Base units & Prefixes updated June 2023

1) The relationship between the variables D and T is given by the equation

where b and c are constants. The unit of D is m2
and the unit of T is s. F-23/12/02
What are the units of b and c?
2) What is a power of 3.7 MW when expressed in kilowatts? W-22/12/02
A 3.7 x 10–3kW B 3.7 x 10–3KW C 3.7 x 103 kW D 3.7 x 103KW
3) What are the SI base units of electromotive force (e.m.f.)? W-22/13/02
A kg m2s–1A–1 B kg m2s–3A–1 C kg m2s–1A D kg m s–3A–1
4) What could not be a measurement of a physical quantity? Feb-22/12/01
A 10 K B 11 J N–1m–1 C 17 Pa m3N–1 D 25 T m
5) A computer memory stick is labelled as having a storage capacity of 128 GB.The letter B stands for byte,
which is a unit. What is the equivalent storage capacity? Feb-22/12/02
8 11 14 17
A 1.28 x 10 B B 1.28 x 10 B C 1.28 x 10 B D 1.28 x 10 B
6) The speed v of a liquid leaving a tube depends on the change in pressure 'P and the density ρ of the liquid.
The speed is given by the equation where k is a constant that has no units. What is the value of n?
A½ B1 C 3/2 D2 Sp-22/12/03
7) Which two units are identical when expressed in terms of SI base units? S-22/11/02
–1 2 –1 –2 2 –1 3 –2 –3
A J C and kg m A s B J s and kg m s C N m and kg m s D N s and kg m s
8) Which list of unit prefixes decreases in magnitude from left to right? S-22/13/02A
centi, deci, milli B deci, milli, centi C pico, kilo, milli D kilo, milli, pico
9) The drag coefficient Cd is a number with no units. It is used to compare the drag on different cars at different
speeds. Cd is given by the equation where F is the drag force on the car, ρ is the density of the air,
A is the cross-sectional area of car & v is the speed of the car. What is the value of n?
A1 B2 C3 D4 S-22/13/03, S-18/12/02,W-13/11/03
10) The mobility µ of electrons travelling through a metal conductor can be calculated using the equation
µ = e 𝜏 / m, where e is the charge on an electron and m is its mass. The average time between the collisions
of an electron with the atoms in the metal is. What are the SI base units of µ ? W-21/11/02
A A kg-1 B A s2kg–1 C A s kg–1 D A s–2kg–1
11) What is the unit of resistance when expressed in SI base units? W-21/13/02
A kg–1m–2s A2 B kg–1m–2s3A2 C kg m2s–1A–2 D kg m2s–3A–2
12) Which physical quantity could have units of N s2 m–1? F-21/12/02
A acceleration B force C mass D momentum
13) Which combination of units could be used for expressing the power dissipated in a resistor?
A newton per second (N s–1) B newton second (N s)
C newton metre (N m) D newton metre per second (N m s–1)
14) Which quantity could have units of N m V–1?
A acceleration B charge C current D resistance
15) What is a unit of momentum?
A kg m s–2 B N s–1 CNs D kg s m–1
16) The speed v of waves on a stretched wire is given by the equation v = Tp𝜇 q where T is the
tension in the wire and 𝜇 is the mass per unit length of the wire.
What are the values of p and q? W-20/12/02
17) The frequency f of vibration of a mass m supported by a spring with spring constant k
is given by the equation where C is a constant with no units.
What are the values of p and q? S-20/11/02
18) The speed of a wave in deep water depends on its wavelength L and the acceleration of
free fall g. What is a possible equation for the speed v of the wave? W-19/11/02

