Chapter 2 Units and Measurements

AMBALA CITY, NO.
7876951234
Chapter 2
Units and
measurements
By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

AMBALA CITY, NO. 7876951234
EDUCATION IS NOT THE LEARNING

OF FACTS, BUT THE TRAINING of
THE MIND TO THINK
………… ALBERT EINSTEIN

Chapter 2, Units and measurements
13.Dimensions of CITY,
AMBALA a NO.physical
7876951234
1. Need for Measurement
quantity
2. Measuring process
14.Dimension formulae/Dimensional
3. Metric prefixes power of 10
equation
4. Concept of mass, length and time
15. Types of quantities based on
5. Fundamental and Derived units
dimension formulae
6. Who decide unit and selection of
16.Uses of Dimension formulae
standard unit
17.Limitations of dimensional
7. Systems of units
analysis
8. SI system of units
18.Errors and its types
9. Important practical units
19.Defining value of error
10.Convections for writing of units and
20.Propagation or combination of
their symbol
errors
11.Measurement of length, mass and time
21. Accuracy and precision
22.Significant figures and rounding
off

1. Need for Measurement
What is your height ?

What is your weight ?
At what speed you are driving ?
For how long you need to study daily?
What is your body temperature ?
What is output electric current of your
charger ?
A physical quantity is a property of a

material or system that can be quantified
by measurement
Physics is a quantitative science, based on measurement of

physical quantities
2. Measuring process
What is your height ?
What is your weight ? Measurement is the
At what speed you are driving ? process of comparing the
For how long you need to study daily?
quantity to be measured with
a known quantity
What is your body temperature ?
What is output electric current of your charger ?
To express any measurement made we need the numerical value (n) and the unit
(u).
Measurement of physical quantity (PQ) = Numerical value
(n) x Unit (u)
A unit is an internationally accepted standard for measurements of quantities

Metric prefixes power of 10

Concept of mass, length and time
Mass : Simply matter contained in the body is called mass it can
never be zero
. Gravitational Mass
. Interial Mass
units : - Kg , g, pound
Length : it is defined as distance of separation between two points

Units : - m, cm, mm, foot , inches
Time : it is the measure of duration between two events

s, h , minutes


Fundamental Physical Quantity/Units

It is an elementary physical quantity, which does not require any other physical quantity to
express it. It means it cannot be resolved further in terms of any other physical quantity. It is
also known as basic physical quantity.
The units of fundamental physical quantities are called fundamental units.
Derived Physical Quantity/Units

All those physical quantities, which can be derived from the combination of two or more
fundamental quantities or can be expressed in terms of basic physical quantities, are called
derived physical quantities.
The units of all other physical quantities, which car. be obtained from fundamental units, are
called derived units. For example, units of velocity, density and force are m/s, kg/m3, kg m/s2
respectively and they are examples of derived units.
the physical quantity which is not depending on other physical quantity and is other than
fundamental quantity.Supplementry physical quantity is also known as secondary physical
quantity.It divided into two types I.e
1.plane angle
2.solid angle By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra
Who decide unit and selection of standard unit
The General Conference on Weights and Measures (GCWM); French: Conférence Générale des
Poids et Mesures, CGPM) is the supreme authority of the International Bureau of Weights and
Measures (BIPM).
Characteristics of Standard Unit:

 It should be well defined without any doubt or ambiguity.
 It should be of suitable size. ...
 It should be easily available.
 It should be non-destructible.
 It should not change with time.
 It should not change with the place.
 It should be easily reproducible

Systems of units
(i) CGS System. Centimetre, Gram and Second are used to express length, mass and
time respectively.
(ii) FPS System. Foot, pound and second are used to express length, mass and time
respectively.
(iii) MKS System. Metre, kilogram and second are used to express length, mass and
time respectively.
(iv) SI Units. Length, mass, time, electric current, thermodynamic temperature,
Amount of substance and luminous intensity are expressed in metre, kilogram, second,
ampere, kelvin, mole and candela respectively. Also called rationalised MKS system

SI system of units
S.No. Fundamental Quantities Fundamental Units Symbol

1. Length metre m
2. Mass kilogram kg
3. Time second s
4. Temperature kelvin K
5 Electric current ampere A
6 Luminous intensity candela cd
7 Amount of substance mole mol
Supplementary Fundamental
S.No. Supplementary Unit Symbol
Quantities
1 Plane angle radian rad
2 Solid angle steradian Sr
SI system of units

