THEME 1:PHYSICAL

QUANTITIES
PHYSICS FOR COMPUTING SCIENCE 1
 SUMMARY
Goals
1. Introduction • Understand the scientific method
2. Physical quantities • Understand the physical approach to studying
reality
3. Systems of units. The S. I. • Know the definitions of the physical units in the
S. I.
4. Dimensional analysis • Be capable to perform transformations
between systems of units
5. Orders of Magnitude • Know the significance of the dimensions of a
magnitude
• Use dimensional analysis to determine the
dimensions of physical expressions
• Know the principle powers of 10
• Determine orders of magnitude

Bibliography
• Young, Freedman (Sears, Zemansky): University
Physics, 2010, Pearson Education, thirteenth
edition, Chapter 1
• Enrique Arribas y Consuelo Gallardo,
"Introducción a la Física (magnitudes, errores,
vectores y campos)". Capítulos 1 y 2. Editorial
Moralea. 2001.

2
 1. INTRODUCTION
Physics is one of the most fundamental of the sciences

• Study the structure of molecules

• Reconstruct how dinosaurs walked
• Study how human activities affect
Scientists the atmosphere and oceans
• …

• Design a flat-screen TV
Engineering • An interplanetary spacecraft
• A better mousetrap
technology • …
1.INTRODUCTION
 2. PHYSICAL QUANTITIES
MAGNITUDE: Any property of phenomena of nature that can be
observed and measured

PHYSICAL MAGNITUDE: Any physical property of a phenomenon,

body, or substance, that can be quantified by measurement and
therefore susceptible to comparison (<,=, >). E.g. your weight/height

QUANTITY: One first defines the unit of a magnitude X and from that
we can then define a part of that magnitude CX. E.g.: a distance
travelled, the height of a house, etc..

We can use this definition of a quantity if we can define a universal

operation to obtain the ratio between two quantities of a magnitude
A yB:

A/B= n where n is a number

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 MEASUREMENT OF A PHYSICAL MAGNITUDE: involves applying
an experimental procedure capable of expressing the
amount of such magnitude by a real number

Measuring an amount Cx of a magnitude X, is comparing it to

a chosen standard unit of measurement 1X
CX/ 1X = n Here n is the measured value

Correct way to express X: real number, n, and units

(there are adimensional magnitudes)

PROPERTIES OF A STANDARD UNIT

• Must be immutable
• Easy to obtain
• Precise 4,53 m
• Previously defined and adopted by convention or
by law
• Invariable 6
There are many different physical quantities, but not all are
independent: distance vs. speed (distance/time)

BASE UNITS: set of independent quantities that are not related

by any physical law (and have been agreed upon
internationally)

length amount of substance

time electric current
mass temperature
luminous intensity

DERIVED UNITS: any other quantity which can be expressed in

terms of the base units through an equation

PHYSICAL LAWS allow us to deduce derived units from the

base ones

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 3. SYSTEMS OF UNITS: THE SI

A SYSTEM OF UNITS is a collection of standard units

for a given set of base units

Magnitudes: { X1, X2, X3, ..., Xn}

{ unit of X1, unit of X2 , ..., unit of Xn}

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 The International System of Units
The International System of Units (abbreviated SI from French: Le
Système international d'unités) is the modern form of the metric
system and is the world's most widely used system of
measurement, used in both everyday commerce and science

QUANTITY NAME DIMENSION BASE UNIT SYMBOL

SYMBOL
Length L Metre m
Mass M Kilogram kg
Tiime T Second s
Electric current I Ampere A
Thermodynamic K Kelvin K
temperature
Amount of substance n mole mol
Luminous intensity J candela cd
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Metre (m): Unit of length
• Original (1793): 1/10000000 of the meridian through Paris between the
North Pole and the Equator.
• (1889): the distance between two lines on a standard bar composed of
platinum and iridium. This prototype of the metre is still kept in Sevres,
France, under the conditions specified in 1889.
• Current (1983): The distance travelled by light in vacuum in 1/299792458 s

Second (s): Unit of time

• Original (Medieval): 1/86400 of a day
• Current (1967): The duration of 9192631770 periods of the radiation
corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of
the ground state of the caesium 133 atom

kilogram (kg): Unit of mass

• Original (1793): The kilogram was defined as being the weight [mass] of
one cubic decimetre of pure water at its freezing point
• Current (1889): The mass of the International Prototype Kilogram

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 Derived Units
Derived units are formed by powers, products or quotients of the
base units and are unlimited in number

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 ADDITIONAL GEOMETRIC UNITS AND
QUANTITIES
PLANE ANGLE
Is the figure formed by two rays, called the sides of the angle, sharing a
common endpoint
l

R
If l is the length of the arc and R the radius of the circle, the angle is
defined as the ratio between the length of a circular arc to its
radius (l/R). The full plane angle is 2 radians.