19) Which two units are not equivalent to each other? W-19/13/02
A N m and kg m2s–2 B N s and kg m s–1 C J s–1 and kg m2s–3 D Pa and kg m s–2
20) The luminosity L of a star is given r is the radius of the star, T is the temperature of the star,
σ is a constant with units Wm K . What are the SI base units of L?
-2 - 4
S-16/12/02
A kg m2 s-1 B kg m2 s-2 C kg m2 s-3 D kg m2 s-4
21) Which unit can be expressed in base units as kg m2s–2?
A joule B newton C pascal D watt
22) The Planck constant h has SI units J s. Which equation could be used to calculate the Planck constant?
A h = DE / v where D is distance, E is energy and v is velocity S-19/12/03
B h = v/D where v is velocity and D is distance C h = 1/(4π E) where E is electric field strength
D h = Fr2/m where F is force, r is radius and m is mass
23) At temperatures close to 0 K, the specific heat capacity c of a particular solid is given by c = bT3,
 where T is the temperature and b is a constant, characteristic of the solid. The SI unit of specific heat capacity
is J kg–1K–1. What is the unit of constant b, expressed in SI base units? W-15/11/02, F-19/12/02
A m2s–2K–3 B m2s–2K–4 C kg m2s–2K–3 D kg m2s–2 K-4
24) When a beam of light is incident on a surface, it delivers energy to the surface. The intensity of the beam is
defined as energy delivered per unit area per unit time. What is unit of intensity, expressed in SI base units?
A kg m–2s–1 B kg m2s–3 C kg s–2 D kg s–3
25) What is the unit of resistance when expressed in SI base units? S-14/12/02,
2 –2 –1 2 –3 –2 –2 –1 –3 –1
A kg m s A B kg m s A C kg m s A D kg m s A
26) Three of these quantities have the same unit. Which quantity has a different unit?
A energy / distance B force C power × time D rate of change of momentum
27) What is a unit for stress? S-18/11/01
-1 –2 –2 –2 –1
A kg m s B kg m s CNm DNm
28) Which SI unit, expressed in base units, is not correct? W-17/11/01
–2 –1
A unit of force, kg m s B unit of momentum, kg m s
C unit of pressure, kg m–2s–2 D unit of work, kg m2s–2
29) Which pair of units are not the same when expressed in SI base units? W-17/12/01
A m s–2 and N kg–1 B N s and kg m s–1 C Pa and N m–2 D V m–2 and N C–1
30) The units of specific heat capacity are J kg–1K–1. What are the SI base units of specific heat capacity?
A m s–2K–1 B m s–1K–1 C m2s–2K–1 D m2s–1K–1 W-17/12/03, S-14/13/02, March-16/12/02
31) The maximum theoretical power P of a wind turbine is given by the equation P = kρAvn
where ρ is the density of air, A is the area swept by the turbine blades, v is the speed of the air
and k is a constant with no units. What is the value of n ? W-17/13/02, S-14/12/01
A1 B2 C3 D4
32) The speed v of a liquid leaving a tube depends on the change in pressure ΔP and the density ρ of the liquid.
∆𝑷 n
The speed is given by the equation v = k( ) where k is a constant that has no units. What is value of n?
𝝆
A 1/2 B1 C 3/2 D2 S-17/11/03, S-14/11/03
33) What correctly expresses the volt in terms of SI base units? S-17/12/03
AAΩ B W A–1 C kg m2s–1A–1 D kg m2s–3A–1
34) Which expression using SI base units is equivalent to the volt? S-17/13/03
2 –1 –1 –2 2 –1 2 –3 –1
A kg m s A B kg m s A C kg m s A D kg m s A
35) Which expression has the same SI base units as pressure? March-17/12/01
A force/(length x speed) B force /(length x time) C mass /(length x (time) ) D mass x (time)2 /length
2

