Physics and Measurements

For Medical Science Students

Aden German International University
Aden - Yemen

Dr. Ahmed Alameen

Assistant Professor
Head of Department of Physics
University of Aden, Yemen
2023
 Measurements
• Measurement is the comparison of an unknown physical quantity with a known fixed
physical quantity.
• Unit: The known fixed physical quantity is called unit. OR
• The quantity used as standard for measurement is called unit.
• Used to describe natural phenomena
• Characteristics of standards units in measurement:
 They must be well defined that can be measured reliably.
 They should be easily available and reproducible (Readily accessible).
 They should be invariable. For example, 1 step as a unit of length is variable.
 Must yield the same results when used by anyone anywhere.
 Cannot change with time.
 They should be accepted to all.
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Standards of Fundamental Quantities

• Each measurement is associated with a physical quantity Need defined

standards

 Standardized systems
 Agreed upon by some authority, usually a governmental body SI –
System International (Main system used in this context)
 Agreed to in 1960 by an international committee.

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Fundamental Quantities and Their Units
Quantity SI Unit (symbol)

Length Meter (m)

Mass Kilogram (Kg)

Time Second (s)

Temperature Kelvin (K)

Electric Current Ampere (A)

Luminous Intensity Candela (Cd)

Amount of Substance Mole (mol)

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 Definition of Basic Units of S.I.
1. Meter (m): The meter is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of
1/299 792 458 of a second.
2. Kilogram (Kg) : The kilogram is the mass of the platinum-iridium prototype which was approved by
the “General Conference on Weights and Measures (GCWM; French: Conférence Générale des Poids et
Mesures”, held in Paris in 1889, and kept by the Bureau International Weights and Measures.
3. Second (s): The second is the duration of 9192631770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the
transition between two hyperfine levels of the ground state of Cesium-133 atom.
4. Ampere (A) : The ampere is the intensity of a constant current which, if maintained in two straight
parallel conductors of infinite length, of negligible circular cross-section, and placed 1 meter apart in
vacuum, would produce between these conductors a force equal to 2 x 10-7 Newton per meter of length.
5. Kelvin (K): Kelvin is the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of
water.
6. Candela (Cd): The candela is the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits
monochromatic radiation of frequency 540 x 1012 hertz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of
1/683 watt per steradian.
7. Mole (mol): The mole is the amount of substance of a system which contains as many elementary
entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogram of Carbon-12.
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Some S.I. Derived Units
In terms of Fundamental
Derived Quantity Derived Units Units
Force newton kg ms–2
Resistance ohm kg m2s–3A–2
Magnetic field tesla kg s–2 A–1
Electric potential volt kg m2s–3A–1
Power watt kg m2s–3
Electric charge coulomb As
Capacitance farad kg–1 m–2s4 A2
Work or energy joule kg m2s–2
Inductance henry kg m2s–2 A–2
Frequency hertz s–1

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  In mechanics, three fundamental quantities are used: Length, Mass, Time
 All other quantities in mechanics can be expressed in terms of the three fundamental
quantities.
 Derived quantities can be expressed as a mathematical combination of fundamental
quantities.
 Examples:
 Area
 A product of two lengths
 Speed
 A ratio of a length to a time interval
 Density
 A ratio of mass to volume

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Body Mass Index

• The body mass index (BMI) takes into account your mass in kilograms (kg) and your height in
meters (m) and is defined as follows:

Mass in kg
• BMI =
Highet in m 2

• However, the BMI is often computed using the weight (Weight and mass are different concepts) of
a person in pounds (lb) and his or her height in inches (in.). Thus, the expression for the BMI
incorporates these quantities, rather than the mass in kilograms and the height in meters.

• Starting with the definition above, determine the expression for the BMI that uses pounds and
inches with the aid of the facts that 1 m = 39.37 in and 1 kg = 2.205 lb.

