1

FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OYE-EKITI

GENERAL PHYSICS 1 (3 UNITS)

PHY 101
Prof. Odo Ayodele, Department of Physics
ayodele.odo@fuoye.edu.ng

Book
1. General Physics 1 (PHY 101)
Produced by Academic staff Physics Dept.
 2

Derived Units
Many SI derived units are defined in terms of these base units. For example, the SI unit for power, called the watt (W), is
defined in terms of the base units for mass, length, and time.
 3

Prefixes
Scientific notation on computers sometimes takes on an even briefer
look, as in 3.56 E9 and 4.92 E–7, where E stands for “exponent of
ten.” It is briefer still on some calculators, where E is replaced with
an empty space.
As a further convenience when dealing with very large or very small
measurements, we use the prefixes listed in the table
 4

Dimensional Analysis
How do dimensions behave in mathematical formulae?
 5

Dimensional Analysis
 6

Dimensional Analysis
 7

Dimensionally Homogeneous Equations

An equation is said to be dimensionally homogeneous if the dimensions on both sides of the equal
sign are the same.
 8

Dimensionally Homogeneous Equations

 9

Dimensional Analysis
Dimensions & units can be treated algebraically.
 10

Dimensional Analysis
 11

Example 1.1
 12

Example 1.2
 13

Example 1.3
14
15
 16

Units vs. Dimensions

 17

Unit consistency and Conversions

We often need to change the units in which a physical quantity is expressed. We do so by a method called chain-link
conversion. In this method, we multiply the original measurement by a conversion factor (a ratio of units that is
equal to unity).
 18

Conversion of Units: Chain-link method

 19

Example 1.4
20
 21

Tutorials 1
 22

Tutorials 1