Physics (101)

Introduction
and
Chapter 1
 Course Descriptions
 PHY 101 PHYSICS I 3(2-2-1):
 Properties of matter, surface tension,
viscosity, elasticity, fluids, applications.
Simple harmonic motion, damped and
resonance in harmonic motion, sound
waves, Doppler effect, light waves,
reflection, refraction, diffraction, dispersion,
mirrors and lenses, interference, diffraction
and polarization,
 Weighting of Assessments
 Quizzes 20 %
 Mid-Term Examination 20 %
 Final lab Examination 20 %
 Final-Term Examination 40 %
 Total 100 %
systems of units
cgs system

Length cm
Mass g
Time s
Mks system

Length m
Mass kg
British system

Length Foot (ft)

Mass Pound (Ib)
Time Second (s)
Measurements
 Used to describe natural phenomena
 Needs defined standards
 Characteristics of Standards for Measurements
 Readily accessible
 Possess some property that can be measured
reliably
 Must yield the same results when used by anyone
anywhere
 Cannot change with time
Standards of Fundamental
Quantities
 Standardized systems
 Agreed upon by some authority, usually a
governmental body
 SI – Systéme International
 Agreed to in 1960 by an international committee
 Main system used in this text
Fundamental Quantities and
Their Units
Quantity SI Unit
Length meter
Mass kilogram
Time second
Temperature Kelvin
Electric Current Ampere
Luminous Intensity Candela
Amount of Substance mole
 UNITS (Systéme Internationale)
Dimension SI (mks) Unit Definition

Length meters (m) Distance traveled by light in

1/(299,792,458) s

Mass kilogram (kg) Mass of a specific platinum-

iridium allow cylinder kept by
Intl. Bureau of Weights and
Measures at Sèvres, France
Time seconds (s) 9,192,631,700 oscillations of
cesium atom
Standard Kilogram
Basic Quantities and Their
Dimension
 Dimension has a specific meaning – it
denotes the qualitative nature of a physical
quantity
 Dimensions are denoted with square
brackets
 Length [L]
 Mass [M]
 Time [T]
The dimension of the SI base quantities:
Length [L]
Mass [M]
Time [T]
Electric charge [Q]
Electric current [I] = [QT-1]
Temperature [θ]
Amount of substance [S]
Luminous intensity [J]
Dimensional Analysis
 Technique to check the correctness of an equation
or to assist in deriving an equation
 Dimensions (length, mass, time, combinations) can
be treated as algebraic quantities
 add, subtract, multiply, divide
 Both sides of equation must have the same
dimensions
 Any relationship can be correct only if the
dimensions on both sides of the equation are the
same
 Cannot give numerical factors: this is its limitation
Dimensional Analysis,
example
 Given the equation: x = vt +½ at 2
 Check dimensions on each side:
1 L 2
L  LT T  2  T  L  L  L
T
 The T2’s cancel, leaving L for the dimensions
of each side
 The equation is dimensionally correct
 There are no dimensions for the constant
Dimensional Analysis to
Determine a Power Law
 Determine powers in a proportionality
Example: find the exponents in the expression x  a t
m n


 You must have lengths on both sides

 Acceleration has dimensions of L/T2

 Time has dimensions of T

 Analysis gives x  at
2
Symbols
 The symbol used in an equation is not necessarily
the symbol used for its dimension
 Some quantities have one symbol used consistently
 For example, time is t virtually all the time
 Some quantities have many symbols used,
depending upon the specific situation
 For example, lengths may be x, y, z, r, d, h, etc.
 The dimensions will be given with a capitalized,
nonitalicized letter
 The algebraic symbol will be italicized
 Example The speed of waves in shallow water
depends only on the acceleration due to gravity; g,
and on the water depth h. Which of the following
formulas for the wave speed v could be correct?
1 2
a ) v  gh or b )v  gh
2
Solution

LHS : v    LT 
 1

1 2 
RHS :  gh    LT 2 L2    L3T 2

2 
 As clear, the dimensions of both sides are not the
same, and
v  1/ 2 gh 2
is not correct.

LHS: v  =  LT -1 
 -2 12 1 
2 -2 2 
1
RHS:  gh  =  LT   L   =  L T   = LT 
  2
-1

   

The dimensions of both sides are the

same and so
v= gh could be correct
 1.4 How does the frequency f of a simple pendulum depend on the
mass m, the length of the string, and the acceleration due to gravity
g?

LHS: f   T 1

f  Km  g x y z
RHS:  Km x y g z    M x L y  LT 
2 z 
 
  M x L y  z T 2 z


T 1    M x L y  z T 2 z 
Or
 M 0 L0T 1    M x L y  z T 2 z 

g
f K

Example 1.8 Consider a string of length and mass m stretched under a
tension T. If a transverse mechanical wave is propagating along it with
velocity v, how does v depends on , m, and T.
 Example 1.9 The gravitational force between two masses m1 and m2
mm
separated by a distance r is given by: F  G 1 2 2 where G is the
r
gravitational constant. Find the dimensions of G.
 W 3
15. Check by the method of dimensions, the following equations   4bd 3Y
Where  is the depression produced at the middle point of a light beam of
 breadth b and thickness d placed symmetrically on two knife edges
length,
near its ends and loaded in the middle of a weight W. Y is the Young's
modulus of the material of beam
Conversion of Units
 When units are not consistent, you may need
to convert to appropriate ones
 Units can be treated like algebraic quantities
that can cancel each other out
Conversion
Factors
2.54cm 1 in
1 in  2,54cm  or
1 in 2.54cm

Two conversion factors

Unit needed
Unit given   Unit needed
Unit given
Conversion
 Always include units for every quantity, you can
carry the units through the entire calculation
 Multiply original value by a ratio equal to one
 Example
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
in. is defined as 2.54 cm
 Simple, One Step
Conversions
A rainbow trout is measured to be 16.2 in. long. What is
the length in cm?

