Chapter 1

Units, Physical Quantities, and

Vectors

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 Physics Today

Large Hadron Collider Hubble Space Telescope

Introduction
 Goals for Chapter 1
• To learn three fundamental quantities of physics and the
units to measure them
• To keep track of significant figures in calculations

• To understand vectors and scalars and how to add vectors

graphically
• To determine vector components and how to use them in
calculations
• To understand unit vectors and how to use them with
components to describe vectors
• To learn two ways of multiplying vectors

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 Theories and Experiments

• Physics is an experimental science

• The goal of physics is to develop theories based on experiments
• A physical theory is a “guess,” expressed mathematically, about
how a system works
• The theory makes predictions about how a system should work
• Experiments check the theories’ predictions

• A very well established or widely used theory is called a physical

law or principle.

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 Fundamental Quantities and Their Dimension
Length [L]

Mass [M]

Time [T]
• Other physical quantities can be constructed from
these three

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 Units
To communicate the result of a measurement for
a quantity, a unit must be defined

Defining units allows everyone to relate to the

same fundamental amount

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 Length
Units
• SI – meter, m

Defined in terms of a meter – the distance

traveled by light in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 s

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 Mass
Units
• SI – kilogram, kg

Defined in terms of kilogram, based on a

specific cylinder kept at the International
Bureau of Weights and Measures

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Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.
 Time
Units
• seconds, s

Defined in terms of the oscillation of radiation

from a cesium atom
(A second is 9 192 631 700 times the period of
oscillation of radiation from a cesium atom.)

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 Some Typical lengths in the universe

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 Unit prefixes
• Prefixes correspond to powers of 10

• Each prefix has a specific name

• Each prefix has a specific abbreviation

• Table 1.1 shows some larger and smaller units for the fundamental quantities.

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 Example

milli: multiply by 10-3, or 0.001

3000 milligrams = 3000 x 10-3 grams = 3 grams

Section 1.1
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Conversion of Units

When units are not consistent, you may need to convert to appropriate ones.
See Appendix A for an extensive list of conversion factors.
Units can be treated like algebraic quantities that can cancel each other out.

Section 1.4
Useful Unit Conversions
Unit Conversions
It is important to be able to convert back and forth between SI units and other
units.

© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-17

Conversion

Always include units for every quantity, you can carry the units through the entire
calculation.
 Will help detect possible errors
 Multiply original value by a ratio equal to one.
Example:
Use a known conversion (1 in = 2.54 cm):
15.0 in  ? cm
 2.54 cm 
15.0 in    38.1cm
 1in 

 Note the value inside the parentheses is equal to 1, since 1 inch is defined
as 2.54 cm.

Section 1.4
Problem #1

A solid piece of lead has a mass of 23.94 g and a volume of 2.10 cm3 (cubic
centimeter). From these data, calculate the density of lead in SI units (kilograms
per cubic meter).

Section 1.4
 Problem 2:
A gallon of water in the United States weighs about 8.33 lb. In
other words, the density of water is 8.33 lb/gal . What is the
density of water in kg/m3? What is the density of water in
g/cm3?

1 kg = 2.2 lb
1 m3 = 264 gal

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 Uncertainty and significant figures

There is uncertainty in every

measurement, this uncertainty carries over
through the calculations

16.32 m ± 0.02

value is somewhere b/w 16.30 and 16.34

As this train mishap illustrates, even

a small percent error (uncertainty)
can have spectacular results!

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 Significant Figures
The uncertainty of a measured quantity is indicated by its number of
significant figures.

A significant figure is a reliably known digit

All non-zero digits are significant

Zeros are significant when

• Between other non-zero digits

• After the decimal point and another significant figure

• Can be clarified by using scientific notation

Zeros used to locate decimal point are Not significant.

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Significant Figures, examples
0.0075 m has 2 significant figures
 The leading zeros are placeholders only.
 Write the value in scientific notation to show more clearly:
7.5 x 10-3 m for 2 significant figures
10.0 m has 3 significant figures
 The decimal point gives information about the reliability of the measurement.
1500 m is ambiguous
 Use 1.5 x 103 m for 2 significant figures
 Use 1.50 x 103 m for 3 significant figures
 Use 1.500 x 103 m for 4 significant figures

Section 1.6
Question
The number 0.03720 has ____ digits, ____ decimal
places, and ____ significant digits?

A. 6, 5, 4
B. 5, 5, 3
C. 6, 5, 3
D. None of the above

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Problem# 2

(a) How many significant digits are there in

i. 403.54 kg
ii. 3.010  1057 m
iii. 2.43  10–3 s
iv. 14.00 μm
v. 0.0140 s,
vi. 5300 kg
(b) Round 12,300 kg and 0.0125 s to two significant
digits.
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QuickCheck 1.7

Rank in order, from the most to the least, the number of significant
figures in the following numbers. For example,
if b has more than c, c has the same number as a, and a has
more than d, you would give your answer as b > c = a > d.

a. 8200 b. 0.0052 c. 0.430 d. 4.321 × 10 –10

A. d>c>b=a
B. a=b=d>c
C. b=d>c>a
D. d>c>a>b
E. a=d>c>b

© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-27

 Operations with Significant Figures
Accuracy – number of significant figures
• Least accurate number has the lowest number of significant
figures

When multiplying or dividing two or more

quantities, the number of significant figures in the
final result is the same as the number of significant
figures in the least accurate of the factors being
combined

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 Operations with Significant Figures, cont.
• When adding or subtracting, round the result to the
smallest number of decimal places of any term in
the sum
• If the last digit to be dropped is less than 5, drop
the digit
• If the last digit dropped is greater than or equal to
5, raise the last retained digit by 1

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 Text: p. 12
© 2015 Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 1-30
Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education Inc.
 Example: Area Of a rectangle

12.71 m has 4 significant figures 12.71 m

3.46 m has 3 significant figures 3.46 m

Area = 12.71m X 3.46m = 43.9766 m2

= 44.0 m2
has three significant
figures

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 Estimation:
order-of-magnitude
A one-significant-figure estimate or calculation is called an order-of-magnitude
estimate.
An order-of-magnitude
estimate is indicated by
the symbol ~, which
indicates even less
precision than the
“approximately equal”
symbol ≈.

