Lecture Outline

Chapter 1

Physics, 4th Edition

James S. Walker

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 Chapter 1
Introduction to Physics

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 Units of Chapter 1

• Physics and the Laws of Nature

• Units of Length, Mass, and Time
• Significant Figures
• Converting Units
• Order-of-Magnitude Calculations
• Scalars and Vectors
• Problem Solving in Physics

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 Physical Quantity
• Any quantity which can be measured is
called a physical quantity.
Example:
• L (Length)
• M (Mass)
• T (Time) etc.
• To measure a physical quantity, we must
define its unit.

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 Types of physical quantities

• Physical quantities are classified into 2

types:
1)Fundamental quantities
These quantities do not depend on other
physical quantities and the units used to
measure these quantities are called
fundamental units.

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 • 2 ) Derived quantities:
• These quantities are defined in terms of
fundamental quantities.
Examples:
• Area=length x length
• Density = Mass/Volume
• Velocity= Displacement/Time

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 Fundamental Quantities Derived Quantities
Physical Unit Symbol Derived derived
Quantity Quantity
Length meter m Area L×L m2
Mass kilogram kg Volume L×L×L m2
Time second s Density Mass÷volume kgm2
Temperature Kelvin K Speed distance÷time m/s
Luminous candela Cd Acceleration ∆velocity÷time m/s2
intensity Force mass×acc N
Electric current ampere A Pressure force÷area N/m2
Amount of a mole mol work force× J
substance displacement

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 Fundamental units of L,M and T taken together to
form a system of units

Units
Name of the system
Length Mass Time
1) British engineering foot slug second
2) CGS centimeter gram second
3) MKS meter kilogram second

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 Rules of writing units
• Units named after scientists
Physical Quantity Unit Symbol
Force newton N
Energy joule J
Power watt W
Pressure pascal P
Charge coulomb C
Frequency hertz Hz
Potential volt V
current ampere A

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 System International
• The system of units used by scientists and
engineers around the world is commonly
called the “metric system”
• But since 1960 it has been officially known
as System International or SI

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 1-2 Units of Length, Mass, and Time

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 1-2 Units of Length, Mass, and Time

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 1-2 Units of Length, Mass, and Time

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 1-2 Units of Length, Mass, and Time

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 1-4 Significant Figures

• accuracy of measurements is limited

• significant figures: the number of digits in a quantity
that are known with certainty

Rules for multiplication or division of

numbers
The number of significant figures that results when we
multiply or divide numbers is given by the RULE:
The number of significant figures after multiplication or
division is the number of significant figures in the least-
known quantity
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 1-4 Significant Figures

Example:

A tortoise travels at 2.51 cm/s for 12.23 s. How far does

the tortoise go?

Answer: 2.51 cm/s × 12.23 s = 30.7 cm (three significant

figures)

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 How long does it take for the tortoise to walk
17cm?
t=17/2.51 =6.8s (6.77 is rounded up to 6.8
as the number with fewer significant figure
is 17)

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 Rule for addition or subtraction
of numbers
It states that the number of decimal places
after addition or subtraction equals the
smallest number of decimal places in any
of the individual terms.
(When we add and subtract numbers, its the
location of decimal point that matters and
not the number of significant figures.)
Example: 123.62+8.9=132.5 and not 132.52

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 • Using Significant figures:
Mathematical Operation Significant figures in
result
Multiplication or division Determined by the one of
the two numbers that has
least number of significant
figures.
Ex: (0.745×2.2)/3.885 =
0.42
Addition or subtraction Determined by the number
with the fewest digits to the
right of the decimal point.
Ex: 27.153+138.2-11.74 =
153.6

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 1-4 Significant Figures

Scientific Notation
• Leading or trailing zeroes can make it hard to
determine number of significant figures: 2500, 0.000036
• Each of these has two significant figures
• Scientific notation writes these as a number from 1-10
multiplied by a power of 10, making the number of
significant figures much clearer:
2500 = 2.5 × 103
If we write 2.50x103, it has three significant figures
0.000036 = 3.6 x 10-5

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 Rules for writing significant figures
•Zeros at the beginning of a number are not
significant. They merely, locate the decimal point.
Example: 0.0254 m
three significant figures (2, 5, 4)

•Zeros within a number are significant.

Example: 104.6 m
four significant figures (1, 0, 4, 6)

•Zeros at the end of a number after the decimal point

are significant.
Example: 2705.0 m
five significant figures (2, 7, 0, 5, 0)
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 The rules for rounding off numbers:
•If the next digit after the last significant figure is or
greater, increase the last significant figure by 1
Example: 2.136
becomes 2.14 rounded to 3 significant figures.

•If the next digit after the last significant figure is less
than 5, do not change the last significant figure.
Example: 2.132
becomes 2.13 rounded to two significant figures.

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 Units
Length

• 1millimeter = 1mm =

• 1centimeter = 1cm =

• 1meter = 1m = 100cm

• 1kilometer = 1km = 1000 m

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 Mass
• 1 milligram = 1mg =

• 1 gram = 1g =

• 1kilogram = 1kg = 1000 g

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 Time
• 1millisecond =10-3 s

• 1min = 60 s

• 1 hour = 60 mins =60X60 s = 3600 s

• 1 day = 24 hr = 24x60x60 = 86400 s
• 1 year = 3x107 s

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 1-5 Converting Units

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 1-6 Order-of-Magnitude Calculations
If numbers differ by one order of magnitude, x is about ten times
different in quantity than y.
If values differ by two orders of magnitude, they differ by a factor of
about 100. Two numbers of the same order of magnitude have
roughly the same scale: the larger value is less than ten times the
smaller value
Order-of-Magnitude =it means a number's nearest power of ten.
Why are estimates useful?
1. as a check for a detailed calculation – if your answer is very
different from your estimate, you’ve probably made an error
2. to estimate numbers where a precise calculation cannot be
done
3. https://www.khanacademy.org/math/pre-algebra/exponents-radic
als/orders-of-magnitude/v/orders-of-magnitude-exercise-exampl
e-1

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 order of
is log10 of
magnitude

1 10

2 100

3 1000

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 1-7 Scalars and Vectors

Scalar – a numerical value. May be positive or negative.

Examples: temperature, speed, height
Vector – a quantity with both magnitude and direction.
Examples: displacement (e.g., 10 feet north), force,
magnetic field

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 1-8 Problem Solving in Physics

No recipe or plug-and-chug works all the time, but here

are some guidelines:
1. Read the problem carefully
2. Sketch the system
3. Visualize the physical process
4. Strategize
5. Identify appropriate equations
6. Solve the equations
7. Check your answer
8. Explore limits and special cases

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 Summary of Chapter 1

• Physics is based on a small number of laws and

principles
• Units of length are meters; of mass, kilograms; and of
time, seconds
• All terms in an equation must have the same
dimensions
• The result of a calculation should have only as many
significant figures as the least accurate measurement
used in it

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 Summary of Chapter 1

•Convert one unit to another by multiplying by their

ratio

• Order-of-magnitude calculations are designed to be

accurate within a power of 10

• Scalars are numbers; vectors have both magnitude

and direction

• Problem solving: read, sketch, visualize, strategize,

identify equations, solve, check, explore limits

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