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NOTE: Practice personal hygiene protocols at all times
quantities from other quantities that we can measure. In the first case we
might use a ruler to measure distance, or a stopwatch to measure a time
interval. In the second case we might define average speed of a moving
object as a distance travelled (measured with a ruler) divided by the time
travel (measured with a stopwatch)
Quantities in physics may either be fundamental or derived.
Fundamental quantities include length, mass, time, temperature, electric
charge, luminous intensity, and amount of substance. Derived quantities are
combination of fundamental quantities. For example, speed may be described
as length of space travelled divided by time. Other familiar examples of
derived quantities are acceleration, density, work, and energy.
When we measure a quantity, we always compare it with some
reference standards. When we say that a rope is 20 meters long, we mean
that it is 20 times as long as a meter stick, which is defined to be 1 meter long.
We call such a standard a unit of the quantity. The meter is a unit of distance,
and a second is a unit of time. When we use a number to describe a physical
quantity, it is essential to specify the unit we are using; to describe a distance
simply as “20” would have no meaning.
Units have been defined for each fundamental quantity. These units are
called base or fundamental units. The combination of base units is called a
derived unit.
Since 1960 the system of units used by scientists and engineers is the
“metric system”, which is officially known as the “International System” or SI
units (abbreviation for its French term, Système International).
To make sure that scientists from different parts of the world
understand the same thing when referring to a measurement, standards have
been defined for measurements of length, time, and mass.
Length – 1 m is defined as the distance travelled by light in a vacuum in
1/299,792,458 second. Based on the definition that the speed of light is
exactly 299,792,458 m/s.
Time – 1 second is defined as 9,192,631,770 cycles of the microwave
radiation due to the transition between the two lowest energy states of the
Cesium atom. This is measured from an atomic clock using this transition.
Mass – 1 kg is defined to be the mass of a cylinder of platinum-
iridium alloy at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (Sèvres,
France).
The table below shows the seven base units of the SI system.
Answers in physics problems are sometimes too small or too large. For
convenience, The General Conference on Weights and Measures
recommended the use of prefixes.
Unit Conversions
In some of the problems you encounter in this activity, you may be
required to convert one system of unit to another. Because a single quantity
can be expressed in many different units, it is deemed practical to use a
consistent set of units to avoid confusion. Thus, SI units are used to express
different quantities. Quantities that are not expressed in SI units are converted
for practical purposes. Conversion of units is done using the factor-label
method with the aid of the conversion table shown in Table 3.
Table 3. Factors for Unit Conversions
Quantity Equivalent Values
1 kg = 1000 g = 0.001 metric ton = 2.20462 lbm = 35.27392
Mass oz
1 lbm = 16 oz = 5x10-4 ton = 453.593 g = 0.453593 kg
1m = 100 cm = 1000 mm = 106 microns (µm) = 1010
angstrom (Å)
= 39.37 in. = 3.2808 ft = 1.0936 yd = 0.0006214 mile
Length
1 = 1000 m
km
1 ft = 12 in. = 1/3 yd = 0.3048 m = 30.48 cm
1 m3 = 1000 L = 106 cm3 = 106 mL
= 35.3145 ft3 = 220.83 imperial gallons = 264.17 gal
Volume = 1056.68 qt
1 ft3 = 1728 in.3 = 7.4805 gal = 0.028317 m3 = 28.317 L
= 28,317cm3
1N = 1 kg∙m/s2 = 105 dynes = 105g∙cm/s2 = 0.22481 lbf
Force
1 lbf = 32.174 lbm∙ft/s2 = 4.4482 N = 4.4482x105 dynes
1 = 1.01325x105 N/m2 (Pa) = 101.325 kPa = 1.01325 bar
atm
= 1.01325x106dynes/cm2
Pressure
= 760 mm Hg at 0℃ (torr) = 10.333 m H2O at 4℃
= 14.696 lbf/in.2 (psi) = 33.9 ftH2O at 4℃
= 29.921 in. Hg at 0℃
1J = 1 N∙m = 107 ergs = 107dyne∙cm
Energy = 2.778x10-7kW∙h = 0.23901 cal
= 0.7376 ft∙lbf = 9.486x10-4 Btu
1W = 1 J/s = 0.23901 cal/s = 0.7376 ft∙lbf/s = 9.486x10-4
Power Btu/s
= 1.341x10-3hp
1s = 0.016666666 minute (min)
Time = 2.777777778 x 10-4 hour (h)
Study the following examples on converting units of measurement
using the factor-label method.
1s
0.016666666 𝑚𝑛
𝑖 denominator
1s
(15 min) ( )
0.016666666 min
= 900.000036 s
Solution:
Step 1. Create the conversion factor(s) using the conversion table.
Given: 30 km
Conversion from Table 3: 1 km = 1000 m
Conversion factor:
1000 m
1 km
Step 2: Multiply the given quantity by the conversion factor(s). The
product should contain the target unit.
