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This is a branch of science concerned with the study of matter in relation to energy. In
physics we study matter and energy and how they affect each other.
Matter is anything that has weight and occupies space. Matter exists in three states namely;
solids, liquids and gases.
Energy is the ability to do work. Energy is of different forms like light energy, heat energy,
sound energy, electrical energy, magnetic energy among others.
Physics may be grouped under the topics such as; Mechanics and properties of matter, light,
electricity, magnetism, atomic physics, waves, etc.
Note: All measurements in physics are expressed to particular system of units known
as International system of units (S.I Units). The three fundamental (basic) units are
the metre (m), kilogram (kg) and second (s).
Length
Mass
Time
LENGTH
This is the distance between two fixed points. Its S.I unit is metre (m).
Other units include kilometre (km), centimetre (cm), millimetre (mm), micrometre
( nanometre (nm), inches, yards, miles etc.
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Conversion of length
km Hm Dm m dm cm mm
1 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0
1 0 0
1 0
Examples
Metre rule
Tape measure
Vernier calipers
Micrometre screw gauge
1. METRE RULE
Length measurement made with a metre rule should be correctly read as shown
below:
The eye should be right above the mark on the scale, and the reading should be to one
decimal place i.e. 7.6cm.
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2. TAPE MEASURE
This is used to measure large length e.g. length of a football pitch, length of a
building, etc
3. VERNIER CALIPER
These are used to measure distance in solid objects where an ordinary metre rule
cannot be applied. E.g. the width of a metre rule, diameter of a test tube, diameter of a
cup, etc.
This is used to measure very small distance such as diameter of pieces of wire, bicycle
spoke, pins, thickness of a piece of paper, diameter of a human hair.
TIME
This is the interval between two successive events. The S.I unit of time is seconds.
Other units include minutes, hours, days, weeks, years. In the laboratory, time is
measured using stop clocks, and stop watches.
1 minute = 60 seconds
1 hour = 60 minutes
1 day = 24 hours
1 week = 7 days
Examples
Exercise
1(a) Convert
(i) 2 days to seconds (Ans. 172800 s)
(ii) 72 hours to seconds (Ans. 259200 s)
(iii) 20 minutes to hours (Ans. hours)
(iv) 4 days to seconds (Ans. 345600 s)
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FINDING AREA
Area is the amount of surface occupied by an object. S.I unit of area is metres squared
(m2). Other units of area are mm2, cm2, dm2, km2, Hm2, etc.
1m = 100cm
= 10,000cm2
2. Cube
3. Cylinder:
(a) Open cylinder
Surface area = + 2 r h = r(r + 2h)
Where r is the radius of the cylinder and h the height of the cylinder
Surface area = +2 h = 2 r (r + h)
= 10,000cm2
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1m2 = 1,000,000mm
Exercise
1. Find the volume of water in a cylinder of water radius 7cm if its height is 10cm.
VOLUME
This is the space occupied by an object. S.I unit is metre cubed (m3)
= 1,000,000cm3
1. Cuboid
V=L W H
2. Cube
V=S S S
= S3
3. Cylinder
V=2 h
4. Sphere or circular object
V=
5. Cone
V=
Exercise
Procedure:
Pour a liquid (e.g. water) into the measuring cylinder and record the
volume on its scale, say V1.
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Tie the irregular object on a piece of thread and gently lower it into the
liquid so that it is completely submerged.
Read and record the new volume, say V2
The volume, V of the irregular object is equal to V2 - V1.
i.e. V = V2 – V1.
Example
A S.1 student of BHS obtained the following results in an experiment to
determine the volume of a stone.
Initial reading = 80cm3, final reading = 82cm3. What is the volume of the
stone?
Method II: Determining volume of irregular object using the Eureka can
Procedure:
Place a displacement can on a bench so that the spout comes over the edge.
Fill the can to the spout with liquid, say water.
Tie the irregular object on a piece of thread.
Place a measuring cylinder under the spout and gently lower the object
into the can.
The volume of the liquid displaced is equal to the volume of the irregular
object.
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Note: To measure volume of liquids, the most convenient instrument is a measuring
cylinder. For a correct reading:
Examples
10cm
8cm 5cm
3. A Cuboid has dimensions 2cm by 10cm. Find its width in metre if it occupies a
volume of 80cm3. (Ans. 0.04m)
Mass
Mass is the quantity of matter a body contains. SI unit is the kilogram (kg).
Other units are milligrams (mg), grams (g), tones (t), micrograms (mg).
Note: 1 tonne = 1000kg
1 kg = 1000g
1 g = 1000mg
1Mg = 1,000,000g
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Mass of the body is measured using the following instruments:
Bean balance
Lever – arm-balance
Top-pan-balance
Example:
1. Convert: 400g to kg
1000g =1kg
400g = = 0.4kg
Exercise: convert
(i) 0.84kg to g
(ii) 5000kg to tonnes
(iii) 0.84 tonnes to g
TIME
This is the interval between events or is the duration between events.
SI unit is seconds (s)
Other units are:
Minutes - Hours - weeks - years
Micro seconds - Days - months - decades.
Century - millennium
NB.
1 Minute = 60 seconds
1 hour = 60 minutes = 360 seconds
1 day = 24 hours
1 week = 7 days
1year = twelve (12 months)
Example
1(a) Convert
(i) 2 days to seconds
= 2 x 24 60 x 60
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= 172800 seconds
Exercise
Scientific notation is used for writing down very large and very small measurements.
