MODULE 1

St. Augustine’s School of Iba Inc

Iba, Zambales

SUBJECT: General Physics

Semester of S.Y 2021 -2022
Prepared by: Engr. Cindy D. Dullas
PHYSICS MODULE 1

Name: ______________________________________________________
Section: ______________________

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Introduction

The physical universe is enormously complex in its detail. Every day, each of us observes
a great variety of objective and phenomena. Over the centuries, the curiosity of the
human race has led us collectively to explore and catalogue a tremendous wealth of
information. From the flight of birds to the colors of flowers, from lightning to gravity, from
quarks to clusters of galaxies. Physics help us understands why things in natural world
happen the way they do.

Rationale

To learn and understand Physics in terms of Physical Quantities and Measurement Systems.

To learn and understand the concept of accuracy and precision, mean and standard
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deviation, and histogram and level of confidence

Intended Learning Outcomes

A. Understands what is Physics and fields of study of physics

B. Describe physical quantities and enumerate the different units of measurements
C. Describe the concept of accuracy and precision
D. Understand the concept of mean and standard deviation
E. Understand the concept of histogram and level of confidence.
Activity

Power Point Presentation thru google meet

Learning Module

Lampara Learning Management System

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Discussion

Physics the science concerned with describing the interactions of energy, matter,
space, and time; it is especially interested in what fundamental mechanisms underlie
every phenomenon interaction.
Field of Physics: (1)Forces and Motion (2) Heat (3) Light (4) Waves (5) Electromagnetism
(6) Electronics (7) Nuclear Physics

Physical Quantities
 Physical quantities have a numerical value and a unit of measurement
 A numerical value is the number value of physical quantity
 A unit of measurement is a specific magnitude of a physical quantity that has been
adopted by convention.
 Ex. Length  1 meter

SYSTEM OF UNITS
SI (Le Systeme Internationale d’Unites in French or the International System of Units)
Quantity of SI Units of SI Symbol of SI
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Mass Kilogram kg
Length Meter m
Time Second s
Electric Current Ampere A
Temperature Kelvin K
Luminous Intensity Candela cd
Amount of substance Mole mol

PREFIXES
Unit prefixes are symbol to
replace before the symbol of
a unit to specify the order of
magnitude of a quantity.

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EXAMPLE 1:
1. Convert the each of the following units into meter
(a)2.98Tm
(b)288km
(c)298 x104  m

2. Convert the each of the following units

(a)4m3 into the units of cm3
(b)500m2 into the units of m3
km m
(c)72 into the units of
hr s

INDEPENDENT and DEPENDENT VARIABLE

 The Independent Variable (y) is the variable being controlled in an experiment
 The Dependent Variable (x) are the variables that are being observed or are
calculated depending on the independent variable.
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y  f  x1, x2, x3,....., xn 

EXAMPLE 2:
A student passes different value of electrical current through a resistor. For each
value of current, he records the voltage across the resistor.

Independent Variable  Electrical Current

Dependent Variable  Voltage

ESTIMATION
 Estimation is solving value that is near to the true value of a physical quantity
without any measurement.
Example:
• The diameter of an atomic nucleus is around 10-12m
• The sun has a mass of roughly 1030kg.

The Measurement of Uncertainty

The process of evaluating uncertainty is termed uncertainty analysis or error analysis.
Measurement  best estimate ± uncertainty

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EXAMPLE 3:
Assume a gold ring with a certain mass is to be sold. By observing the
ring’s mass is between 10 and 20 grams. However, this is not an
excellent estimate. A device, such as weight balance or digital weight
balance, will show an exact mass of 17.43g.

Reading Results Measured Mass  17.43 ± 0.01 grams

1 17.46g Average Mass  17.44 ± 0.02 grams

2 17.42g
3 17.44g

ACCURACY and PRECISION

 Accuracy is described as nearness of measured value compared to a true or

standard value.
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 Expressed using Relative Error

Measured Value - Expected Value
Relative Error=
Expective Value

 Precision is defined as the amount of consistency a result can be obtained.

 Expressed using Relative or Fractional Uncertainty
uncentainty
Relative Uncertainty=
measured quantity

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EXAMPLE 4:
A refrigerator thermometer is hourly monitored as tabulated on table below. However the
actual temperature inside the refrigerator is 39.5 0C. Determine the relative error.
Measured Value - Expected Value
Relative Error=
Expective Value

Expected Value=39.50C

Measured Value=Average of Temperature Reading

392.6
Measured Value=  39.260 C
10

39.26 0C - 39.50C
Relative Error= x100%
39.50 C
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0.240 C
Relative Error= x100%
39.50 C
Relative Error=0.6075%

EXAMPLE 5:
Suppose you measure the weight of rice. Your gathered data is . Find
the relative uncertainty.
uncentainty
Relative Uncertainty=
measured quantity

0.5
Relative Uncertainty=
75.5
0.5
Relative Uncertainty= x100%
75.5
Relative Uncertainty=0.66%

Forms of Error:
 Random Errors are defined as variations in the experiment due to limitations of
measurement device
 Systematic Errors are defined as repeatable incorrect data that are constant in the
same direction.