1
(30 km) ( )
0
0
= 30 000 m0
m
Example 3: A woman drives a car in Tuguegarao 1 at 50 km/h (50 kilometers per
k
hour) express this speed in metersmper second.
Solution:
Step 1. Create the conversion factor(s).
Given: 50 km/h
Conversion factor:
1000 m
1 km
1h
3600 s
1000 m 1)
(50 km/h) ( )(
1 km 3600 hs
= 3.9 m/s
Learning Competency:
Solve measurement problems involving conversion of units, expression of
measurements in scientific notation (STEM_GP12EU-Ia-1)
3. Filipino men have an average height of 5 ft 1.57 inches. What is the height
in centimeters? In meters?
Activity 2. FROM ENGLISH TO METRIC
Introduction
Length is one of the fundamental physical quantities. Using a meter
stick or a foot rule is the simplest way to measure length. Centimetre and
inch are two common units of length. Least count is the smallest value
that can be read from any measuring device.
A meter stick least count is one milimeter or 0.1 centimeter while the
least count of English foot rule is 1/20 of an inch or 0.05 inch.
Note that there may be other models of a foot rule whose least counts
may differ from what was mentioned above.
Objectives
1. Measure length using a meter stick and a foot rule.
2. Determine the number of centimeters in an inch.
Materials
A meterstick
An English ruler
A4 bond paper
Procedure
1. Determine the least counts of your meterstick and foot rule.
2. Measure the length of an A4 bond paper using the meterstick. Make
four other measurements of the same bond paper using different
parts of the meter stick as the starting point for each of the four
times.
3. The reading at the mark with which you start the measurement must
be subtracted from the final reading. Record the measurements in
the table below.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 using an English ruler this time. Record the
measurements in the table below.
5. Using the data gathered from step 2, compute for the average of the
length by finding the arithmetic mean of the measurements. Do the
same for the data obtained in step 4.
6. Using the averages obtained in step 5, compute the number of
centimeters in an inch. Compare your results with the accepted
value by computing the percentage error.
Data
Least count of meterstick: Least count of English Ruler:
Table 1
Length of A4 bond paper
Length
Trial
Meterstick Foot rule
1
2
3
4
5
Average
Computations
Conclusion
_
Activity 3. FILL IN THE BLANKS
Directions: Answer the following questions on the spaces provided.
Here are the Rules for Significant Figures which will help you to understand
them better.
1. Nonzero digits are always significant
38.57 mL (4) 288 g (3)
2. Zeroes are sometimes significant, and sometimes they are not.
a. Zeroes at the beginning of a number (used just to position the
decimal point) are never significant.
0.052 g (2) or 5.2X10-2 g 0.00364 m (3) or 3.64x10-3m
b. Zeroes between nonzero digits are always significant.
2007 g (4) 6.08 km (3)
c. Zeroes at the end of a number that contains a decimal point are
always significant.
38.0 cm (3) or 38.0x101 cm 440.0 m (4) or 4.400x102 m
d. Zeroes at the end of a number that does not contain a decimal point
may or may not be significant.
24,300 km (3, 4, 5)
3. Exact numbers can be considered as having an unlimited number of
significant figures. This applies to defined quantities.
1 yard = 3 ft 1 in. = 2.54 cm (we do not apply sig. figures)
4. In addition and subtraction, the last digit retained in the sum or
difference is determined by the position of the first doubtful digit.
a. Add 37.24 mL and 10.3 mL b. Subtract 21.2342 g from
27.87 g
37.24 mL 27.87 g
+10.3 L - 21.2342 g
47.54 mL is reported as 47.5 mL 6.6358 g is reported
as 6.64 g
5. In multiplication and division, an answer contains no more significant
figures than the least number of significant figures used in the
operation. What is the area of a rectangle 1.23 cm wide and 12.34 cm
long?
2
A = l x w = (12.34 cm)(1.23 cm) = 15.2 cm
Activity 4. SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
A. Identify how many significant figures each given quantity has
1. 0.000103 g
2. 398,000 mL
3. 26.7 m
4. 7.3200x103 g
5. 43.15 L
6. 3 gal
7. 2.00000 m
8. 634.009 L
9. 0.0723 g
10. 0.0088x10-5 m
11. 77.83 g + 233.672 g = 311.50 g
12. 16.2 m – 971.43 m = -955.2 m
13. 17.43 g / 3.21 g = 5.43 g
14. 4qt
15. 88.23 cm x 2.796 cm = 246.7 cm2
Solution:
Step 1. Move the decimal place until you get a number between one
and ten.
Step 2. Count how many places you moved the decimal point. The
number of places would be the exponent of the ‘10’ in the scientific
notation. If the decimal point is moved to the right, then the power of ten
would be negative, and positive if it moved to the left.
Nine places to the left, therefore the resulting Scientific notation would be
2.89 x 109
SUMMARY
1. I learned that
2. I enjoyed most on
Sears, Francis W., Zemansky, Mark M., and Young Hugh D. College Physics,
7th Ed. New Yor: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1992.
https://fode.education.gov.pg
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