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 Body Mass Index

kg in2 (Wieght in lb)

BMI = 703.0
lb m2 (Highet in in)2

If your weight and height are 180 lb and 71 in., what is

your BMI?
Is your weight is normal for your height? (see Table).

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Accuracy and Precision of Instruments

• Any uncertainty resulting from measurement by a measuring instrument is called an error.

They can be systematic or random.

• Accuracy of a measurement is how close the measured value is to the true value. Or

“the degree to which a measured value agrees with an accepted reference value for that
measurement”

• Precision of a measurement is the resolution or closeness of a series of measurements of

a same quantity under similar conditions. Or

“the degree to which repeated measurements agree with each other”

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Accuracy and Precision of Instruments

• If the true value of a certain length is 4.654 cm and two

instruments with different resolutions:
• First, one decimal places (less precise) and
• Second, two decimal places (more precise).
• If first measures the length as 4.5 cm and the second as
4.48 cm.
• Then the first has more accuracy but less precision while
the second has less accuracy and more precision.

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Types of Errors
• Errors which can either be positive or negative are called Systematic errors. They are of
following types:

• 1. Instrumental errors:

• These arise from imperfect design or calibration error in the instrument. Worn off scale,
zero error in a weighing scale are some examples of instrument errors.

• 2. Imperfections in experimental techniques:

• If the technique is not accurate (for example measuring temperature of human body by
placing thermometer under armpit resulting in lower temperature than actual) and due to
the external conditions like temperature, wind, humidity, these kinds of errors occur.
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Types of Errors
• 3. Personal errors:
• Errors occurring due to human carelessness, lack of proper setting, taking down incorrect
reading are called personal errors.
• These errors can be removed by:
• Taking proper instrument and calibrating it properly.
• Experimenting under proper atmospheric conditions and techniques.
• Removing human bias as far as possible.
• 4. Random Errors
• Errors which occur at random with respect to sign and size are called Random errors.
• These occur due to unpredictable fluctuations in experimental conditions like
temperature, voltage supply, mechanical vibrations, personal errors etc.

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Types of Errors

• 5. Least Count Error

• Smallest value that can be measured by the measuring instrument is called its least
count.
• Least count error is the error associated with the resolution or the least count of
the instrument.
• Least count errors can be minimized by using instruments of higher precision/
resolution and improving experimental techniques (taking several readings of a
measurement and then taking a mean).

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Prefixes
• Prefixes correspond to powers of 10.

• Each prefix has a specific name and has a specific

abbreviation.

• The prefixes can be used with any basic units.

• They are multipliers of the basic unit.
• Examples:
• 1 mm = 10-3 m
• 1 mg = 10-3 k g
• 1 ns = 10-9 s

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Matter and Model Building
John Dalton started the modern atomic hypothesis thought matter is made of atoms.
JJ Thomson (1897) found electrons and showed atoms had structure.
Rutherford (1911) determined a central nucleus surrounded by electrons.
James Chadwick (1932) announced that the core also contained a new uncharged
particle, which he called the neutron
Nucleus has structure, containing protons and neutrons
 Number of protons gives atomic number
 Number of protons and neutrons gives mass
number
Protons and neutrons are made up of quarks. Six Quarks: Up, down, strange, charmed,
bottom, top
 Fractional electric charges
 +⅔ of Up, charmed, top
 -⅓ of Down, strange, bottom
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 Basic Quantities and Their Dimensions
• Dimension has a specific meaning – it denotes the physical nature of a
quantity.
• Dimensions are often denoted with square brackets.
 Length [L]
 Mass [M]
 Time [T]

• Dimensions and Units

• Each dimension can have many actual units.
• Table 1.6 for the dimensions and units of some derived quantities

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Some physical quantities and their dimensional formulae:
Physical Quantity Dimensional Formula

Velocity = length/time [LT–1]