36) The force F between two-point charges q1 and q2, a distance r apart, is given by the equation
where k is a constant. What are the SI base units of k ? W-16/11/02
A kg m3s-4A2 B kg m3s-4A-2 C kg m3A2 D kg m3A-2
37) The speed v of sound in a gas is given by the equation where P is the pressure of the gas, ρ is its
density and γ is a constant. What are SI base units of 𝛾? W-16/12/02
A m-1s B m3 s-3 C m-4s-4 D no units
38) Which pair of quantities do not have the same SI base units? S-16/11/02
A electromotive force and electric potential difference B pressure and stress
C spring constant and moment of a force D torque and work
39) The stress σ needed to fracture a particular solid is given by the equation where E is the
Young modulus, d is the distance between planes of atoms, and k is a constant with no units.
What are the SI base units of 𝛾? S-16/13/02
-2 -2 -1 -1
A kg m s B kg s C kg m s D kg s
40) The time T taken for a satellite to orbit the Earth on a circular path is given by the equation
where r is radius of the orbit, M is mass of the Earth and k is a constant. What are the SI base units of k ?
A kg-1m-3s2 B kg-1m3s2 C kgm-3s2 D kgm3s2 W-15/12/03
41) What is the unit of the Young modulus when expressed in SI base units? W-15/13/01
-1 -2 3 -2 -2 -1 -1
A Kg m s B Kg m s C Kg m D Kg m s
42) The Reynolds number R is a constant used in the study of liquids flowing through pipes. R is a pure number
𝜌𝑣𝐷
with no unit. R = where ρ is the density of the liquid, v is the speed of the liquid and D is the diameter
𝜇
of the pipe through which the liquid flows. What are the SI base units of μ? W-15/13/02
–1 –1 –1 –1
A kg m s B kg m s C kg m s D kg m s
43) A cylindrical tube rolling down a slope of inclination θ moves a distance L in time
T. The equation relating these quantities is where a is the
internal radius of the tube and P and Q are constants. Which row gives the correct
units for P and for Q? W-15/13/06
44) The average kinetic energy E of a gas molecule is given by the equation E = 3/2 KT ,
where T is the absolute (kelvin) temperature. What are the SI base units of k ? S-15/12/02
A kg-1m-1s2K B kg-1m-2s2K C kg m s-2 K-1 D kgm2s-2 K-1
45) What is equivalent to the unit of electric field strength? W-14/11/02
A J C m–1 B N s A–1 C kg m s–3A–1 D kg m3s–3A–1
46) When the brakes are applied on a vehicle moving at speed v, the distance d moved by the vehicle in coming
to rest is given by expression d = kv2 where k is a constant. What is the unit of k expressed in SI base units?
A m–1s2 B m s–2 C m2s–2 D m–1s W-14/12/01
𝑮𝒓𝟒
47) The spring constant k of a coiled wire spring is given by the equation K = where r is the radius of the
𝟒𝒏𝑹𝟑
wire, n is the number of turns of wire and R is the radius of each of the turns of wire. The quantity G
depends on the material from which the wire is made. What is a suitable unit for G? W-13/13/04
A N m–2 B N m–1 CNm D N m2

Q-1 Gas flows through the narrow end (nozzle) of a pipe. Under certain conditions, the mass m of
gas that flows through the nozzle in a short time t is given by

where k is a constant with no units, C is a quantity that depends on the nozzle size,𝝆
the gas arriving at the nozzle, P is the pressure of the gas arriving at the nozzle.
Determine the base units of C (3)
Q-2 The volume V of liquid that flows through a pipe in time t is given by the equation (3)

where P is the pressure difference between the ends of the pipe of radius r and length ℓ.
The constant C depends on the frictional effects of the liquid. Determine the base units of C.
Q-3 (a) Use the definition of power to show that the SI base units of power are kg m2 s–3. (2)
(b) Use an expression for electrical power to determine the SI base units of potential difference. (2)
Q-4 (a) Use the definition of work done to show that the S I base units of energy are kg m2 s-2.
(b) Determine the SI base units of resistance. Show your working.
Q-5 The speed v of a sound wave through a gas of density 𝜌 and pressure P is given by
where C is a constant. Show that C has no unit.

Q-6 (a)Show that the SΙ base units of the Young modulus are kg m–1 s–2.

(b)The time period T of the oscillations is given by

where M is the mass, 𝓵 is the length, E is the Young modulus of the material of the beam
and K is a constant. Determine the SΙ base units of K.

Q-7 The intensity I of a sound wave is related to the amplitude x0 of the wave by
where 𝜌 is the density of the medium through which the sound is passing, c is the speed
of the sound wave, f is the frequency of the sound wave and K is a constant.
Show that K has no units.