Physics is one of the branches of science.

It is an exciting adventure in the

quest to find out patterns in nature and find means of understanding
phenomena through careful deductions based on experimental verification.
Measurements play a very important role in the investigation of physics.
We use measurement daily such as the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the
work we do and the sports we play.
In this lesson, we will discuss SI unit and its conversion, how to measure
length, mass, and time as well as errors, uncertainties, accuracy and precision
in measuring, fundamental and derived units, scientific notation, significant
figures, dimensional analysis, and graphs.
Have fun studying this learning material.

After going through this module, you are expected to:

solve measurement problems involving conversion of units, expression of
measurements in scientific notation

Kindly read the description of the following icons used for you to better
understand this learning material.
This icon means to read and study carefully the concepts and principles
as well as the given examples in computations.

This icon indicates an activity to assess your learning about the lesson.

This icon entails a warm-up activity that will test the knowledge you have
before studying the lessons.
 This lesson allows you to acquires problem solving skill in conversion of units
and expressing scientific notation. Also, the concept of significant figures allows you to
express values in a more meaningful way. Enjoy!
Note: As you read and study the topic, take down notes for this material will be
returned to me after you finish it.

As a warm-up, kindly answer the following questions in a yellow paper.

1. Among your family members, identify who is the tallest as well as the shortest
and indicate their height in centimeters. For example:
Shortest: Sister → ______________ cm
Tallest: Father → _______________ cm
2. From your friends, choose one and identify their weight in grams. For example:
Weight: Robin → ________________ g
3. Measure how many liters (L) of water you drink in one day. ________ L of water
4. How far are you from our school in miles (mi)? ____________________ mi
5. On average, how many minutes do you spend chatting with someone in
messenger? ______________ min

Source:
https://memestatic.fjcdn.com/
pictures/Height+difference_29e

Any quantities are measured based on a 2f0_6924966.jpg

particular standard or unit. Measurements act as

labels which make those values more useful in terms
of details. We are all familiar with common units such
as meters, kilometers, seconds, kilograms, etc. but
actually there are more units being used even today.
Each unit is stated along with a numerical value.
For example, instead of saying someone is tall,
we can specify its measurement and say that the
individual is 2 meters tall. This means that one’s height is 2 times a meter stick. The
meter stick here is considered to be the reference standard.
 Two Systems of Measurement
Metric System – officially known as the Source:
https://www.popsci.com/sites/
popsci.com/files/psc0616_ask_
001.jpg

“International System” or SI units (abbreviation

for its French term, Système International) and is
usually used by scientists and engineers
▪ mks systems – meter, kilogram, second
▪ cgs systems – centimeter, gram, second
English System – more used in the U.S. and Britain
▪ fps systems – foot, pound, second
Table 1. SI Fundamental Quantities

Physical quantities can either be

Length meter m fundamental or derived.

Mass kilogram kg Fundamental quantities refer to the

Time second s basic quantities which are

Electric Current ampere A

independent of one another. For

Temperature Kelvin K
example, we have length, mass, time
Amount of and temperature. These quantities do
mole mol
Substance
not depend on other quantities for
Luminous Intensity candela cd
them to have their own ‘unit’.
Derived quantities refer to combinations of fundamental quantities. Example
are: speed (meter per second m/s), which depends on length (meter m) and time
(second s) and density (kilogram per cubic meter kg/m3) which is dependent on mass
(kg) and volume (m3).

Often, we encounter numbers which are too big or too small to write. The
shorthand way of writing large and small numbers is called scientific notation. To
express a number in a scientific notation, use the following format:

𝑁 × 10𝑛
where N – mantissa (any number greater than or equal to 1 but less than 10)
n – power (how many times the decimal is moved)
The format above is also known as the format for prefixes. Prefixes are also
used to accommodate extreme numbers. Table 2 shows the most common prefixes and
their symbols.
 Table 2
Most Common Prefixes for Powers used with Metric Units
Power Prefix Symbol Power Prefix Symbol
10-18 atto- a 101 deka- da
10-15 femto- f 103 kilo- k
10-12 pico- p 106 mega- M
10-9 nano- n 109 giga- G
10-6 micro- μ (Greek letter mu) 1012 tera- T
10-3 milli- m 1015 peta- P
10-2 centi- c 1018 exa- E
10-1 deci- d
For example, a year, which is about 3.2 × 107 s, can also be expressed as 32
megaseconds (Ms).

