MEASUREMENT

WHAT DO YOU
KNOW ABOUT
PHYSICS?
 CONVERSION OF UNITS
■ It is the conversion between different units of measurement for
the same quantity, typically through multiplicative conversion
factors.
■ There are two system of units used by scientists and engineers
around the world.
■ First one is “Metric System” or “International System of Units
(SI units)”.
- meter, kilogram, second, kelvin, ampere, mole, candela
■ The other one is “Imperial System” or “British System of Units”.
- inches, feet, yard, mile, fluid ounce, cup, pint, quart, gallon,
ounce, pound, ton
NOTABLE CONVERSION FACTOR FROM BRITISH
UNIT TO SI UNIT
■ Length: 1 inch = 2.54 centimeters
■ Mass: 1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds
■ Force: 1 pound-force = 4.448 newtons
■ Example: How many inches are there in 3 meters?
100 𝑐𝑚 1 𝑖𝑛
■ 3𝑚𝑥 𝑥 =
1𝑚 2.54 𝑐𝑚
■ = 𝟏𝟏𝟖. 𝟏𝟏 𝒊𝒏
■ How many newtons of force do you need to lift a 34 lb bag?
4.448𝑁
■ 34 𝑙𝑏𝑓 𝑥 =
1 𝑙𝑏𝑓
■ = 𝟏𝟓𝟏. 𝟐𝟑 𝑵
 RULES ON ROUNDING OFF NUMBERS
■ Know which last digit to keep.
■ This last digit remains the same if the next digit is less than 5.
■ Increase this last digit if the next digit is 5 or more.
■ Make all the next digits after the last digit 0.
■ Example: Round off 4395 to the nearest hundreds.
- Last digit will be 3. Since the next digit is 9 (5 or more), answer is
= 4400.
■ Example: Round off 5214 to the nearest tens.
- Last digit will be 1. Since the next digit is 4 (less than 5), answer
will be
= 5210.
 RULES ON ROUNDING OFF NUMBERS
■ Round off 10396 to the nearest thousands.
= 10,000
■ Round off 125296 to the nearest ten thousands.
= 130,000
■ Round of 197 to the nearest hundreds.
= 200
■ Round off 3921 to the nearest ones.
= 3,921
 CONVERTING STANDARD NOTATION TO
SCIENTIFIC NOTATION AND VICE VERSA
■ The power of the exponent tells us how many places to move the
decimal point.
■ The sign of the exponent tells us which direction to move it.
■ Always round off the standard notation into the nearest unit to
convert it to scientific notation. (Convert it to the point where the
coefficient in the scientific notation will be a number between 1 to
10)
 STANDARD NOTATION AND SCIENTIFIC
NOTATION
■ Standard/Regular Notation is the standard way of writing
numbers.
■ Example: seven hundred sixty can be written as
= 760

■ Scientific Notation is used so that very large and very small

numbers can be rewritten in the power of ten. It is the convenient
and shorthand way of writing really large or really small numbers.
■ Example: 280,000,000 can be written in scientific notation as
= 𝟐. 𝟖 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟖
 WRITING STANDARD NOTATION TO SCIENTIFIC
NOTATION
■ If the decimal is moved to the left, the exponent will be positive.
■ Example: 2,560,000 (Decimal: from right to left, Exponent=Positive)
■ Decimal will be moved to the nearest unit 6 places to the left.
Therefore, it’s scientific notation =
= 𝟐. 𝟓𝟔 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟔
■ If the decimal is moved to the right, the exponent will be negative.
■ Example: 0.000187 (Decimal: from left to right, Exponent=Negative)
■ Decimal will be moved to the nearest unit 4 places to the right.
Therefore, it’s scientific notation =
= 𝟏. 𝟖𝟕 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟒
 WRITING SCIENTIFIC NOTATION TO STANDARD
NOTATION
■ If the exponent is positive, move the decimal to the right. Add zeros
where it is needed.
■ Example: 3.8 𝑥 105 . Exponent is positive 5. Move the decimal 5 places to
the right. Add zeros after the number 8. Therefore, standard notation =
= 380,000.
■ If the exponent is negative, move the decimal to the left. Add zeros
where it is needed.
■ Example: 3.8 𝑥 10−5 . Exponent is negative 5. Move the decimal 5 places
to the left. Add zeros before the number 3. Therefore, standard notation
=
= 0.000038.
 WRITING SCIENTIFIC NOTATION TO STANDARD
NOTATION AND VICE VERSA
■ Convert 10,358,000 to scientific notation.
= 𝟏. 𝟎𝟑𝟓𝟖 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟕
■ Convert 0.001256 to scientific notation.
= 𝟏. 𝟐𝟓𝟔 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟑
■ Convert 7.3962 𝑥 103 to standard notation.
= 7,396.2
■ Convert 9.2𝑥 10−6 to standard notation.
= 0.0000092
 ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION OF SCIENTIFIC
NOTATION
■ To add or subtract two numbers in scientific notation, you first need to
convert them to the same power.