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ation.html © 2015 Pearson
Education, Inc.
 Vectors and scalars
• A scalar quantity can be described by a single
number.
• A vector quantity has both a magnitude and a
direction in space.
• In this book, a vector quantity is represented in

boldface italic type with an arrow over it: A.
 
• The magnitude of A is written as A or |A|.

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 Drawing vectors
• Draw a vector as a line with an arrowhead at its tip.
• The length of the line shows the vector’s magnitude.
• The direction of the line shows the vector’s direction.
• Figure shows equal-magnitude vectors having the same
direction and opposite directions.

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 Adding two vectors graphically
• Two vectors may be added graphically using either the parallelogram
method or the head-to-tail method.

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 Adding more than two vectors graphically

• To add several vectors, use the head-to-tail method.

• The vectors can be added in any order.

http://media.pearsoncmg.com/aw/aw_0media_physics/phet/sims/
vector-addition/vector-addition.html

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 Subtracting vectors

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 Multiplying a vector by a scalar

• If c is a scalar, the

product cA has
magnitude |c|A.

• Figure illustrates
multiplication of a vector
by a positive scalar and a
negative scalar.

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 Problem 4: Adding Displacement Vectors

Jenny runs 5 mi to the northeast, then 10 mi south.

Graphically find her net displacement.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education Inc. Slide 1-37

 Components of a vector
• Any vector can be represented by an x-component Ax and a y-
component Ay.
• Use trigonometry to find the components of a vector:
• Ax = Acos θ and Ay = Asin θ
• where θ is measured from the +x-axis toward the +y-axis.

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 Positive and negative components

• The components of a vector can

be positive or negative numbers,
as shown in the figure.

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 Calculations using components
• We can use the components of a vector to find its magnitude
and direction:

Ay
A Ax2  Ay2      and      tan 
Ax

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 Calculations using components
• Adding vectors graphically provides limited accuracy. Vector
components provide a general method for adding vectors.

• We can use the components of a

set of vectors to find the components
of their sum:

Rx  Ax  Bx  Cx ,   Ry  Ay  By  C y 

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Checking Understanding
What are the x- and y-components of these vectors?

A. 3, 2
B. 2, 3
C. 3, 2
D. 2, 3
E. 3, 2

Slide 3-23
Checking Understanding
What are the x- and y-components of these vectors?

A. 3, 1
B. 3, 4
C. 3, 3
D. 4, 3
E. 3, 4
Slide 3-25
Checking Understanding
The following vectors have length 4.0 units.
What are the x- and y-components of these vectors?

A. 3.5, 2.0
B. 2.0, 3.5
C. 3.5, 2.0
D. 2.0, 3.5
E. 3.5, 2.0

Slide 3-27
Checking Understanding
The following vectors have length 4.0 units.
What are the x- and y-components of these vectors?

A. 3.5, 2.0
B. 2.0, 3.5
C. 3.5, 2.0
D. 2.0, 3.5
E. 3.5, 2.0

Slide 3-29
 Q1.2

Consider the vectors

shown. Which is a correct
 
statement about A + B ?

A. x-component > 0, y-component > 0

B. x-component > 0, y-component < 0
C. x-component < 0, y-component > 0
D. x-component < 0, y-component < 0
E. x-component = 0, y-component > 0

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 Q1.3

Consider the vectors shown.

Which is a correct statement
 
about A  B?

A. x-component > 0, y-component > 0

B. x-component > 0, y-component < 0
C. x-component < 0, y-component > 0
D. x-component < 0, y-component < 0
E. x-component = 0, y-component > 0

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 Unit vectors
• A unit vector has a magnitude
of 1 with no units.
• The unit vector î points in the
j
+x-direction, j points in the +y-
direction, and kk points in the
+z-direction.
• Any vector can be expressed
in terms of its components as
 j k
A =Axî+ Ay j + Az k.

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 The scalar product
• The scalar product
(also called the “dot
product”) of two
vectors
  is
AB  AB cos.

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 Calculating a scalar product
• calculate a scalar product in two ways
 
• In terms of components, AB  Ax Bx  Ay By  Az Bz.
 
AB  AB cos.
• In terms of vectors

[Insert figure 1.27 here]

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 The vector product
• The vector
product (“cross
product”) of
two vectors has
magnitude
 
| A B |  AB sin

and the right-

hand rule gives
its direction..

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 The vector product…

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Q1.8
Consider the vectors
shown.
What
 is the dot product
C • D?

A. (120 m2 ) cos 78.0°

B. (120 m2 ) sin 78.0°
C. (120 m2 ) cos 62.0°
D. (120 m2 ) sin 62.0°
E. none of these

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Q1.10

Consider the two vectors


A = 3iˆ + 4 ˆj

B = 8iˆ + 6 ˆj
 
What is the dot product A  B ?
A. zero
B. 14
C. 48
D. 50
E. none of these

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Q1.11

Consider the two vectors


A = 3iˆ + 4 ˆj

B = 8iˆ + 6 ˆj
 
What is the cross product A  B ?
A. 6 k̂
B. 6 k̂
C. 50 k̂
D. 50 k̂
E. none of these

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© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.