§1.

PHYSICS AND MEASUREMENT

1.1. Standards of Length, Mass and Time
- SI: a set of standards for the fundamental quantities of science:
+ Length: meter (m): The distance traveled by light in vacuum during a time of
1/299792458 second.
+ Mass: kilogram (kg): the mass of a specific platinum–iridium alloy cylinder
kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures at Sèvres, France.
+ Time: second (s): 9192631770 times the period of vibration of radiation from
the cesium-133 atom.
1.2. Dimensional Analysis
- The dimensions of length l, mass m, and time t are L, M, and T, respectively.
- Use brackets [ ] to denote the dimensions of a physical quantity.
- Assume that a quantity f = g(x, y, z) is a function of quantities x, y and z with the
corresponding dimensions [x], [y] and [z], the dimension of f:
[f ] = g([x ], [y ], [z ])
Example:
+ The dimensions of speedv = l/t : [v ] = L/T
+ The dimensions of area A = l × l : [A ] = L × L = L2
 §1. PHYSICS AND MEASUREMENT
 1.2. Dimensional Analysis

Table 1.1

- Quantities can be added or subtracted only if they have the same dimensions.
- The terms on both sides of an equation must have the same dimensions.

Example: Show that the expression v = at, where v represents speed, a

acceleration, and t an instant of time, is dimensionally correct.
Solve:
The dimensions of v: [v] = L/T
The dimensions of at: [at] =
 v = at is dimensionally correct
 §1. PHYSICS AND MEASUREMENT
1.3. Conversion of Units
1.4. Significant Figures and Order of Magnitude
a. Significant Figures
- When certain quantities are measured, the measured values are known only to
within the limits of the experimental uncertainty.
- Factors lead to the uncertainty:
+ Quality of the apparatus
+ Skill of the experimenter
+ The number of measurements performed
- Significant figures rules:
+ All non-zero digits are significant
+ Zeros between non-zero digits are significant
+ Leading zeros are never significant
+ In a number with a decimal point, trailing zeros are significant 

Example: 2.50 has three significant figures; 2.503 has four; 0.00130 has three
significant figures.
 §1. PHYSICS AND MEASUREMENT
1.4. Significant Figures and Order of Magnitude
a. Significant Figures
- When multiplying several quantities, the number of significant figures in the final
answer is the same as the number of significant figures in the quantity having the
smallest number of significant figures. The same rule applies to division.

10.5 cm
4.5 cm

Area = 4.5 cm  10.5 cm = 47 cm2

- When numbers are added or subtracted, the number of decimal places in the
result should equal the smallest number of decimal places of any term in the sum
or difference.

10.5 cm
4.55 cm

Perimeter = 2(4.55 cm  10.5 cm)

= 215.1 = 30.2 cm
 §1. PHYSICS AND MEASUREMENT
 1.4. Significant Figures and Order of Magnitude
b. Scientific notation
- In the scientific notation, the number is written as a product of a number
between 1 and 10 and a power of 10.
Example:
+ If none of the trailing zeros are significant:
+ The distance from Earth to the Sun ~ 150 000 000 000 m  1.5 1011 m
+ The diameter of a virus ~ 0.000 000 01 m  1 10-8 m
+ If two of the trailing zeros of 150 000 000 000 m are significant
150 000 000 000 m  1.500 1011 m

- Writing numbers in the scientific notation, you can easily identify the number of
significant figures.
Example: 1.5 1011 m contains two significant figures (1 and 5)
 §1. PHYSICS AND MEASUREMENT

 1.4. Significant Figures and Order of Magnitude

c. Order of magnitude
- In doing rough calculations, we sometimes round off a number to the nearest
power of 10. Such a number is called an order of magnitude.
Example: The height of an ant is about 8 10-4 m  10-3 m

 The order of magnitude of an ant’s height is 10-3 m

- We use the symbol “” to indicate “is the order of magnitude of”
Example: The typical height h of most people is about 2 m  h ~ 100 m.

- Saying h ~ 100 m mean that a typical height is really 1 m but that it is closer to 1
m than to 10 m and to 10-1 m.
 §1. PHYSICS AND MEASUREMENT
1.4. Significant Figures and Order of Magnitude
c. Order of magnitude
some order-of-magnitude values for a variety of sizes, masses, and time intervals
encountered in physics.