Republic of the Philippines

Laguna State Polytechnic University

Province of Laguna

Unit 1
Units, Measurements, and Physical
Quantities
Lesson Outline
❑ Units and Measurement ❑ Unit Vectors
❑ Physical Quantities ❑ Vector Addition
❑ Characteristics of Measurements ❑ Vector Components
❑ Scalars and Vectors
Units and Measurements
A measurement results from a number and a unit of number. The number alone cannot
completely describe the entity being measured.
Measurement is comparison with standard. The standard with which the comparisons is made is
called unit of measurements. For instance, the unit of measurement for length is meter.
The Seven SI Base Units
SI Derived Units
Prefixes Used with SI Units
Prefix Symbol Scientific Notation Multiplier
yotta Y 1024 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
zetta Z 1021 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
exa E 1018 1,000,000,000,000,000,000
peta P 1015 1,000,000,000,000,000
tera T 1012 1,000,000,000,000
giga G 109 1,000,000,000
mega M 106 1,000,000
kilo K 103 1,000
hecto H 102 100
deca da 101 10
deci d 10-1 0.1
centi c 10-2 0.01
milli m 10-3 0.001
micro 𝜇 10-6 0.000001
nano n 10-9 0.000000001
pico p 10-12 0.000000000001
femto f 10-15 0.000000000000001
atto a 10-18 0.000000000000000001
zepto z 10-21 0.000000000000000000001
yocto y 10-24 0.000000000000000000000001
Unit Conversion

Dimensional analysis is a method that treats the units as algebraic quantities which can
be canceled.

Original Quantity × Conversion Factor = Desired Quantity

Accuracy vs Precision

• Accuracy refers to the closeness of a measured value to a standard value.

• Precision refers to the closeness of two or more measured values to each other.

In this experiment, they measured the density

of aluminum (2.7 g/mL) in five trials as presented
below:
T1 T2 T3 T4 T5
Pedro 2.749 2.731 2.895 2.742 2.799
Juana 3.924 3.923 3.925 3.926 3.923
Exercise
Who is more accurate when measuring a book that has a true length of 17.0cm? Who is more
precise?
• Susan: 17.0cm, 16.0cm, 18.0cm, 15.0cm
• Amy: 15.5cm, 15.0cm, 15.2cm, 15.3cm
Accuracy vs Precision

• Precision is independent to accuracy. Measurements can be precise but not accurate. A

good analogy for understanding accuracy and precision is to imagine a dart board.
Assuming that bull’s eye represents the standard value and the red dots are measured
values. The following figures were described in terms of accuracy and precision.

High Accuracy High Accuracy Low Accuracy Low Accuracy

High Precision Low Precision High Precision Low Precision
Random vs. Systematic Errors

• Random errors in experimental measurements are caused by unknown and unpredictable

changes in the experiment.
• Systematic errors in experimental observations that usually affect the measurement in the
same way.

Sources of random errors
Some common sources of random error include:
• natural variations in real world or experimental
contexts.
• imprecise or unreliable measurement instruments.
• individual differences between participants or units.
• poorly controlled experimental procedures.
The sources of systematic error can range from your
research materials to your data collection procedures
and to your analysis techniques. This isn’t an exhaustive
list of systematic error sources, because they can come
from all aspects of research.
Random or Systematics?

1. A poorly calibrated thermometer

2. errors in judgment of an observer
3. parallax in reading a meter scale
4. unpredictable fluctuations in line voltage
5. Currents flow in instrument is consistently too low
6. Natural variations of the environment
7. consistently differ from the true value proportionally
Definitions of Scalars and Vectors

Scalar is a quantity that possesses only magnitude. Examples of scalar quantities are
mass. Length, time. distance, speed, and density

Vector a quantity that possesses both magnitude and direction.

Examples of vector quantities are force, electric field, and momentum.

• Vector diagrams are shown using an arrow

• The length of the arrow represents its magnitude
• The direction of the arrow shows its direction
Vector Notations and Unit Vectors

Unit vectors have a magnitude of one and are represented by a boldface symbol topped
with a caret.
Vector Notations and Unit Vectors

𝑣റ = 3 𝑚/𝑠
𝑇 = 13 𝑁

𝑎റ = 9.8 𝑚/𝑠 2
Components of Vectors

The elementary relationships between trigonometric functions is important to define

components of vectors. The trigonometric functions are defined in relation to a right angle.

𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 =
ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒

𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡
𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 =
ℎ𝑦𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑠𝑒

𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒
𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃 =
𝑎𝑑𝑗𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡
Components of Vectors

• A component of a vector is its effective value in a given direction. For example, the x-
component of a displacement is the displacement parallel to the x-axis caused by the
given displacement.
Components of Vectors
Components of a Vector

𝑣റ = 35 𝑚/𝑠

𝜃 = 30°
Components of Vectors

𝐹റ = 15 𝑁
𝜃 = 55°
Parallelogram Method for Vector Addition

𝐴റ

𝐵
Head-to-Tail Method for Vector Additon

𝐵
𝐴റ

𝐵
Numerical Vector Addition

𝐴റ = 8 𝑁
+ 𝐵 =6𝑁

𝐴റ = 8 𝑁
+ 𝐵 =4𝑁

𝐴റ = 6𝑁

𝜃 = 40°

𝐵 = 8𝑁
Numerical Vector Addition

𝐴റ = 6 𝑁 𝐵 =8𝑁

𝜃 = 65° 𝜃 = 40°
Numerical Vector Addition

𝐴റ

𝐵
Numerical Vector Addition

𝐹റ = 15 𝑁
𝜃 = 55°

𝜃 = 60°

𝐹റ = 10 𝑁
Exercise 1.1 – Calculating the Resultant Vector

Find the resultant vector of the following:

𝐴റ
1. 𝐴റ + 𝐵 𝐵

2. 𝐶റ + 𝐷
3. 𝐷+𝐸
4. 𝐴റ + 𝐵 + 𝐶റ
𝐸
𝐶റ