■ Example: 3.8 𝑥 105 + 2.4 𝑥 104 =

■ 3.8 𝑥 105 + 0.24 𝑥 105 =
■ = 𝟒. 𝟎𝟒 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟓

■ Example: 3.8 𝑥 105 − 2.4 𝑥 104 =

■ 3.8 𝑥 105 − 0.24 𝑥 105 =
■ = 𝟑. 𝟓𝟔 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟓
 MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION OF SCIENTIFIC
NOTATION
■ To multiply, find the product of the numbers, then add the
exponents.
■ Example: (9 𝑥 104 ) (3 𝑥 102 ) = 27 𝑥 106
= 𝟐. 𝟕 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟕

■ To divide, find the quotient of the number and subtract the

exponents.
9 𝑥 104
■ Example: =
3 𝑥 102
𝟐
= 𝟑 𝒙 𝟏𝟎
 ADDITION, SUBTRACTION, MULTIPLICATION,
AND DIVISION OF SCIENTIFIC NOTATION
■ 9.73 𝑥 104 + 9700 𝑥 100 =
𝟓
= 𝟏. 𝟎𝟕 𝒙 𝟏𝟎
5 3
■ 1.21 𝑥 10 − 57 𝑥 10 =
𝟒
= 𝟔. 𝟒 𝒙 𝟏𝟎
8 4
■ 12 𝑥 10 (7 𝑥 10 ) =
𝟏𝟑
= 8.4 𝒙 𝟏𝟎
20124 𝑥 107
■ =
156 𝑥 103
= 𝟏. 𝟐𝟗 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟔
 UNIT OF PREFIXES
■ Unit prefixes are symbols placed before the symbol of a
unit to specify the order of magnitude of the quantity.
 CONVERSION FACTOR USING PREFIXES
exa E 𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟖 hecto h 𝟏𝟎𝟐 micro μ 𝟏𝟎−𝟔
peta P 𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟓 deka da 𝟏𝟎𝟏 nano n 𝟏𝟎−𝟗
tera T 𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟐 ---------- ----- ---------- pico p 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟐
giga G 𝟏𝟎𝟗 deci d 𝟏𝟎−𝟏 femto f 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟓
mega M 𝟏𝟎𝟔 centi c 𝟏𝟎−𝟐 atto a 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟖
kilo k 𝟏𝟎𝟑 milli m 𝟏𝟎−𝟑

■ Convert 20 picofarad to Megafarad.

1 𝑀𝑓 20
■ 20 𝑝𝑓 𝑥 = 𝑀𝑓 = 20 𝑥 10−18 𝑀𝑓
106−(−12) 𝑝𝑓 1018
−𝟏𝟕
■ = 𝟐 𝒙 𝟏𝟎 𝑴𝒇
■ Convert 30 Megabytes to nanobytes.
106−(−9) 𝑛𝑏
■ 30 𝑀𝑏 𝑥 = 30 𝑥 1015 𝑛𝑏
1 𝑀𝑏
𝟏𝟔
■ = 𝟑 𝒙 𝟏𝟎 𝒏𝒃
 CONVERSION FACTOR USING PREFIXES
exa E 𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟖 hecto h 𝟏𝟎𝟐 micro μ 𝟏𝟎−𝟔
peta P 𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟓 deka da 𝟏𝟎𝟏 nano n 𝟏𝟎−𝟗
tera T 𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟐 ---------- ----- ---------- pico p 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟐
giga G 𝟏𝟎𝟗 deci d 𝟏𝟎−𝟏 femto f 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟓
mega M 𝟏𝟎𝟔 centi c 𝟏𝟎−𝟐 atto a 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟖
kilo k 𝟏𝟎𝟑 milli m 𝟏𝟎−𝟑

■ Convert 10 femtogram to microgram.