Units of plane angle: Radian (rad).

The radian is the angle subtended by an arc of a circle that has
the same length as the circle's radius:

l=R =>   1 rad

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 ADDITIONAL GEOMETRIC UNITS AND
QUANTITIES
SOLID ANGLE ()
Is the two-dimensional angle in three-dimensional space that an object
subtends at a point. It is a measure of how large the object appears to an
observer looking from that point. It is equal to the area of the segment of
a unit sphere, centered at the angle's vertex. Consider a cone which
intersects the sphere of radius R. Let S be the area of surface subtended
by the intersection of the cone and the sphere. The solid angle is defined
to be

S
 2 Therefore the solid angle of a whole
R sphere is 4

Unit of solid angle: steradian (sr).

A steradian can be defined as the solid angle
subtended at the center of a unit sphere by a unit
area on its surface. For a general sphere of radius r,
any portion of its surface with area A = r2 subtends
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one steradian
14
U.S. Customary
System

‒ Foot: 1 ft = 0.3048 m
‒ Pound: is the weight at sea level and 45 ° latitude of a
platinum standard, which is held at the Bureau of Standards in
Washington D C..This this platinum standard has a weight of
0.45359243 kg
‒ Second: The same as in the S.I.

Mass (derived unit), slug.

One slug is a mass that accelerates by 1 ft/s2 when a force of
one pound-force (lbF) is exerted on it.:1 slug = 1 lbF s2 ft-1 15
U.S. Customary
System

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 4. DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS
The same magnitude can be expressed
in two sets of units. 17 in.

E.g.: size of a screen= 17 in.  25.40 mm  10 - 3 m  0.432 m
  in. mm

In order to relate different magnitudes without the intervention their

units, FOURIER applied the concept of DIMENSION. a physical law must
be independent of
the units used to
measure the
The dimensions of the fundamental quantities are
represented as:
physical variables
length L
mass M
time T
electric current I
thermodynamic temperature K
Amount of substance N
In order not to confuse the quantity of a magnitude with its
dimension we use brackets
[m] = M [l] = L [t] = T 17
Any equation that relates physical quantities can be put in terms of its dimensions

A   B b C c
This is what is called an EQUATION OF DIMENSIONS, that is an symbolic equation that
espresses how magnitud A changes upon varying the magnitudes B and C

DIMENSIONAL CONSISTENCY PRINCIPLE

An equation is dimensionally consistent only when the dimensions of

the physical quantities on the left hand side of an equation are the
same as that on the right hand side (You cannot subtract one
banana from three apples)
[…] = Ma Lb Tc

Always carry the units in

Physical law: P ~T V-1 n the calculations
PHYSICAL EQUATION: P = R T V-1 n
R = 0.082 at l mol-1 k -1
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 5. ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE

SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

To express numbers too big or small, we simplify the notation

through powers of ten:

X = a·10n, 1≤ a ≤ 9

ORDER OF MAGNITUDE

Given a numeric expression X written in the scientific notation,

we define the order of magnitude of a quantity as the power of
ten closest to X:

n if a < 5 n+1 if a ≥ 5
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 Prefixes for Powers of 10
Symbol Name Value

E exa 1018
P peta 1015
T tera 1012
G giga 109
M mega 106
k kilo 103
c centi 10-2
m mili 10-3
µ micro 10-6
p nano 10-9
f pico 10-12
a femto 10-15
ato 10-18

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21
 Any digit whose
SIGNIFICANT NUMBER value is
Digits that are significant numbers accurately
• From 1 to 9 are all significant numbers known
• In de case of 0:
• To the left it is never a significant number
• Between two digits it is always a significant
number.
• To the right it may or may not be a significant
number
RULES OF APPLICATION
• For multiplication and division, the answer can have no more
significant figures than the smallest number of significant figures in
the factors

• For addition and subtraction, the number of significant figures is

determined by the term having the fewest digits to the right of the
decimal point
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 Any digit whose
SIGNIFICANT NUMBER value is
Digits that are significant numbers accurately
• From 1 to 9 are all significant numbers known
• In de case of 0:
• To the left it is never a significant number
• Between two digits it is always a significant
number.
• To the right it may or may not be a significant
number
RULES OF APPLICATION
• For multiplication and division, the answer can have no more
significant figures than the smallest number of significant figures in
the factors

• For addition and subtraction, the number of significant figures is

determined by the term having the fewest digits to the right of the
decimal point
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