Chapter 1: Physical Quantities and SI Unit

Length, mass,
time, current,
Base
Physical Physical
Quantity
temperature,
Quantities and Quantities mol, luminous
intensity
SI Unit

Derived Area, volume,

SI Unit Quantity density, relative
density
Prefixes

Physical quantity

A quantity that could be measured.

SI Unit

The system of the units used in engineering and science

Base Quantity Unit and symbol

Length, L Meter, m
Mass, m Kilogram, kg
Time, t Second, s
Electric current, I Ampere, A
Thermodynamic temperature, T Kelvin, K
Luminous intensity, lv Candela, cd
Amount of substance, n Mole, mol

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Chapter 1: Physical Quantities and SI Unit

Base quantity

A quantity that cannot be defined in terms of other base quantities.

1. Length:
distance between two points
standard unit of length is the meter
e.g.: the distance between GMi and students’ house

2. Mass:
The amount of matter in a body
Measured in kilograms, kg

1 kg=1000g

1000kg=1 tonne

3. Time
Duration to measure sequence events, to compare the durations of events and
the intervals between them, and to quantify the motions of objects.
Measured in second, s

1 day=24 hr, 1 hr=60 seconds

4. Electric current
The rate of flow of charge
Measured in ampere, A

5. Thermodynamic temperature
Average energy of motion in matter
Measured in Kelvin, K

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Chapter 1: Physical Quantities and SI Unit

6. Luminous intensity
measure of the wavelength-weighted power emitted by a light source
measured in candela, cd (Candela)

7. Amount of substance
amount of matter
measured in mole, mol

Derived quantity

A physical quantity derived from a combination of various base quantities.

1. Area:
Measure of the size or a plane of surface and measured by multiplying a length
by a length
If the length are in meter then the unit of area is square meter, m2

2. Volume:
A measure of the space occupied by solid and measured by multiplying a length
by a length by a length
If the length in meter then the unit of volume is in cubic meters, m 3

3. Density:

Mass per unit volume of a substance.

The symbol used is (rho)
Units are kg/m3

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Chapter 1: Physical Quantities and SI Unit

where m is the mass in kg, V is the volume in m3 and

is the density in kg/m3

4. Relative density:
Ratio of the density of the substance to the density of water
Has no units

Quantities that are too large or too small are expressed in standard form or scientific notation.
E.g.: Value 0.000125 in standard form is written as 1.25x10-4

Prefixes

Prefix Name Meaning

T Tera Multiply by
( )
G Giga Multiply by

M Mega Multiply by

k Kilo Multiply by

m Milli Divide by 1000

µ Mikro Divide by

n Nano Divide by