Acceleration = velocity/time [LT–2]
Momentum = mass × velocity [MLT–1]
Force = mass × acceleration [MLT–2]
Work = force × distance [ML2T–2]
Power = work/time [ML2T–3]
Pressure = force/area [ML–1T–2]
Stress = force/area [ML–1T–2]
Strain = (ratio) Dimensionless
Coefficient of elasticity = stress/strain [ML–1T–2]
Torque = force × distance [ML2T–2]
Angular velocity = angle/time [L0T–1]
Moment of inertia = mass × (distance)2 [ML2]
Angular Momentum = Moment of inertia /Angular [ML2T–1]
velocity
Latent heat = heat/mass [L2T–2]
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 List of physical quantities which have same dimensional formula
Quantities Dimensional Formula
Frequency, angular velocity, angular frequency, velocity gradient [M0L0T–1]

Speed, velocity, distance coveredin nth second [M0LT–1]

Acceleration, retardation, gravitational intensity [M0LT–2]
Force, weight, thrust, energy gradient [MLT–2]
Work, internal energy, torque, quantity of heat, quantity of light [ML2T–2]
Pressure, stress, modulus of elasticity(Young's modulus, bulk modulus, rigidity modulus) [ML–1T–2]
Surface tension, surface energy, force gradient, spring constant [ML0T–2]
Angular momentum, Planck's constant [ML2T–1]
Thermal capacity, entropy, Boltzmann's constant [ML2T–2θ–1]
Electric potential, electric potential difference, electromotive force [ML2T–3A–1]
Electric field strength, electric potential gradient [MLT–3A–1]
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Dimensional Analysis
• Technique to check the correctness of an equation or to assist in deriving an equation
• Dimensions (length, mass, time, combinations) can be treated as algebraic
quantities.
 Add, subtract, multiply, divide
• Both sides of equation must have the same dimensions.
• Any relationship can be correct only if the dimensions on both sides of the equation are the
same.
• Cannot give numerical factors: this is its limitation
• Example: Given the equation: x = ½ at2 Check dimensions on each side:
𝐋
𝐋= × 𝐓𝟐 = 𝐋
𝐓𝟐
• Canceling “T2”, leaving L for the dimensions of each side.
 The equation is dimensionally correct.
 There are no dimensions for the constant.
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Conversion of Units
• Sometimes it is necessary to convert units from one system to another. Conversion
• factors between the SI units and conventional units of length are as follows:

• A more complete list of conversion factors can be found in Appendix A.

• Units can be treated as algebraic quantities that can cancel each other. For example,
• suppose we wish to convert 15.0 in. to centimeters. Because 1 in. is defined

• as exactly 2.54 cm, we find that

• This works because multiplying by is the same as multiplying by 1, because
• the numerator and denominator describe identical things.

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 Conversions

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Significant Figures

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 Significant Figures
• When multiplying several quantities, the number of significant figures in the final answer is the same

as the number of significant figures in the least accurate of the quantities being multiplied, where

“least accurate” means “having the lowest number of significant figures.” The same rule applies to

division.

• Applying this rule to the multiplication example above, we see that the answer for the area can have

only two significant figures because our measured lengths have only two significant figures. Thus, all

we can claim is that the area is 35 cm2, realizing that the value can range between

(5.4 cm)(6.3 cm) = 34 cm2 and (5.6 cm)(6.5 cm) = 36 cm2.

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Significant Figures
• When numbers are added or subtracted, the number of decimal places in the result should
equal the smallest number of decimal places of any term in the sum.

• When numbers are added or subtracted, the number of decimal places in the result should
equal the smallest number of decimal places of any term in the sum.

• For example, if we wish to compute 123 + 5.35, the answer given to the correct number of
significant figures is 128 and not 128.35.

• If we compute the sum 1.000 1 + 0.000 3 =1.000 4, the result has five significant figures, even
though one of the terms in the sum, 0.000 3, has only one significant figure. Likewise, if we
perform the subtraction 1.002 - 0.998 = 0.004, the result has only one significant figure even
though one term has four significant figures and the other has three.
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Rules for determining number of significant figures:

 All non-zero digits are significant.