2.54 cm
length in cm = 16.2 in x = 41.1 cm
1 in

Note the cancellation of units. To convert from

centimeters to inches, the conversion factor would be 1
in / 2.54 cm.
 Simple, One Step
Conversions
 CBS News reported the barometric pressure to be 99.6 kPa. Express this in mm Hg.

Conversion factor : 101.3 kPa = 760 mm Hg

Unit needed

760 mm Hg
pressure (mmHg) = 99.6kPa x 101.3 kPa = 747mmHg

Unit given
Unit given
 Multiple Conversion
Factors
A baseball is thrown at 89.6 miles per hour. What is the
speed in meters per second?

Mile/hour m/hour m/s

1 mile = 1.609 km = 1.609 x 103 m; 1 h = 3600 s

miles 1.609 x 103m 1h

speed = 89.6 x x = 40.0 m / s
hour 1 mile 3600 s

Three sig. figs.

 Units raised to a Power
The conversion factor must also be raised to that power.

A circle has an area of 28 in2. Calculate area in cm2.

in2 cm2

(1 in)2 = (2.54 cm)2

Area = 28 in x
2 (2.54 cm) 2
28 in2 x 6.45 cm 2
= = 1.8 x 102 cm2
(1 in)2 1 in 2

Two sig. figs.

Reasonableness of Results
 When solving a problem, you need to check
your answer to see if it seems reasonable
 Reviewing the tables of approximate values
for length, mass, and time will help you test
for reasonableness
Number Notation
 When writing out numbers with many digits,
spacing in groups of three will be used
 No commas
 Standard international notation
 Examples:
 25 100
 5.123 456 789 12
Prefixes
 Prefixes correspond to powers of 10
 Each prefix has a specific name
 Each prefix has a specific abbreviation
Prefixes, cont.
 The prefixes can be used with any basic units
 They are multipliers of the basic unit
 Examples:
 1 mm = 10-3 m
 1 mg = 10-3 g
Power Prefix Symbol Power Prefix Symbol
1024 Yotta Y 10-1 Deci d
1021 Zetta Z 10-2 Centi c
1018 Exa E 10-3 milli m
1015 Peta P 10-6 micro 
1012 Tera T 10-9 Nano n
109 Giga G 10-12 pico p
106 Mega M 10-15 femto f
103 Kilo k 10-18 atto a
102 hecto h 10-21 zepto z
1. [ML-1T-2] is the dimensional formula of
a. Force b. coefficient of friction c. modulus of elasticity d. energy
Ans: C
2. The dimensional formula of coefficient of viscosity is
a. [MLT-1] b. [M-1L2T-2] c. [ML-1T -1] d. none of these
Ans: C
3. On the basis of dimensional equation, the maximum number of unknown that can
be found, is
a. One b. two c. three d. four
Ans: C
4. If v stands for velocity of sound, E is elasticity and d the density, then find x in the
equation
v = (d/E)x
a. 1 b. ½ c. 2 d. -1/2
Ans: D
5. The multiplication of 10.610 with 0.210 up to correct number of significant figure
is
a. 2.2281 b. 2.228 c. 2.22 d. 2.2
Ans: B
6. The measurement of radius of a circle has error of 1%. The error in
measurement of its area is
a. 1% b. 2% c. 3% d. none of these
Ans: B
7. Dimensional formula of latent heat
a. M0L2T-2 b. MLT-2 c. ML2T-2 d. ML2T-2
Ans: A
8. In case of measurement of ‘g’, if error in measurement of length of pendulum
is 2%, the percentage error in time period is 1 %. The maximum error in
measurement of g is
a. 1 % b. 2 % c. 4 % d. no error.
Ans: C
9. If length of pendulum is increased by 2%. The time period will
a. increases by 1% b. decreases by 1% c. increases by 2% d.
decreases by 2%
Ans: A
11. The S.I. unit of universal gas constant is
a. Watt K-1mol-1
b. N K-1mol-1
c. JK-1mol-1
d. erg K-1mol-1
Ans: C
12. The dimensional formula of couple
a. ML2T-2
b. MLT-1
c. ML-1T-1
d. M1L1T-2
Ans: A
13. An experiment measures quantities a, b, c and x is calculated from . If the
maximum percentage error in a, b and c are 1%, 3% and 2% respectively, the
maximum percentage error in x will be
a. 13%
b. 17%
c. 14%
d. 11%
Ans: A
14. Dimensional formula of thermal conductivity is
a. ML2T-3θ-1
b. ML2T-2θ-4
c. ML2T-2θ-1
d. MLT-3θ-1
Ans: D
15. Three measurements 7.1 J, 7.2 J and 6.7 J are made as experiment the result with correct
number of significant figures is
a. 7.1 J
b. 7.06 J
c. 7.0 J
d. 7J
Ans: C
16. If P represents radiation pressure, c represents speed of light and Q represents radiation
energy striking a unit area per second, then non-zero integers x, y and z, such that PxQycz is
dimensionless, may be
a. x = 1, y =1, z = 1.
b. x = 1, y =-1, z = 1.
c. x = -1, y =1, z = 1.
d. x = 1, y = 1, z = 1
Ans: B