1. Write the scientific notation for the

speed of light which is approximately 300 000 000 m/s.
mass of a strand of hair which is approximately 0.000 000 062 kg
Steps:
1. Identify whether the number is big or small.
▪ 300 000 000 m/s is a big number
▪ 0.000 000 062 kg is a small number
2. Move the decimal point. If decimal is moved to the left, the
▪ 300 000 000. m/s → 3.00 000 000 m/s
power n is positive but if the
decimal is moved to the right, the
▪ 0.000 000 062 kg → 000 000 06.2 kg power n is negative.
3. Write the base 10 and the power n
▪ 3.0 × 108 m/s
▪ 6.2 × 10-7 kg

Go to page 7 for
Often, we are given a quantity in one set of
other conversion
units, but we want it expressed in another set of factors you can use
in converting units.
units.

1. How many kilometers are there in 500 cm?

Write down the conversion factor for km → cm
1 km = 1000 m and 1 m = 100 cm
So, we have,
1m 1 km
500 cm × × = 0.005 km
100 cm 1000 m
 2. Convert 458 m/s to km/h
Our conversion factors will be:
1 km = 1000 m and 1 h = 3600 s
m 1 km 3600 s
458 × × = 1648.8 km/h
s 1000 m 1h
3. Convert 37.9 C to F
From Table A.10 (on page 7),
F = (9/5) × C + 32 = (9/5) × 37.9 C + 32 = 100.2 C
4. Convert 33 in3 to ft3
1 ft = 12 in, and since it has a power of 3, we’ll raise our factors to three also.
(1 ft)3 3
33 in3 × = 0.02 ft
(12 in)3

In science, all numbers are measured. Not all of the digits have
meaning and in science, only
Measured values are not always accurate. It the numbers derived from
comes with uncertainty that is why we must only measurement that have
significance are written.
use those numbers that are significant or
meaningful.

Rules in Determining Significant Figures

▪ 1.34 ▪ 3 SF
1. All nonzero digits are
▪ 46.57 ▪ 4 SF
ALWAYS significant.
▪ 186,369,662 ▪ 9 SF
▪ 1,004 ▪ 4 SF
2. Zeros between nonzero digits
▪ 3,057 ▪ 4 SF
are significant.
▪ 20,002 ▪ 5 SF
3. Final zeros or trailing zeros to ▪ 295.00 ▪ 5 SF
the right of a decimal are ▪ 101.1000 ▪ 7 SF
significant. ▪ 153.0 ▪ 4 SF
▪ 0.0023 ▪ 2 SF
4. Zeros to the left of nonzero ▪ 0.000001010 ▪ 4 SF (in here, we also applied
digits are NOT significant. Rule #2 and #3)
▪ 0.2 ▪ 1 SF
▪ 1,000,000,000 ▪ 1 SF
5. When a number ends in zero,
▪ 2020 ▪ 3 SF (apply Rule #2 also)
the zeros are NOT significant
▪ 12,000 ▪ 2 SF
 You’re nearly at the end of Lesson 1! Take a deep breath and relax first and get
ready for the reflection. Write your answers in a sheet of paper.
1. In what areas of your life can you apply measurement? How does it help you in your
everyday life? _______________________________________________________
2. Convert the following and express your answers in scientific notation:
• 55 km to mi • 34.5 m2 to in2
• 12 mg to kg • 2.79 g/cm3 to kg/m3
• 36 in3 to mL
3. A human hair is approximately 50 μm in diameter. Express this diameter in
centimeters.
4. The exact value of the speed of light is known to be 299, 792, 458 m/s. Express the
speed of light in the following ways:
a. with five significant figures
b. with two significant figures
c. with eight significant figures

Yay! Two thumbs up for

finishing the self-test!
Table A.1

Table A.2

Table A.3

Table A.4

Table A.5
Table A.6

Table A.7

Table A.8

Table A.8

Table A.9

Table A.10
Celsius to Fahrenheit ( C to F) (9/5) × C + 32
Fahrenheit to Celsius ( F to C (5/9) × ( F – 32)
Celsius to Kelvin ( C to K) C + 273
Fahrenheit to Rankine ( F to R) F + 460
▪ Silverio, A. A. (2017). Exploring Life Through Science: General Physics 1.
Phoenix Publishing House, Inc.
▪ Giancoli, D. C. (2014). Physics: Principles with Applications (7th ed.). Pearson
Education, Inc.
▪ Serway, R. A., & Faughn, J. S. (2006). Physics. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
▪ Serway, R. A., & Jewett, J. W. J. (2010). Physics for Scientists and Engineers
with Modern Physics (8th ed.). Brooks/Cole.
▪ Radi, H. A. & Rasmussen, J. O. (2013). Principles of Physics, Undergraduate
Lecture Notes in Physics. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.