SI system of units


SI system of units
Importance
(i) It is internationally accepted,

(ii) It is a rational unit system,
(iii) It is a coherent unit system,
(iv) It is a metric system,
(v) It is closely related to CGS and MKS systems of units,
(vi) Uses decimal system, hence is more user friendly.
National physical laboratory

Important practical units
For length AMBALA CITY, NO. 7876951234
1 AU =
Astronomical unit The average separation between the Earth and
1.496 x
(AU) the sun is called one astronomical unit.
1011 m
1 light
year = The distance travelled by light in vacuum in one
Light year (ly)
9.46 x year is called light year.
1015 m.
1 parsec The distance at which an arc of length of one

Par sec = 3.08 x astronomical unit subtends an angle of one
1016 m second at a point is called parsec.
fermi (f) 10-15 m
angstrom (Å) 10-10m

Important practical units
For Mass AMBALA CITY, NO. 7876951234
1 tonne or metric ton 1000 kg

1 quintal 100 kg
1 pound ( lb) 0.4536 kg
Atomic mass unit (a.m.u.) or 1u 10-15 m
For time
Time interval between two
Solar day sucessive passage of sun across the
meridian
Time interval between two
sucessive passage of fixed star
Sedrial day
across the meridian
Complete one revolution around

1 solar year
sun
Century 100 years
One revolution of moon around
Lunar Month
earth (27.3 days )
1. The units named after scientists are not written with a capital initial letter.
For example : newton, henry, watt
2. The symbols of the units named after scientist should be written by a capital letter.
For example : N for newton, H for henry, W for watt
3. Small letters are used as symbols for units not derived from a proper name.
For example : m for metre, kg for kilogram
4. No full stop or other punctuation marks should be used within or at the end of symbols.
For example : 50 m and not as 50 m.
5. The symbols of the units do not take plural form. For example : 10 kg not as 10 kgs
6. When temperature is expressed in kelvin, the degree sign is omitted.

For example : 273 K not as 273o K
(If expressed in Celsius scale, degree sign is to be included. For example 100o C and not 100 C)

7. Use of solidus is recommended only for indicating a division of one letter unit symbol
by another unit symbol. Not more than one solidus is used.
For example : m s-1 or m / s, J / K mol or J K-1 mol-1 but not J / K / mol.
8. Some space is always to be left between the number and the symbol of the unit and
also between the symbols for compound units such as force, momentum, etc.
For example, it is not correct to write 2.3m. The correct representation is 2.3 m; kg m s-
2 and not as kgms-2.
9. Only accepted symbols should be used.
For example : ampere is represented as A and not as amp. or am ; second is represented as s

and not as sec.
10. Numerical value of any physical quantity should be expressed in scientific notation.
For an example, density of mercury is 1.36 x 104 kg m-3 and not as 13600 kg m-3.

Order and range of magnitude
An order of magnitude is an exponential change of plus-or-minus 1 in the value of a quantity
or unit. The term is generally used in conjunction with power-of-10 scientific notation.



Measurement of length, mass and time
Measurement of length
Direct methods
Length can be measured using metre scale (10-3m to 102m), verniercallipers (10-4m)
and screw gauge and spherometer (10-5m).
Indirect methods
Echo method or reflection method

Laser method Avagadro’s method
Radar method Rutherford Method
Sonar method Size of oleic acid
Triangulation method
Parallax method
Spectroscopic method
Echo method or reflection method

Laser method
Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation
Radar method
Sonar method

Radar method : Radio detection and ranging
Sonar method : Sound navigation and ranging

Parallax method


Size of Astronomical object

Measurement of Mass
Inertial Mass
Gravitational Mass
Weight

Measurement of time
Electric oscillators
Electronic oscillators
Solar Clock
Quartz crystal clock
Atomic Clock
Decay of elematary particles
Radioactive dating

Dimensions of a physical quantity
Dimensions of a physical quantity are powers (exponents) to which base quantities are
raised to represent that quantity. They are represented by square brackets around the
quantity.
[M L T A K Cd mol]
Dimension formulae/Dimensional equation

Dimensional Formula is the expression which shows how and which of the base
quantities represent the dimensions of a physical quantity.
Dimensional Equation is an equation obtained by equating a physical quantity with its
dimensional formula.

