BRIGHTWAY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL PHYSICS/GRADE 8

PHYSICAL QUANTITIES, UNITS AND MEASUREMENTS

PHYSICAL QUANTITY
A physical quantity can be measured or calculated from other physical property and
expressed as the product of a number and a unit.
Physical quantities are broadly classified into Basic quantities and Derived quantities

Basic quantities are the fundamental quantities which cannot be expressed in terms of any
other physical quantities
Eg: Length, mass, time, temperature, current, amount of a substance and Luminous
intensity.

BASIC QUANTITIES SI UNIT SYMBOL

Length metre m
Mass kilogram kg
Time second s
Current ampere A
Temperature Kelvin K
Amount of substance mole mol
Luminous intensity candela cd

Derived quantities are the quantities which can be expressed in terms of any other physical
quantities
Eg: Area, volume, density, speed etc
The SI (System International) is a set of metric units now used in many countries.
The SI system is a decimal system in which units are divided or multiplied by 10 to
give smaller or larger units.

Example
400 = 4 x 10 x 10 = 4 x 102
40 = 4 x 10 = 4 x 101
4 = 4x1 = 4 x 100
0.4 = 4/10 = 4 x 10-1
0.04 = 4/100 = 4 x 10-2

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• Another convenient and acceptable way of expressing physical quantities is to use

standard form.
• Standard form is a way of writing numbers in which one integer is multiplied by an
appropriate power of 10.
PREFIX
We can make a unit bigger or smaller by putting an extra symbol in front is called prefix.

PREFIX MULTIPLE SYMBOL

Nano 10-9 n
Micro 10-6 
Milli 10-3 m
Centi 10-2 c
Kilo 103 k
Mega 106 M
Giga 10 9 G
Length

The SI unit of length is metre (m)

Smaller units of length are
1 centimetre(cm) = 10-2metre
1 millimetre(mm) = 10-3metre
1 micrometre (m) = 10-6metre
1 nanometre(nm) = 10-9metre
Larger units of length are
1 kilometre (km) = 103metre
1 Megametre (Mm) = 106metre

Length measurements are made using a ruler, measuring tape, vernier calipers,
micrometer screw gauge…
Correct way to measure with ruler is to keep the eye right over the Mark on the scale
or thickness of the ruler may cause errors.

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The line of sight should be perpendicular to the reading in order to avoid Parallax error in
measurement

Measuring instruments for length

Length to be Example Instrument to be used Accuracy

measured
Very short Diameter of a metal Micrometer screw gauge 0.01mm
length wire
Short length Diameter of a Vernier calipers 0.01cm
measuring cylinder
Medium length Image distance of a Metre rule 0.1cm
lens
Long length Length of physics Measuring tape 0.1cm
laboratory

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Length measuring devices

AREA

Area of a rectangle = length x breadth

Area of a triangle = ½ x base x height
Area of a circle =  x (radius)2

SI unit of area is square-metre (m2) 1cm2 = 10-4m2

VOLUME

It is the amount of space occupied.

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SI unit of volume is cubic-metre (m3) 1cm3 = 10-6m3

Volume of a regularly shaped solid

Volume of rectangular block = length x breadth x height

Volume of a sphere = 4/3  x (radius)3
Volume of a cylinder =  x (radius)2 x height

Volume of a liquid

Volume of liquid is expressed in litres (l)

 1 litre (l) = 1000ml

1millilitre(ml) = 1cm3
 1 litre (l) = 1000cm3

Pour the liquid into the measuring

cylinder and the level on the scale gives
the volume
The measuring cylinder should be kept
upright on a horizontal smooth surface.

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Eye level should be perpendicular to the

lower meniscus so as to avoid Parallax
error
Volume of an irregularly shaped solid

Pour the liquid into the measuring cylinder. Note the scale reading corresponding to
the lower meniscus.
Immerse the solid into the measuring cylinder.
The liquid level rises.
Note the new scale reading as the final reading or the final volume.

Volume of the irregularly shaped solid = Final volume – Initial volume

Time

SI unit is second (s)

1 day = 24 hours (h)

1 hour (h) = 60 minutes (min)
1 minute (min) = 60 seconds (s)
1 hour(h) = 3600 seconds (s)
1 millisecond (ms) =
10-3s 1
microsecond(s) =
-6
10 s

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1 nanosecond(ns) = 10-9s

Time can be measured using stop watch and stop clock.

Press the reset button. If the pointer returns to zero then it has no zero error
otherwise it has zero error. If the pointer is to left of the zero, add zero error with
the reading and if the pointer is to the right of the zero then subtract zero error from
the reading.
The error in the measurement of time is human reaction error.
Simple Pendulum

The period of a pendulum is the time it takes to complete one oscillation.

An oscillation is defined as the full motion. For example, starting at one side, the pendulum
swings to the other side and back. The time required for that motion is the period.
The inverse of the period is the frequency.
Frequency is the number of cycles in a length of time.
A simple pendulum is one with its mass concentrated at the end, such as a weight hanging
on a thin string.

Note:

Changing the mass of a simple pendulum will not change its period.
Changing the length of the pendulum does affect the period, with shorter pendulums
having shorter periods.

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Why more number of oscillation (20) is taken to find the time period of a simple pendulum by
using a stopwatch?

The time for one oscillation is too small to be measured accurately by using a stopwatch due to
human reaction error. This can be reduced by taking more number of oscillations and it will
improve the accuracy

Mass
It is the measure of the amount of matter in it.
SI unit of mass is kilogram(kg)
1 tonne(t) = 1000kilogram(kg)
1 kilogram(kg) = 1000gram(g)
1 gram(g) = 1000milligram(mg)
1milligram(mg) = 10-6kg
Mass of an object is found using various kinds of Balance.

1. Beam balance: An unknown mass is placed in one pan and balanced against the
known masses in the other pan. The beam balances when the gravitational pull on the
material in each pan is the same. Each pan then contains the same mass of the
material.
2. Top-pan balance: A direct reading is obtained from the position on the scale of a
pointer joined to the lever system or the reading can be directly read in a top-pan
balance.

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