Units and Measurements

Physical Quantities:
 All those quantities which can be measured directly or indirectly and in
terms of which laws of physics can be expressed.
 Are of 2 types:
i. Fundamental (or base) quantities: independent of other
physical quantities.
ii. Derived quantities: expressed in terms of physical quantities.

Measurement of a physical quantity

two things are needed:
a. Unit
b. Numerical value or magnitude
Note: the numerical value(n) is inversely proportional to the size of the
unit(u).
I.e., nu= constant
e.g., 5m= 500 cm

Physical Unit
 Basic, arbitrarily chosen, internationally accepted
 Well defined
 Not change with time and not affected by physical conditions
 Convenient size
 Easily reproducible and accessible
 Indestructible, imperishable
 2 types- fundamental and derived
System of units
= fundamental units+ derived units
Common system of units are
a. MKS system
b. CGS system
c. FPS system
d. SI system

Basic SI quantities
Physical quantity Unit Symbol
Length Metre m
Mass Kilogram kg
Time Second s
Temperature Kelvin K
Electric Current Ampere A
Luminous Intensity Candela cd
Amount of substance Mole Mol

Supplementary SI quantities
Physical quantity Unit Symbol
Plane Angle Radian rad
Solid Angle Steradian sr

Notes :
(a). Radian :
Plane angle subtended at the centre of a circle by an arc equal in
length(L) to the radius of circle(R).
L
θ=
R

(b). Steradian:
 Solid Angle subtended by centre of a sphere by the surface of sphere
equal in area to that of a square, having each side equal to the radius of
the sphere
surface area
Ω= 2
radius

Notes: Coherent system of units

System of units based on the certain set of fundamental units from which
all derived units can be obtained by simple multiplication or division
without introducing any numerical factor.

Practical units for measuring small distances

a. 1 fermi = 10 -15 m
b. 1 angstrom= 10-10 m
c. 1 nanometre = 10 -9 m
d. 1 micron= 10 -6 m

Practical units for measuring large distances

 a. Light year – distance travelled by light in vacuum in one year
1 light year= 9.467×10 15 m
b. Astronomical Unit- moon distance of the earth from the sun
1 AU= 1.496×1011 m
c. Parsec(parallactic second)-distance at which an arc of length 1 AU
subtends an angle of 1 second of arc
(it is the largest practical unit of distance used in astronomy)
1 Parsec=3.08×1016 m= 3.26 ly

1 parsec>1 ly> 1 AU

Practical units for measuring areas

a. 1 barn= 10 -28 m2
b. 1 acre=10 4047 m2
c. 1 hectare= 104 m2

Practical units for measuring areas

a. 1 tonne or metric ton= 1000 kg
b. 1 quintal= 100 kg
c. 1 slug= 14.57 kg
d. 1 pound= 1 lb=0.4536 kg
e. 1 CSL=1.4 times the mass of sun
(CSL is the largest practical unit of mass)

Practical units for measuring very small masses

o 1 Atomic mass unit= 1.66 ×10-27 kg

Practical units for measuring time

a. Solar day - time taken by the earth to complete one rotation about
its own axis wrt the sun
 b. Sedrial day- time taken by the earth to complete one rotation about
its own axis wrt the distant star
c. Solar year- time taken by the earth to complete one revolution
around the sun in its orbit
1 solar year = 365.25 average solar days=366.25 sedrial days
d. Tropical year- year in which there is a total solar eclipse
e. Leap year- year which is divisible by 4 and in which the month of
February has 29 days
f. Lunar month- time taken by the moon to complete one revolution
around the earth in its orbit
1 lunar month = 27.3 days
g. Shake – smallest practical unit of time
1 shake= 10 -8 s

Practical units for measuring time

a. 1 bar= 1 atmospheric pressure= 105 Pa
b. 1 torr= 1 mm of hg column
c. 1 bar = 760 mm of Hg column = 760 torr

Significant Figures
o All the non-zero digits are significant.
o All the zeros between two non-zero digits are significant, no matter
where the decimal point is, if at all.
o If the number is less than 1, the zero(s) on the right of decimal point
but to the left of the first non-zero digit are not significant.
o The terminal or trailing zero(s) in a number without a decimal point
are not significant.
o The trailing zero(s) in a number with a decimal point are significant.
o A choice of change of different units does not change the number of
significant digits or figures in a measurement
Rules for Arithmetic Operations with Significant
Figures
o In multiplication or division, the final result should retain as many
significant figures as are there in the original number with the least
significant figures.
o In addition or subtraction, the final result should retain as many
decimal places as are there in the number with the least decimal
places.

Rounding off the Uncertain Digits

o preceding digit is raised by 1 if the insignificant digit to be dropped (the
underlined digit in this case) is more than 5, and is left unchanged if the
latter is less than 5
o in case the insignificant digit is 5 , if the preceding digit is even, the
insignificant digit is simply dropped and, if it is odd, the preceding digit
is raised by 1.

Order of magnitude
That power of 10 which is closest to its magnitude
Dimensions of a physical quantity
 the powers (or exponents) to which the base quantities are raised to
represent that quantity.
 using the square brackets [ ] round a quantity means that we are dealing
with ‘the dimensions of’ the quantity.
 length has the dimension [L], mass [M], time [T], electric current [A],
thermodynamic temperature [K], luminous intensity [cd], and amount of
substance [mol].

Dimensional Formulae
The expression which shows how and which of the base quantities represent the
dimensions of a physical quantity
Dimensional Equation
An equation obtained by equating a physical quantity with its dimensional
formula.
Accuracy
Closeness if a measurement to the true value of the physical quantity

Precision
Resolution or the limit to which the quantity is measured

Errors in a measurement
1) Error= Measured value- True value
2) Types of error:
i. Constant error: which affect each observation by the same amount
ii. Systematic error: which tend to occur in one direction(+ve or -ve)
a) Instrumental error: occur due to inbuilt defect of measuring instrument
b) Personal error: due to individual’s bias/carelessness ,lack of proper
setting of apparatus
c) Errors due to external causes
d) Imperfections In experimental technique
iii)Random errors:
iv)Least count error
v) Gross error or mistakes
Combination of errors
1) Sum : Δz=ΔA + ΔB
2) Difference: Δ z =ΔA + ΔB
Δz ΔA ΔB
3) Product: z = A + B
Δz ΔA ΔB
4) Division: z = A + B
5) Power: