KOLEJ MATRIKULASI SELANGOR physics\akademik\1PN\SF016\ch1

1 Physical Quantities & Measurement 3. Prefixes - for presenting

Prefix Multiple Symbol
1.1 Physical Quantities & Units larger and smaller values
1. Physical quantities – a quantity that can be measured tera  1012 T
2. Basic quantity – quantity 3. Derived quantity – quantity eg: giga  109 G
which cannot be derived which can be expressed in 1 pF  F mega  106 M
from any physical quantities term of base quantity kilo  103 k
Mass, m kg Area, A m3 4700 m3  mm3 deci  10-1 d
Length,  m Acceleration, a m s-2 centi  10-2 c
0.5 J min-1  J s-1
Time, t s Force, F N @ kg m s-1 milli  10-3 m
Temperature, T K Work, W J @ kg m2 s-1 micro  10-6 
Current, I A nano  10-9 n
Amount of substance, n mol pico  10-12 p
Luminous intensity, IV cd

1.2 Scalars & Vectors 11. Unit vector are

4. Scalar quantity is defined as 5. Vector quantity is defined as dimensionless
a quantity with magnitude a quantity with both 12. We shall use the symbols
only magnitude & direction i, j, and k to represent
e.g. mass, time, temperature, e.g. displacement, velocity, unit vectors pointing in
pressure, electric current, work, acceleration, force, momentum, the positive x, y, and z
energy and etc electric field, magnetic field and directions, respectively
etc 13. The magnitude of each
6. Addition and subtraction of vectors can be done graphically/ unit vector equals 1
geometrically by: |𝑖̂| = |𝑗̂| = |𝑘̂ | = 1

14. In 2-D, let

A = Axi + Ayj
B = Bxi + Byj
(Component
vectors)
and
R = Rxi + Ryj
(Resultant
vector)

So
R=A+B
R = (Ax + Bx)i + (Ay + By)j
where
Rx = Ax + Bx
Ry = Ay + By
And
Magnitude of R = √𝑅𝑥 2 + 𝑅𝑦 2
𝑅𝑦 𝐴𝑦+𝐵𝑦
Direction, tan  = =
𝑅𝑥 𝐴𝑥+𝐵𝑥

7. The geometric method of adding vectors is not recommended 15. Multiplication of vectors – 2 types
whenever great accuracy is required or in 3-D problems. (i) Scalar/ Dot product: A  B = AxBx + AyBy + AzBz
8. By use of the projections of vectors along coordinate axes (the A  B = IAIIBI cos 
components of the vector), we can add any vectors IAI = √𝐴𝑥 2 + 𝐴𝑦 2 + 𝐴𝑧 2
Let
mathematically. A = Axi + Ayj + Azk IBI = √𝐵𝑥 2 + 𝐵𝑦 2 + 𝐵𝑧 2
𝐴𝐵
B = Bxi + Byj + Bzk cos  = |𝐴||𝐵|

(ii) Vector/ Cross product: Let

Will produce a new vector, C A = Axi + Ayj + Azk
AB=C B = Bxi + Byj + Bzk
The direction of vector is 𝑖̂ 𝑗̂ 𝑘̂
determined by A  B = |𝐴𝑥 𝐴𝑦 𝐴𝑧|
RIGHT-HAND RULE 𝐵𝑥 𝐵𝑦 𝐵𝑧
Magnitude, = 𝑖̂(AxBy – AyBx) – 𝑗̂(AxBz –
9. The component Rx represents the projection of R along the x axis, ICI = IA  BI = IAIIBI sin  AzBx) + 𝑘̂ (AxBy – AyBx)
and the component Ry represents the projection of R along the y
axis. 16. The angle between two vectors can only be determined by
Rx = R cos  using the scalar (dot) product
Ry = R sin 
Magnitude, R = √𝑅𝑥 2 + 𝑅𝑦 2
𝑅𝑦
Direction, tan  =
𝑅𝑥
10. Unit vectors – a vector with http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~jenolive/vect6.html
a magnitude of 1 unit in the
direction of vector A