= 𝟏 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟖 μ𝒈
■ Convert 12 petameter to hectometer.
= 𝟏. 𝟐 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟏𝟒 𝒉𝒎
■ Convert 31 attosecond to exasecond.
= 𝟑. 𝟏 𝒙 𝟏𝟎−𝟑𝟓 𝑬𝒔
■ Convert 429 terraliter to nanoliter.
= 𝟒. 𝟐𝟗 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟐𝟑 𝒏𝒍
 SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
■ Physics is an experimental science. Experiments require
measurements, and we generally use numbers to describe
the results of measurements. Any number that is used to
describe a physical phenomenon quantitatively is called a
physical quantity.
■ The rules in identifying the significant figures are as follows:
- Non-zero digits are always significant
- Any zeros between two significant digits are significant.
- A final zero or trailing zeros in the decimal portion ONLY
are significant.
 DETERMINING THE NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT
FIGURES
1. 101 - 3 sigfig
2. 0101 – 3 sigfig
3. 101.0 – 4 sigfig
4. 0.001 – 1 sigfig
5. 0.00100 – 3 sigfig
6. 0.001001 – 4 sigfig
7. 1000 – 1 sigfig
8. 1000.0 – 5 sigfig
 DETERMINING THE NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT
FIGURES
1. 3921 5. 0.09800
= 4 sigfig = 4 sigfig
2. 00472 6. 0.0006801
= 3 sigfig = 4 sigfig
3. 2980.0 7. 789200
= 5 sigfig = 4 sigfig
4. 0.0051 8. 890.00
= 2 sigfig = 5 sigfig
 ACCURACY AND PRECISION
■ Accuracy describes how close a measured value is to
the true value of the quantity being measured.
■ Precision refers to the closeness of two or more
measurements to each other.
 RELATIVE ERROR
■ Accuracy is expressed using relative error. The formula
for relative error is:
𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞−𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞
Relative error = | | 𝐱 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞
■ Example: The measured value of the apples is about
5.5 kg, if the expected value for the mass of apples is
8 kg, what is the relative error?
5.5 kg−8 kg
Relative error = | | x 100 =
8 𝑘𝑔
= 31.25%
 RELATIVE UNCERTAINTY
■ Precision is expressed as a relative or fractional
uncertainty. The formula for relative uncertainty is:
𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒚
Relative uncertainty = 𝐱 𝟏𝟎𝟎
𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚
■ Example: The mass of the apples is 5.5 kg and it is
found out that the measurement is 50% uncertain.
What is the relative or fractional uncertainty obtained?
𝟎.𝟓
Relative uncertainty = 𝐱 𝟏𝟎𝟎 =
𝟓.𝟓 𝒌𝒈
= 𝟗. 𝟎𝟗%
 RELATIVE ERROR AND
RELATIVE UNCERTAINTY
■ A student took a calibrated 200.0-gram mass, weighed it on a laboratory
balance, and found it read 196.5 g. What was the student’s relative error?
= 1.75%
■ A grocery store sells 2.268 kg bags of banana. You determined that the
weight of the bag has an uncertainty of 0.181 kg. What is the relative
uncertainty obtained?
= 𝟕. 𝟗𝟖%
■ While doing a lab, a student found the density of a piece of pure aluminum
to be 2.85 g/cm3. The accepted value for the density of aluminum is 2.70
g/cm3. What was the student's relative error?
= 5.55%
 SEATWORK
1. Round off 319,267,198 to the nearest millions and convert
it to scientific notation.
2. Subtract 2980 𝑥 10−8 from 86.42 𝑥 10−5 and convert the
answer to standard notation.
3. Convert 35 dekameter to attometer.
4. Multiply 250,000,000 to 30,000 and convert your answer
to scientific notation having a coefficient of 4 significant
figures.
5. A student determines measures the mass of one mole of
carbon and finds it to be 12.22 grams. If the accepted value
is 12.11 grams, what is the student's % of error?
THANK YOU!