Lecture 1

Measurement & Units

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Physical quantities (in mechanica)

Basic quantities : in mechanics the three fundamental

quantities are
Length (L), mass (M), time (T)

Derived quantities : all other physical quantities in mechanics can

be expressed in term of basic quantities

Velocity
Area
Volume
Acceleration
Force
$..
$..

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 Units

Time > Second (s)

The SI unit of time is the Second, which is the time required for a
cesium-133 atom to undergo 9192631770 vibrations.

Length > Meter (M)

The SI unit of length is Meter, which is the distance traveled by light
in vacuum during a time of 1/2999792458 second.

Mass > Kilogram (kg)

The SI unit of mass is the Kilogram, which is defined as the mass of
a specific platinum-iridium alloy cylinder.

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 Systems of Units

* SI units (International System of Units):

length: meter (m), mass: kilogram (kg), time: second (s)

*This system is also referred to as the mks system for meter-kilogram-second.

* Gaussian units

length: centimeter (cm), mass: gram (g), time: second (s)

*This system is also referred to as the cgs system for centimeter-gram-second.

* British engineering system:

Length: inches, feet, miles, mass: pounds, time: seconds

We will use mostly SI units, but you may run across some problems using
British units. You should know how to convert back & forth.

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 Conversions

1 mile = 1609 m = 1.609 km

1 ft = 0.3048 m = 30.48 cm
1 in = 0.0254 m = 2.54 cm
1m = 39.37 in = 3.281 ft
1 mile = 5280 ft
Example:
Convert miles per hour to meters per second !!??
1mile 1609m
= = 0.447 m / s
1hour 3600s
Questions:
1. Convert 500 millimeters into meters. 500/1000 = 0.5m
2. Convert 4.2 liters into milliliters. 4.2 * 1000 = 4200 mil.L
3. Convert 1.45 meters into inches. 1.45 * 39.37 = 57.086 inch
4. Convert 65 miles per hour into kilometers per second.
65mil/1H * 1609m/3600s =0.029 Km/s = 29 m/s 5
Prefixes

Prefixes correspond to powers of 10

Each prefix has a specific name/abbreviation

Power Prefix Abbrev.

1015 peta P
109 giga G
106 mega M
103 kilo k
10-2 centi c
10-3 milli m
10-6 micro µ
10-9 nano n
10-12 pico p
10-15 femto f

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Example :
Newton’s law of universal gravitation is shown by
Mm
F = G
r2
What are the SI units of the proportionality constant G?
Here F is the magnitude of the gravitational, M and m are the masses of the objects,
and r is a distance.
Force F has the SI units kg ·m/ s2.

Solution:

Mm Fr 2
F=G 2 ⇒G=
r Mm

kg.m / s 2 × m 2 m3 N.m 2
G≡ = 2
=
kg × kg kg.s kg 2

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Density
M
Every substance has a density, designated ρ ≡
V
M
Dimensions of density are, ρ ≡ units (kg/m3)
L3

Some examples:
Substance ρ (103 kg/m3)

Gold 19.3
Aluminum 2.70
Water 1.00

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Example :

A solid piece of lead has a mass of 23.94 g and a volume of 2.10 cm3.
From these data, calculate the density of lead in SI units .

Solution

m 23.94 × 10 −3 3 3
ρ= = = 11.4 × 10 kg / m
V 2.10 × 10 −6

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Dimensional Analysis
Definition: The Dimension is the qualitative nature of
a physical quantity (length, mass, time).

brackets [ ] denote the dimension or units of a physical quantity:

Quantity Dimension
Length [L]=L
Mass [M]=M
time [T]=T
area [A] = L2
volume [V]=L3
velocity [v]= L/T
Acceleration [a] = L/T2
force [f]=M L/T2

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Idea: Dimensional analysis can be used to derive or check formulas by treating
dimensions as algebraic quantities.
Quantities can be added or subtracted only if they have the same dimensions,
and quantities on two sides of an equation must have the same dimensions.

Example :
Using the dimensional analysis check this equation is correct:

x = ½ at 2
where: x, is the distance, a, is the acceleration and t, is the time.

Solution left side [x] = L

1 2 L
righ side [ at ] = 2 × T 2 = L
2 T

This equation is correct because the dimension of the left and right side of the
equation have the same dimensions.
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 Problem:
Show that the expression x = vt +1/2 at2 is dimensionally correct ,
where x is coordinate and has unit of length, v is velocity,
a is acceleration, and t is the time.

The left side [ x] = L

L L
The right side [vt + 1 2 at 2 ] = T +1/ 2 2 T 2
T T
[ L] = [ L]

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Example:
Which of the following equations are dimensionally correct?
(a ) v f = v i + ax
(b ) y = (2m ) cos(kx ), where k = 2m −1
Solution 1:
(a) This is incorrect:

L L L L L2
= + .L = + 2
T T T2 T T

(b) This is correct:

2
L = 2 L. cos .L
L
L = 2L

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Example:
Suppose that the acceleration (a) of a particle moving in circle of
radius r with uniform velocity v is proportional to the rn and vm.
Use the dimensional analysis to determine the power n and m.

Solution
Let us assume a is represented in this expression
a = k rn v m
Where k is the proportionality constant of dimensionless unit.

The left side [a] = L/T2

The right side

Therefore  LT −2 = Lm + n T − m 

1=n +m 2=m  n = -1
and the acceleration a is: a = k r -1 v2 = kv2/r
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 The position of a particle moving under uniform acceleration is some function of
time and the acceleration. Suppose we write this position:

x = kam tn
where , k is a dimensionless constant.
Show by dimensional analysis that this expression is correct if m = 1 and n = 2
Solution

[ x] = [ka mt n ]

L = Lm T −2 m × T n = Lm T n −2 m

The powers must be the same on each side of the equation

m =1 and n − 2m = 0 ⇒ n = 2

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 Problem:
The period T of a simple pendulum is measured in time unit given by : T = 2 π l
g
Show that this equation is dimensionally correct.

l
[T ] = [ 2 π ]
g
L L
T = = .T
L L
2
T

T = T

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