Types of quantities based on dimension formulae
1. Dimensional constants : The physical quantities which have dimensions and have a fixed
value are called dimensional constants. e.g.: Gravitational constant (G), Planck’s constant (h),
Universal gas constant (R), Velocity of light in a vacuum (C), etc
2. Dimensional variables : Dimensional variables are those physical quantities which have
dimensions and do not have a fixed value. e.g.: velocity, acceleration, force, work, power,
etc.
3. Dimensionless constants Dimensionless quantities are those which do not have dimensions
but have a fixed value.
Dimensionless quantities without units: Pure numbers, π, e, sin θ, cos θ, tan θ etc.
Dimensionless quantities with units: Angular displacement – radian, Joule’s constant
– joule/calorie, etc.
4. Dimensionless variables: Dimensionless variables are those physical quantities which do not
have dimensions and do not have a fixed value. For example Specific gravity, refractive index,
the coefficient of friction, Poisson’s ratio, etc.
Uses of Dimension formulae AMBALA CITY, NO. 7876951234
The concept of dimensions and dimensional formulae are put to the following
uses:
Checking the results obtained
Conversion from one system of units to another
Deriving relationships between physical quantities
Scaling and studying of models.
The underlying principle for these uses is the principle of homogeneity of

dimensions. According to this principle, the ‘net’ dimensions of the various
physical quantities on both sides of a permissible physical relation must be
the same; also only dimensionally similar quantities can be added to or
subtracted from each other.

Checking the results obtained
A dimensionally correct equation must have same dimensions on both sides of the equation.
A dimensionally correct equation need not be a correct equation but a dimensionally
incorrect equation is always wrong. It can test dimensional validity but not find exact
relationship between the physical quantities.
Example, x = x0 + v0t + (1/2) at2Or Dimensionally, [L] = [L] + [LT-1][T] + [LT-2][T2]
x – Distance travelled in time t, x0 – starting position, v0 - initial velocity, a – uniform
acceleration.
Dimensions on both sides will be [L] as [T] gets cancelled out. Hence this is dimensionally
correct equation.

To deduce relation among physical quantities, we should know the dependence of one quantity
over others (or independent variables) and consider it as product type of dependence.
Dimensionless constants cannot be obtained using this method.
Example, T = k lxgymz
Or [L0M0T1] = [L1]x [L1T-2]y [M1]z= [Lx+yT-2y Mz]
Means, x+y = 0, -2y = 1 and z = 0. So, x = ½, y = -½ and z = 0
So the original equation reduces to T = k √l/g


Limitations of Dimensional Analysis
The method of dimensions has the following limitations:
(i) by this method the value of dimensionless constant cannot be calculated.
(ii) by this method the equation containing trigonometric, exponential and logarithmic
terms cannot be analyzed.
(iii) if a physical quantity in mechanics depends on more than three factors, then relation
among them cannot be established because we can have only three equations by
equalizing the powers of M, L and T.
(iv) it doesn’t tell whether the quantity is vector or scalar

Error
The measured value of the physical quantity is usually differentAMBALA

from CITY,
its true value.
NO. 7876951234
The result of every measurement by any measuring instrument is an approximate

number, which contains some uncertainty. This uncertainty is called error. Every
calculated quantity, which is based on measured values, also has an error.
Accuracy, Precision and resolution
Accuracy refers to the closeness of a measurement to the true value of the physical
quantity.
Precision is the resolution or closeness of a series of measurements of a same
quantity under similar conditions.
If the true value of a certain length is 3.678 cm and two instruments with different
resolutions, up to 1 (less precise) and 2 (more precise) decimal places respectively, are
used. If first measures the length as 3.5 and the second as 3.38 then the first has more
accuracy but less precision while the second has less accuracy and more precision.
Errors Types
Gross errors Systematic errors Random errors Least count errors
Gross errors
Gross errors arise due to one or more than one of the following reasons.
• Improper setting of the instrument.

• Wrong recordings of the observation.
• Not taking into account sources of error and precautions.
• Usage of wrong values in the calculation.
Gross errros can be minimised only if the observer is very careful in his observations and
sincere in his approach

Systematic errors
In such errors, the measurement deviates from the actual value by a fixed amount. Hence
the prediction of these errors can be made. An erroneous instrument, changes in the
physical conditions at the time of measurement, human error etc. are the main causes of
systematic errors.
Errors which can either be positive or negative are called Systematic errors. They are of
following types:
Instrument errors: These arise from imperfect design or calibration error in the instrument.
Worn off scale, zero error in a weighing scale are some examples of instrument errors.

