Questions

SI Units and Prefixes

1. What is the base unit for the amount of a substance?

- The mole, symbol mol, is the SI unit of amount substance.

2. Is a newton a base unit?

- No.

3. What is the kilogram a base unit for?

- Mass.

4. How would you express 1 hour in SI Units?

- 3 600 s

5. List all SI units

- Length- meter (m)

- Time- second (s)
- Amount of substance- ampere (A)
- Temperature- kelvin (K)
- Luminous Intensity- candela (cd)
- Mass- kilogram (kg)

6. How would you express temperature in terms of SI Base Units?

- Kelvin (K)

7. Is a joule an SI unit?

- Yes, it is used for work and energy

8. V=IR, which quantity has an SI Base unit?

9. Express the following derived units in terms of SI Base units.

a) Newton, N

b) Pascal, Pa

c) Watt, W

10. The following equation may be used to calculate the force between two masses:

F = Gm1m2
r2

Where:

• G is a constant of value: 6.674x10−11kg−1m3s−2

• m1 and m2 are the masses of each object, in kilograms

• r is the distance between the centre of mass of each object, in metres.

Express each side of this equation in terms of SI Base units. Hence, check the homogeneity of this equation.

Questions Continued
SI Units and Prefixes
11. Convert the following quantities to base units: (e.g. metres, seconds, kilograms, etc)

a) 50,000m

b) 7400kg

c) 0.0000354A

d) 8600 minutes

12. Use the correct prefix to write the following quantities in the shortest form:
 a) 85,000,000J

b) 0.000004m

c) 7650s

d) 0.008V

13. Express 35eV in J.

14. Express 54MJ in kWh.

15. Estimate the mass of an average elephant, in kilograms.

16. Estimate the pressure felt if an elephant were to stand on your foot!

17. Estimate the height of the Eiffel Tower, in metres.

18. Estimate how long it would take a ball to fall from the top of the Eiffel Tower.