Causes of errors in doing physics laboratory experiments

1. Inadequate Definition
2. Unable to include a factor (systematic)

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3. Factors due to environment
4. Limited Scale of the instrument
5. Unable to calibrate or check zero scale of the instrument
6. Variations in the physical measurement
7. Parallax

Approximating Uncertainty for a single measurement

Measurement Made  (measured value ± uncentainty)

Mean and Standard Deviation

 Average or Mean is expressed mathematically as:
X 1  X 2  ..  X N
Mean 
N
 Average Deviation is defined as how the single measurement differs from the mean.
x1  x  x2  x  ..  xN  x
Average Deviation=d 
N
 Standard Deviation is used to describe the range of a set of data.
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d12  d 2 2  ..  d N 2
Standard Deviation=s 
N 1

EXAMPLE 5:
Suppose you cut a paper and tabulate the length of each side using a ruler. Determine
the mean, average deviation and standard deviation. (All answer round off up to 3rd
decimal places)
Measurement Width of paper
(cm)

1 31.33
2 31.15
3 31.26
4 31.02
5 31.20

Mean:
X 1  X 2  ..  X N
Mean 
N
31.33  31.15  31.26  31.02  31.20
Mean 
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Mean  31.192cm

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Average Deviation:
Measurement Width of paper
(cm) Deviation (cm)

1 31.33 +0.138 =31.33-31.192

2 31.15 -0.048 =31.15-31.192

3 31.26 +0.068 =31.26-31.192

4 31.02 -0.172 =31.02-31.192

5 31.20 +0.008 =31.20-31.192

x1  x  x2  x  ..  xN  x
Average Deviation=d 
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N
31.33  31.192  31.15  31.192  31.26  31.192  31.02  31.192  31.20  31.192
d
5
d  0.0856cm

Standard Deviation:
d12  d 2 2  ..  d N 2
Standard Deviation=s 
N 1

(0.138) 2  (0.042)2  (0.068) 2  (0.172)2  (0.008)2

s
5 1
s  0.117cm

HISTOGRAM:
The Curve of Histogram is called the Gaussian or normal distribution.

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Assessment

1. Identify some advantages of metric units

2. Certain criteria must be satisfied if a measurement or observation is to be

believed. Will the criteria necessarily be as strict for an expected result as for an
unexpected result?

3. Define and give example for

a. Independent Variable
b. Dependent Variable

4. Which of the following choices below is a uniform motion. Justify your answer
a. A feather falls down at a constant speed in a silent room
b. A leaf falls a tree
c. A rock is dropped from the edge of a building
d. A satellite orbits the Earth at a constant speed
e. An elevator moves from the ground to the eleventh floor at a constant speed
f. A car travels along a straight path of the express way with its speed set at
100km/hr

5. Categorize each of the following quantities as vector or scalar:

a. Time
b. Distance
c. Displacement
d. Speed

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e. Velocity
f. Average Speed
g. Average Velocity

Solve the following problems. Show all necessary solutions to justify your answers.
All final answer must be up to the 3rd decimal places with the appropriate units
and sign for direction. Box your final answers.

I. Conversion of Units
a. 9.248 x 10-1 Gm to meter
b. 9.248 x 10-3 Mm to meter
c. 92.48 x 107 nm to meter
d. 924.8 x 104 µm to meter
e. 200 m 3 to mm3
f. 11.3 cm 3 to m3
g. 5 g/cm3 to kg/m3
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II. Solve the following problems:

1. A grocery store sells 5lb bags of apples. You purchase four bags over
the course of a month and weigh the apples each time. You obtain
the following measurements:
Week 1 weight: 4.8lb
Week 1 weight: 5.3lb
Week 1 weight: 4.9lb
Week 1 weight: 5.4lb

You determine that the weight of the 5lb bag has an uncertainty
of ±0.4 lb. What is the percent uncertainty of the bag's weight?

Reflection

Why do you need to study Physics?

Resources and Additional Resources

 Santos, Gil Nonato C.,Ph.D. (2017). General Physics 1. Philippines: Rex Book Store
 Urone, Paul Peter and Hinrichs, Roger. (2012). College Physics. Texas: Openstax

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