G-PHYSICS 1 MD TERM

FIRST SEMESTER | LECTURE 1: UNITS AND

MEASUREMENTS
09
19 01
Note! English Units – SI Units have been defined
PHYSICAL QUANTITY exactly as follows:
 Specifying how it is measured by stating Force: 1 pound-force (lbf) = 4.448 newtons (N)
how it is calculated from other
measurements
 Any number that is used to describe a
physical phenomenon quantitatively is
called physical quantity.
2 MAJOR SYSTEM OF UNITS
 International System of Units or SI units -
Conversion uses dimensional analysis method of
commonly used by scientists and engineers
solving problems. dimensional analysis involves
around the world.
cancelation of the given unit(s) from the given
 English System of Units also known as the quantity and conversion factor(s) to get the desired
British Units. units(s).
FUNDAMENTAL UNITS (SI BASE UNITS)

Example:

METRIC PREFIXES (DENOTES THE

DIFFERENT VARIOUS FACTORS OF 10 IN
THE ROUNDING OFF NUMBERS AND
METRIC SYSTEM) SIGNIFICANT FIGURES

UNIT CONVERSION AND DIMENSIONAL

ANALYSIS
Some applications require the conversion from SI
unit to English unit and vice versa. In conversion, Example:
we need to establish the conversion factor.
343 and 245 becomes 340 and 250, respectively.
8.345 and 67.47 becomes 8.3 and 67.5, respectively
ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION
For addition or subtraction, count the number of
decimal places each measurement in the calculation
has. The answer cannot have more digits to the
right of the decimal point than any of the
original numbers. The result has the same
number of decimal places as the least precise
measurement used in the calculation.
MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION
For multiplication or division, count the number of
significant figures each measurement in the
calculation has. Significant figures are the reliably
known digits. The number of significant figures
in the result is set by the original number that
has the least number of significant figures.
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
1. All nonzero digits are significant (nonzero
integers)
2. Zeros between nonzero digits are significant
(captive zeros)
3. Seros to the left of the first nonzero digit are
not significant (leading zeros)
4. Zeros to the right of a nonzero digit and are
on the right side of the decimal point are
significant
5. Trailing zeros in a whole number which do
not have decimal points are not significant.
(ambiguous zeros)
6. Exact numbers, or numbers from definition
or number of objects are considered to have
an infinite number of significant figures. Ex:
1 kg, 2.54 cm (exactly) or 1 inch,
299792458 m/s or the speed of light, 2
pencils.
SCIENTIFIC NOTATION
When we calculate with very large or very small
numbers, we can show significant figures much
more easily by using scientific notation, sometimes
called powers-of-10 notation. Scientific notation is
a convenient way of expressing too large or too
small numbers. It is called powers-of-10 because it
follows the form.
Note! a should be greater than or equal to 1 but
always less than 10 (a x 10b)
Rules
 The base should be always 10
 The exponent must be a non-zero integer,
that means it can be either positive or
negative
 The absolute value of the coefficient is
greater than or equal to 1 but it should be
less than 10
 Coefficients can be positive or negative
numbers including whole and decimal
numbers
 The mantissa carries the rest of the
significant digits of the number (5.333)
SCIENTIFIC NOTATION CALCULATIONS
ADDITION/SUBTRACTION – both quantities should have the same
exponent (bigger), add them, then the exponent remains the same.
MULTIPLICATION – Multiply both quantities then add their exponents.
DIVISION – Divide both quantities then subtract their exponents
NOTE! In subtraction/addition, manipulating the exponent contradicts the
rule of scientific notation, when adding 1 to the exponent, move to the left!