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Physic Experiments - I SI Units

Vietnam has accepted SI units since 1960.
Measurements and Basic SI
quantities
Uncertainties
Quantity Dimension Alternatives Root definition
Length m m meter
Vu Xuan Hien
School of Engineering Physics Mass kg kg kilogram
Add: 211- C9 Time s s second
Email: hien.vuxuan@hust.edu.vn Current, electric A A ampere
Temperature K K kelvin
Measurements:
Quantity of substance mol mol mole
Every measurement has UNITS. Luminosity | Luminous intensity cd cd candle

Every measurement has UNCERTAINTY.

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SI Units prefixes Physical Quantities and Units

Prefix Symbol Factor Examples of usage Origin
Quantity Definition Formula Units Dimensions
Yotta Y 1024 0.2 YW, 1.23Y [W] Greek 'octo' (eight, 10008)
Zetta Z 1021 3.33 Zs, 3.33Z [s] French 'sept' (seven, 10007) Length or Distance fundamental d m (meter) L (Length)
Exa E 1018 1.23 Ekg, 1.23E [kg] Greek 'six' (10006) Time fundamental t s (second) T (Time)
Peta P 1015 7.5 Ps, 7.5P [s] Greek 'five' (10005) Mass fundamental m kg (kilogram) M (Mass)
Tera T 1012 0.5 Tm, 0.5T [m] Greek 'teras' = monster Area distance2 A = d2 m2 L2
Giga G 109 1.2 GΩ, 1.2G [Ω] Greek 'gigas' = giant Volume distance3 V = d3 m3 L3
Mega M 106 7 MW, 7M [W] Greek 'megas' = large Density mass / volume d = m/V kg/m3 M/L3
Kilo K, k 103 33 km, 33K [m] Greek 'kilioi' = thousand Velocity distance / time v = d/t m/s L/T
M
E Acceleration velocity / time a = v/t m/s2 L/T2
hecto h 100 Deprecated by SI Greek 'hekaton' = hundred
C Momentum mass × velocity p = mv kg·m/s ML/T
deca da 10 Deprecated by SI Greek 'deka' = ten
H
deci d 0.1 Deprecated by SI Latin 'decima pars' = one tenth Force mass × acceleration F = ma
A N (newton) = kg·m/s2 ML/T2
Weight mass × (accel. of grav.) W = mg
centi c 0.01 Deprecated by SI Latin 'centesima pars' = one hundredth N
milli m, k 10-3 22 mm , 1.2m [m] Latin 'millesima pars' = one thousandth I Pa (pascal) = N/m2 =
C Pressure or Stress force / area p = F/A M/LT2
kg/(m·s2)
micro µ, u 10-6 2.7 uJ , 2.7µ [J] Greek 'mikros' = small A
nano n 10-9 2.2 nF, 2.2n [F] Latin 'nanus' = dwarf L Energy or Work force × distance E = Fd
pico p 10-12 1.5 pA, 1.5p [A] Spanish 'pico' = minimal measure Kinetic Energy mass × velocity2 / 2 KE = mv2/2 J (joule) = N·m = kg·m2/s2 ML2/T2
femto f 10-15 4.8 fs, 4.8f [s] Danish and Norvegian 'femten' = fifteen (10-15) Potential Energy mass × (accel. of grav.) × height PE = mgh

atto a 10-18 1.2 ag, 1.2a [g] Danish and Norvegian 'atten' = eighteen (10-18) Power energy / time P = E/t W (watt) = J/s = kg·m2/s3 ML2/T3
zepto z 10-21 0.2 zm, 1.2z [m] French 'sept' (seven, 1000-7) Impulse force × time I = Ft N·s = kg·m/s ML/T
yocto y 10-24 1 ys, 1y [s] Greek 'octo' (eight, 1000-8) energy × time A = Et 2
Action J·s = kg·m /s ML2/T
momentum × distance A = pd

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1. UNCERTAINTY vs. DISCREPANCY 2. ORIGINS OF UNCERTAINTIES

When you report the result of a measurement of a quantity x, you should
Discrepancies between experimental values and "true" values
also give the uncertainty Dx:
5.0 m ± 0.1 m I. Systematic Errors are inaccuracies due to identifiable causes and
x Dx can, at least in principle, be eliminated.
• The uncertainty tells you how precise you think your measurement is. a) Theoretical - due to simplifications of the model system or
→ useful to compare your result with a "true" or accepted value approximations in the equations describing it.
• Discrepancy is the difference between your result and accepted value b) Instrumental - e.g., a poorly calibrated instrument.
c) Environmental - e.g., factors such as inadequately controlled
temperature and pressure.
d) Observational - e.g., parallax in reading a meter scale.
Result: accepted value :
gexp g acc II. Random Uncertainties are the result of small fluctuating disturbances
[ ] which cause about half the measurements of any quantity to be too high and
9.81
9.75

Dgexp half to be too low.

