken in modulus i.e.
absolute value is called as absolute error.
Let, A1, A2 are the readings and Am is its average (mean) value.
Then absolute error is given by, ĺδA 1 ĺ =(A m – A 1 ), ĺδA 2 ĺ = (A m – A 2 )
e.g. let the readings are 2.55 cm,2.56 cm & 2.57 cm .Its average will be 2.56 cm. Then ,
ĺ 2.56-2.55ĺ =0.01, ĺ 2.56-2.56ĺ = 0 , ĺ 2.56-2.57ĺ = 0.01 gives absolute error.
2) Average absolute error –
The average of all absolute errors gives the average absolute error (δA m )
δA m = ĺδA 1 ĺ + ĺδA 2 ĺ + ĺδA 3 ĺ
3
= 0.01 + 0 + 0.01
3
3)Relative error- = Average absolute error
Average value
= δA m
Am
4)Percentage error = Relative error x 100 %
= Average absolute error x 100 %
Average value
The accuracy of the measurement is indicated by the % error. Smaller the % error, greater is the
accuracy of the measurement.

Que. Define significant figures and state the rules adopted to determine significant figures.
Ans.-Significant figures is defined as the number of accurately known digits which are reasonably
trustworthy (reliable) in a given measurement.

Rules for determining significant figures—

1) Only one uncertain figure should be retained in the measurement. It depends on the least
count of the instrument. e. g. If length of object is 5.14 cm using a vernier caliper of least count
0.01 cm. In this , the first two digits are definite but the third digit (4) is not definite. The actual
length of object may be slightly greater or less than 5.14 cm. The reading has three significant
figures.

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2) If the least count of the instrument is 0.001 cm, then the result should be written in 3 digits
after a decimal point.e. g. If the least count is 0.001 cm & the result is 5.194 cm. It will be incorrect
if it is written as 5.19 cm but it must be 5.194 cm , as the least count has three digits after a decimal
point. It has 4 significant figures.
3) The zeroes on the left hand side of a number are not significant.e. g. If the reading is 0.042,
it has only two significant figures.
4) The zeroes on the right side of a number are significant e. g. The reading 1.130 has four
significant figures.
5) If the number of digits exceeds, then it is expressed in terms of powers of 10. e.g. 5.98 x
24
10 . It has three significant figures.
6) When a number is to be rounded off to a specific number of significant figures then.
a) If the last figure to be dropped is more or equal to 5, the last figure retained is increased by
1. i.e. 21.57 is written as 21.6
b) If the last figure to be dropped is less than 5, the last figure retained remains unchanged.
e.g. 24.53 is written as 24.5 if the last figure is to be dropped.
7) When average of a number of readings are taken, the number of digits limits up to
significant figures which depends on the least count of measuring instrument.

Que.- What is the need of significant figures ?

Significant figure is needed to represent accuracy and precision of the measurement.

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