 All zeros between two non-zero digits are significant irrespective of decimal place.

 Zero is not a significant figure when it is the first figure in a number. For a value less than 1, zeroes
after decimal and before non-zero digits are insignificant. Zero before decimal place in such a
number is always insignificant (e.g. 0.00034 has only two significant figures).

 A zero in any other position is significant (e.g. 102 has three significant figures).

 Trailing zeroes in a number without decimal place are insignificant.

 Trailing zeroes in a number with decimal place are significant.

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Rules for determining number of significant figures:

 Change of units should not change number of significant digits. Example, 4.700m = 470.0 cm =

4700 mm. In this, first two quantities have 4 but third quantity has 2 significant figures.

 Use scientific notation to report measurements. Numbers should be expressed in powers of 10 like

a x 10b where b is called order of magnitude. Example,

 4.700 𝑚 = 4.700 × 102 𝑐𝑚 = 4.700 × 103 𝑚𝑚 = 4.700 × 10−3𝑘𝑚

 In all the above, since power of 10 are irrelevant, number of significant figures are 4.

 Multiplying or dividing exact numbers can have infinite number of significant digits.

𝑫𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓
 Example,𝑹𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒖𝒔 = . Here 2 can be written as 2, 2.0, 2.00, 2.000 and so on.
𝟐

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Rules for determining number of significant figures:

 When rounding off numbers, add one to the last figure retained if the following figure is greater
than 5 (eg. 0.53257 becomes 0.5326 when rounded off to four significant figures).

 Round 5 to the nearest even number (e.g. 0.255 becomes 0.26 when rounded off to two significant
figures).

 If the digit just before 5 is even, it is left unchanged (e.g. 0.345 becomes 0.34 when rounded off to
two significant figures); if it is odd, its value is increased by one (e.g. 0.335 becomes 0.34 when
rounded off to two significant figures).

 In the logarithm of a number we retain the same number of digits to the right of the decimal point
as there are significant figures in the original number.

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 Quick Review
Accuracy the degree to which a measured value agrees with an accepted reference value for that
measurement.
Base quantity physical quantity chosen by convention and practical considerations such that all
other physical quantities can be expressed as algebraic combinations of them base unit standard
for expressing the measurement of a base quantity within a particular system of units; defined by
a particular procedure used to measure the corresponding base quantity.
BMI is a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters.
Conversion factor a ratio that expresses how many of one unit are equal to another unit.
Derived quantity physical quantity defined using algebraic combinations of base quantities.
Derived units units that can be calculated using algebraic combinations of the fundamental units

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 Quick Review

Dimension expression of the dependence of a physical quantity on the base quantities

as a product of powers of symbols representing the base quantities; in general, the
dimension of a quantity has the form for some powers a, b, c, d, e, f, and g.
Dimensionally consistent equation in which every term has the same dimensions and
the arguments of any mathematical functions appearing in the equation are
dimensionless
Dimensionless quantity with a dimension of also called quantity of dimension 1 or a
pure number

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 Quick Review

Discrepancy the difference between the measured value and a given standard or expected
value English units system of measurement used in the United States; includes units of
measure such as feet, gallons, and pounds
Method of adding Percentages the percent uncertainty in a quantity calculated by
multiplication or division is the sum of the percent uncertainties in the items used to make the
calculation.
Order of magnitude the size of a quantity as it relates to a power of 10
Percent uncertainty the ratio of the uncertainty of a measurement to the measured value,
expressed as a percentage

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 Quick Review
Physical quantity characteristic or property of an object that can be measured or calculated
from other measurements
Precision the degree to which repeated measurements agree with each other
SI units the international system of units that scientists in most countries have agreed to use;
includes units such as meters, liters, and grams
Significant figures used to express the precision of a measuring tool used to measure a value
Theory testable explanation for patterns in nature supported by scientific evidence and verified
multiple times by various groups of researchers
Uncertainty a quantitative measure of how much measured values deviate from one another
Units standards used for expressing and comparing measurements

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