The uncertainty Dgexp in the measurement accounts

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nicely for the discrepancy between gexp and gacc

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3. CHARACTERIZING A SET OF DATA: THE NORMAL DISTRIBUTION

Random vs systematic errors - Make "many" measurements of a quantity x and plot the frequency
of occurrence N(x), → obtain a curve that approximates a Gaussian,
Random errors only or normal distribution,
2
N 0 - (x -µ2)
N(x) = e 2s
True value 2ps
Random + systematic µ and s determine the position and
width of the peak.

• A result is said to be accurate if it is relatively free from systematic

For a set of data points xi, the mean of all values obtained for x
error
• A result is said to be precise if the random error is small n

åx i
x1 + x 2 ++ x n
x= i =1
=
n n 8

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Standard deviation of a ‘single’ measurement Propagation of Uncertainties

s.d. = Dx =
(x - x 1 )2 + (x - x 2 )2 + ... + (x - x N )2 Given: A±DA, B±DB and f = f(A,B)
N
Standard deviation of Means: S. D. In general
2 2
æ ¶f ö æ ¶f ö
s.d. Dx Df = ç DA ÷ + ç DB ÷
S.D. » = è ¶A ø è ¶B ø
N N
Addition/ subtraction: f = aA + bB
Report of the measurements
Df = (a DA )2 + (b DB )2
x ± S.D. S.D. in one or two significant figure
Multiplication/ division/ powers f = A a Bb
2 2
æ DA ö æ DB ö
Df = f ç a ÷ + çb ÷
è A ø è B ø

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Least Squares Fit (Linear Regression)

Measurements: (x1, y1), (x2, y2),………, (xN, yN), N pairs of data.
In theory: y = mx + b; m = slope, b = y-intercept
Result of Least Squares Fit:
Nå x i y i - å x i å y i
m=
N å x i2 - (å x i )
2
Significant figures
b=
åy åx - åx åx y
i
2
i i i i

N å x - (å x )
2 2
i i

å [y - (mx i + b )] 1
2
-1
1 i
r 2 1 - r2
Dm = i =1
=m »m
sx N( N - 1) N N
r = correlation coefficient

å (x - x ) åx
2
i i
Db = Dm s 2x + x 2 , s x = , x=
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Accuracy and Precision in Measurements

Accuracy and Precision

Accuracy: how close a measurement

is to the accepted value.

Precision: how close a series of

measurements are to one another or
how far out a measurement is taken.

A measurement can have high precision, but

not be as accurate as a less precise one.
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Significant Figures are used to indicate the precision of a Rules for Determining Significant Figures in a Number
measured number or to express the precision of a calculation
with measured numbers. 1. All non-zero numbers are significant.
2. Zeros within a number are always significant.
In any measurement 3. Zeros that do nothing but set the decimal point are not
the digit farthest to significant. Both 0.000098 and 0.98 contain two significant figures.
the right is 4. Zeros that aren’t needed to hold the decimal point are
considered to be significant. For example, 4.00 has three significant figures.
estimated. 5. Zeros that follow a number may be significant.

0 1 2
2.0
1.3
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1. The term that is related to the reproducibility

(repeatability) of a measurement is 3. The number of significant figures in 6.0700 x 10-4… is
a. accuracy. a. 3.
Let’s take a “Quiz”
b. precision. b. 4.
c. qualitative. b. precision. c. 5. c. 5.
d. quantitative. d. 6.
e. property. e. 7.

2. The number of significant figures in the mass 4. How many significant figures are there in the value
measured as 0.010210 g is 0.003060?
a. 1. a. 7
b. 2. b. 6
c. 3. e. 5. c. 5
d. 4. d. 4 d. 4
e. 5. e. 3

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Calculations with sig. Figs. Measurement Calculations with scientific notation.

Addition and subtraction:
Addition/subtraction: must be placed into the same notation.
Look at places!

(2.3 x 103) + (3.2 x 104) =

0.23 x 104
3.63 cm +3.2 x 104
13.129 cm 3.43 x 104 = 3.4 x 104
+123.1 cm
139.859 cm = 139.9 cm

significant to
the 0.1 place 19 20

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Calculations with Sig. figs.

Multiplication and division (measurements):

You must be
able to
count.

2.734 cm x 5.2 cm x 8.1294 cm = 115.5740539 cm3

4 s.f. 2 s.f. 5 s.f. written as 120 cm3

2 s.f.’s
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