Systematic errors
Imperfections in experimental techniques: If the technique is not accurate (for

example measuring temperature of human body by placing thermometer under
armpit resulting in lower temperature than actual) and due to the external
conditions like temperature, wind, humidity, these kinds of errors occur.

Systematic errors
Personal errors: Errors occurring due to human carelessness, lack of proper setting
taking down incorrect reading are called personal errors.
These errors can be removed by:

Taking proper instrument and calibrating it properly.
Experimenting under proper atmospheric conditions and techniques.
Removing human bias as far as possible By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra
Random errors
Errors which occur at random with respect to sign and size are called Random errors.
These occur due to unpredictable fluctuations in experimental conditions like
temperature, voltage supply, mechanical vibrations, personal errors etc.
Least count errors
Smallest value that can be measured by the measuring instrument is called its least
count. Least count error is the error associated with the resolution or the least count
of the instrument.
Least count errors can be minimized by using instruments of higher
precision/resolution and improving experimental techniques (taking several readings
of a measurement and then taking a mean).

Measurement of errors
Assume that the values got in several measurement areAMBALA CITY, NO. 7876951234
a1,a2,a3....an
Arithmetic mean,
amean=(a1+a2+a3+...+an)/n
Absolute Error: The magnitude of the difference between the true

value of the quantity and the individual measurement value is called
absolute error of the measurement. It is denoted by |Δa| (or Mod of
Delta a). The mod value is always positive even if Δa is negative. The
individual errors are:
Δa1 = amean - a1, Δa2 = amean - a2, ……. ,Δan = amean – an

Mean absolute error is the arithmetic mean of all absolute errors. It is represented
by Δamean.
Δamean = (|Δa1| + |Δa2| +|Δa3| + …. +|Δan|) / n
For single measurement, the value of ‘a’ is always in the range amean± Δamean
So, a = amean ± Δamean Or amean - Δamean< a <amean + Δamean
Relative Error: It is the ratio of mean absolute error to the mean value of the
quantity measured.
Relative Error = Δamean / amean

Percentage Error: It is the relative error expressed in percentage. It
is denoted by δa.
δa = (Δamean / amean) x 100%

Propagation or combination of errors

Significant numbers
Every measurement results in a number that includes reliable digits

and uncertain digits. Reliable digits plus the first uncertain digit are
called significant digits or significant figures. These indicate the
precision of measurement which depends on least count of measuring
instrument.
Example, period of oscillation of a pendulum is 1.62 s. Here 1 and 6 are
reliable and 2 is uncertain. Thus, the measured value has three
significant figures.

Rules for Significant numbers

Rules for determining uncertainty in results of arithmetic
calculations

Rounding off

Chapter 2 Units and Measurements

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AMBALA CITY, NO.

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

EDUCATION IS NOT THE LEARNING

………… ALBERT EINSTEIN

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

What is your height ?

A physical quantity is a property of a

Physics is a quantitative science, based on measurement of

A unit is an internationally accepted standard for measurements of quantities

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

Length : it is defined as distance of separation between two points

Time : it is the measure of duration between two events

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

AMBALA CITY, NO. 7876951234

Derived Physical Quantity/Units

Characteristics of Standard Unit:

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

S.No. Fundamental Quantities Fundamental Units Symbol

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

(i) It is internationally accepted,

National physical laboratory

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

For length AMBALA CITY, NO. 7876951234

1 parsec The distance at which an arc of length of one

fermi (f) 10-15 m

angstrom (Å) 10-10m

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

For Mass AMBALA CITY, NO. 7876951234

1 tonne or metric ton 1000 kg

Complete one revolution around

6. When temperature is expressed in kelvin, the degree sign is omitted.

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

9. Only accepted symbols should be used.

For example : ampere is represented as A and not as amp. or am ; second is represented as s

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

Echo method or reflection method

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

Sonar method : Sound navigation and ranging

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

Size of Astronomical object

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

Dimension formulae/Dimensional equation

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

The underlying principle for these uses is the principle of homogeneity of

By :- Er. Pankaj Chhabra

A dimensionally correct equation need not be a correct equation but a dimensionally

relationship between the physical quantities.

Example, x = x0 + v0t + (1/2) at2Or Dimensionally, [L] = [L] + [LT-1][T] + [LT-2][T2]