GENERAL PHYSICS 1

LESSON 1

UNITS AND
MEASUREMENTS
MS. CZARINA MARIE H. MENDOZA
 ESSENTIAL QUESTION
How do accurate
measurements empower us
to unravel the mysteries of
the physical world?
 01
Measurements, SI
units and English
units
MEASUREMENTS
• Process of quantitatively
determining the size,
extent, quantity, or degree
of something.
MEASUREMENTS
• Comparing an
unknown
quantity to a
known standard.
PHYSICAL QUANTITY
MECHANICS
• Attributes of objects or
phenomena that can be
quantified using a defined
standard unit.
PHYSICAL QUANTITY
Fundamental Derived
Quantity Quantity

Mass Length Work Density

Time
Speed
PHYSICAL QUANTITY
Fundamental Derived
Derived
Fundamental
Quantity Quantity
Quantities
Quantities
Combinations of
Density
Independent
Mass Length Work
fundamental
quantities
Time
quantities
Speed
SYSTEM OF UNITS
SI units
(International System of Units)

English Units
 SI UNITS
• Système International d'Unités
(French)
• Modern form of the metric system
• World's most widely used system of
measurement.
 SI UNITS
a
ENGLISH UNITS
• Originated from England
• Mostly used in mechanics and
thermodynamics.
• Feet, inches, pounds, yards,
among others.
ENGLISH UNITS
 02
Scientific Notation
and Unit Conversion
 SCIENTIFIC
NOTATION
• Expressing numbers in concise and
standardized format.

• General form of a number in

scientific notation is : a x 10n
 SCIENTIFIC
NOTATION
ax 10n Integer
(positive for large numbers;
negative for small)

A number greater
than or equal to 1 A base of 10
but less than 10
SCIENTIFIC
NOTATION
PRACTICE
Scientific Notation
300,000,000 m/s
CONVERT INTO SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

8
3 × 10 m/s
0.00000062 kg
CONVERT INTO SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

−7
6.2 × 10 𝑘𝑔
 4500
CONVERT INTO SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

3
4.5 x 10
 0.0437
CONVERT INTO SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

−2
4.37 x 10
 5 430 000
CONVERT INTO SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

6
5.43 x 10
S I PREFIXES
 UNIT
CONVERSION
• A process of converting a quantity
from one unit of measurement to
another.
Metric units English units
METRIC CONVERSION
MASS
Divide by 10 Multiply by 10

K H D B D C M
kg hg dag g dg cg mg
PRACTICE
Unit Conversion
 12g to kg
UNIT CONVERSION

1𝑘𝑔
12g = 0.012𝑘𝑔
1000𝑔
 15kg to g
UNIT CONVERSION

1000𝑔
15kg = 15000𝑘𝑔
1k𝑔
METRIC CONVERSION
CAPACITY
Divide by 10 Multiply by 10

K H D B D C M
kL hL daL L dL cL mL
 20L to kL
UNIT CONVERSION

1𝑘𝐿
20L = 0.02 kL
1000𝐿
METRIC CONVERSION
LENGTH
Divide by 10 Multiply by 10

K H D B D C M
km hm dam m dm cm mm
 55 m to km
UNIT CONVERSION

1𝑘𝑚
55m = 0.055 km
1000𝑚
METRIC CONVERSION
SUMMARY
K H D B D C M
kg hg dag g dg cg mg
kL hL daL L dL cL mL
km hm dam m dm cm mm
METRIC CONVERSION
TIME
METRIC CONVERSION
CHART
SEATWORK 1
Scientific Notation &
Conversion of Units
A. S C I E N T I F I C N O T A T I ON
Express the following values into scientific
notation.
1. 90
2. 5,000,000,000
3. 0.00179
2
4. 281 x 10
5. 0.0000763
B. C O N V E R S I O N
Convert the following quantities. Show your
solution.
a. 548 meters to kilometers

b. 565, 900 seconds to days

 03
Accuracy and
Precision
ACCURACY
• Refers to the
closeness of a
measure value to the
expected or true
value of a physical
quantity.
 PRECISION
• Represents how
consistent the results
are regardless of
proximity to actual or
target value.
HA-HP HA-LP

LA-HP LA-LP
 04
Types of
Errors
 RANDOM ERRORS
• Also known as stochastic errors or
fluctuations

• Cause individual measurements to

deviate from the true value in a non-
reproducible and non-patterned
manner.
 SYSTEMATIC ERRORS
• Consistent and repeatable inaccuracies
that affect measurements in a
consistent direction.

• Arise from flaws in the measurement

setup, calibration issues, equipment
malfunctions, or procedural biases.
 PERCENT ERROR
• Refers to the difference between
measured value and the true
value, as a percentage error.
| 𝑥− 𝑥𝑇 |
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 = x 100
|𝑥𝑇 |
PERCENT DIFFERENCE
• Measures how far apart the
different measured values are
from each other.
|𝑥1 − 𝑥2 |
𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 = 𝑥1 + 𝑥2 x 100
2
SEATWORK 2
Percent Error and
Percent Difference
A. P E R C E N T E R R O R
1. A student is measuring the amount of
water in graduated cylinder and reports a
value of 24 mL. The teachers report the
value as 24.2 mL. What is the student’s
percent error? Use the GUFSA Format.
A. P E R C E N T D I F F E R E N C E
1. Two trials were performed in an experiment
to determine the latent heat of vaporization
(𝐿𝑣 ) of water at 100C. The values of 𝐿𝑣 of
water obtained were 532 cal/g and 536 cal/g.
Find the percent difference between the two
values.
 ESSENTIAL QUESTION
How do accurate
measurements empower us
to unravel the mysteries of
the physical world?
Thank you,
12STEM!
 ASSIGNMENT
Measurement of Physical
Quantities
 QUIZ 1
Next face-to-face meeting
(Lesson 1: Units and Measurements)