Example:
1. Consider the following
4000 = 4 10 10 10 = 4 103
400 = 4 10 10 =4 102
40 = 4 10 =4 101
4=4 1 =4 100
0.4 = = =4 10-1
0.04 = = =4 10-2
0.004 = = =4 10-3
2. Write these in standard form
(i) 40000
(ii) 78900
(iii) 209.1
(iv) 0.0004
(v) 0.0407
(vi) 598,000,000m
(vii) 0.00000087m
(viii) 60220m
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Questions:
Convert the following to scientific form.
(a) 0.048
(b)
(c) 1000
(d) 8.72
(e)
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
All figures from 0-9 are significant figures except 0 (zero) at the beginning.
Eg
a) 3 0 0 8
4th sf
3rd sf
nd
2 sf
st
1 sf
b) 0 2 3
2nd sf
1st sf
c) 2.30 cm
3rd sf
2nd sf
1st sf
Questions
Write the following to the stated significant figures
a) 28.8 to 3 s.f b) to 2 s.f c) 4.027 x10-2 to 3 s.f
DENSITY
Density is the mass per unit volume of substance.
I.e. Density =
10
The symbol for density ρ called Rho.
SI unit for density is kilogram per cubic metre (kgm-3)
Other units for density:
gcm-3 e.g. density of iron metal is 0.8gcm-3. This means that 8gm of iron have a
volume of 1cm3.
Example:
Find the density of a substance of;
(i) Mass 9kg and volume 3m3.
Solution:
(i) Density =
=
= 3kgm-3
(ii) Density =
=
= 10gcm-3
Example:
1. The density to water is 1.0gcm-3. Find its density in kgm-3.
Density = 1.0gm-3
= 1.0 x 1000kgm-3
= 1000kgm-3.
2. A piece of steel has a volume of 12cm3 and a mass 96g. Find its density.
(a) In gcm-3
Density = = = 8gcm-3
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2. The oil level in a burette is 25cm3.50 drops of oil fall from a burette. If the volume
of one drop is 0.1cm3.What is the final oil level in the burette.
Question
1. A measuring cylinder has water level of 13cm.What will be the new water level if
1.6g of a metallic block of density 0.8gcm-3 is added.
Density of liquids
Measure the volume of the liquid using a measuring cylinder.
Pour the liquid into a beaker of known mass M1,
Find the mass M2 of the beaker containing the liquid using a beam balance.
Calculate the density of the liquid from:
Density =
Density =
Examples
1. A Perspex box has a10cm square base containing water to a height of 10 cm .a
piece of rock of mass 600g is lowered into the water and the level rises to 12 cm.
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a) What is the volume of water displaced by the rock?
V=Lxwxh
= 10 x10 x (12-10) = 200 cm3
b) What is the volume of the rock?
Density =
=
= 3gcm-3
2. A Perspex box having 6cm square base contains water to a height of 10cm.
a. Find the volume of water in the box.
13
= 360cm3
b. A stone of mass 120g is lowered into the box and the level of water rises to 13cm.
(i) Find the new volume of water?
=Lxwxh
= 6cm x 6cm x 13cm
= 468cm3
(ii) Find the volume of the stone?
Solution:
Volume = L x W x H
= (100 x 40 x 20) cm3
= 80,000cm3
(i) In gcm-3
Density =
= = 0.007gcm-3
(ii) In kgm-3
RELATIVE DENSITY
This the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of water i.e
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Relative density =
Example:
The density of aluminium is 2.7gcm-3 and density of water is 1.0gcm3.
Find the relative density of aluminium.
Solution:
Relative density =
=
Relative density of Aluminium = 2.7
Note:
(i) Relative density has no units.
(ii) It is numerically equal to the density of a substance expressed in gcm-3.
(iii) Relative density measurements are in effect a density measurement.
Relative density = ÷
If volume of water = Volume of substance
Then; Relative density = x
Question;
1. A density bottle was used to measure the density of mercury. The following
measurements were taken:
Mass of empty bottle = 20g
Mass of bottle full of mercury = 360g
Mass of bottle full of water = 45g
Calculate;
Relative density of mercury
Density of mercury
Solution
Relative density =
=
= 13.6
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Relative density =
13.6 =
Density of mercury = 13.6 x 1
= 13.6 x 1000
= 13.6gcm-3
= 136000kgm-3
2. Density bottle has a mass of 70g when empty, 90g when full of water and 94g
when full of liquid.
Find the relative density of the liquid and its water.
Relative density =
=
= 1 gcm-3
Relative density =
= = 1.2
APPLICATIONS OF DENSITY
Density has its application in floating and sinking.
Note:
If the relative density of a substance is greater than one then that substance is
denser than water i.e. the substance sinks in water.
If the relative density of a substance is less than one then the substance is less
dense than water i.e. the substance floats on water.
Question:
Study the table below and answer the questions that follow
STATES OF MATTER
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Many substances on earth exist naturally like soil, trees, air, etc. Man also
manufactures many things like plastics, metals, etc. The scientific name given to all
these things is Matter.
Matter is anything that occupies space and has weight. Matter exists in three states
namely:
1. Solids
2. Liquids
3. Gasses
(b) Liquids
The molecules are slightly further apart than in solids i.e. the forces of
attraction are weaker.
The molecules move about randomly colliding with each other.
The forces keep the molecules together so that liquids have a fixed volume
but not a fixed shape.
(c) Gasses
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The molecules are far apart and there is almost no force of attraction.
The molecules move about freely.
Gasses occupy the available space and take the shape of the container
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