Scribd
Upload
146 views13 pages

Understanding SI Units in Physics

This document discusses units and standards in physics. It introduces the International System of Units (SI) as the standard system of measurement. The document defines base quantities like mass, length, and time that have corresponding SI units. It also discusses derived quantities that are defined in terms of base quantities and have their own derived units. The document covers prefixes that are used to denote very large or small quantities and dimensional analysis for checking the consistency of physical equations. It provides examples of converting between SI and other units.

Uploaded by

Nurul Ain
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
146 views13 pages

Understanding SI Units in Physics

This document discusses units and standards in physics. It introduces the International System of Units (SI) as the standard system of measurement. The document defines base quantities like mass, length, and time that have corresponding SI units. It also discusses derived quantities that are defined in terms of base quantities and have their own derived units. The document covers prefixes that are used to denote very large or small quantities and dimensional analysis for checking the consistency of physical equations. It provides examples of converting between SI and other units.

Uploaded by

Nurul Ain
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

GENERAL PHYSICS

PHY 240

Ms. Nurul Ain bt Samat


0169219130
nurulain@nilai.edu.my
1.0 SI UNITS
1.1 Units & Standard
 Units are used to describe physical
quantity
 Standard is a reference to which all
examples of the quantity are
compared.
 System International (S.I) is originated
by French. It is the most important
standard of measurement nowadays.
1.2 Base quantities & derived quantities

fundamental unit SI symbol


mass kg m
length m l
time s t
temperature K T
amount of substance mol mol
luminous intensity cd 
electrical current A 
Derived quantity Unit and Symbol In Terms of Base Units
Force ,N N = kgms-2
Pressure Pascal, Pa Pa = Nm-2 = kgm-1s-2
Energy Joule, J J = Nm = kgm2s-2
Power Watt, W W = Js-1 = kgm2s-2
Charge Coulomb, C C = As
Voltage Volt, V V = JC-1 = kgm2s-3A-1
Resistance Ohm, = VA-1 s = kgm2s-3A-2
Capacitance Farad, F F = CV-1 = kg-1m-2s4A2
Inductance Henry, H H = VA-1s = kgm2s-2A-2
Frequency Hertz, Hz Hz = s-1
1.3 Prefixes of Unit
• Prefixes are used to denote very big or very small
quantities. Given in Table some of the prefixes are
used very frequently in physics.
Scientific notation Prefix Symbol
1012 Tera T
109 Giga G
106 Mega M
103 kilo k
10-2 centi c
10-3 milli m
10-6 micro 
10-9 nano n
10-12 piko p
Example 1:
Express the following in scientific notation and prefixes

3,560,000,000m = 3.56Gm
or 3.56 x 109m

0.000000140s = 0.14μs
or 1.4 x 10-7 s
1.4 dimensional analysis
• The dimension of a physical quantity relates the
physical quantity to the base quantities such as:

Parameter Dimension Unit


Distance (x) [L] m
Time (t) [T] s
Mass (m) [M] Kg
Speed (v) [L]/[T] m/s
Acceleration (a) [L]/[T]2 m/s2
Force (F) M[L]/[T]2 Kgm/s2
Dimension application
1. To find the dimension and unit of
derived quantities.
2. To check the homogeneity of physical
equations. Homogeneous-the
dimension on both sides of an
equation must also be the same.
Example 2:
Area = length x width = [L] x [L] = [L2];
unit: m x m = m2

Force = mass x acceleration = [M] x [L]/[T 2];


unit: kg x m / s2 = kgms-2

Exercise 1:
Find the dimension & unit of pressure.
Example 3:
Given a formula for distance x= ½ at, x is
distance, a is acceleration and t is time. Check it
validity.
LHS = RHS
X = ½ at
[L] = ½ [L] [T]-2 [T]
[L] = ½ [L] [T]-1
Since both sides are not same, the equation is not homogeneous.
1.5 Conservation of SI units
This is done using the conversion factors.
• 1 mile = 1 609 m = 1.609 km
• 1 m = 39.37 in
• 1 ft = 0.304 8 m = 30.48 cm

SI to other unit Other units to SI


1 m = 100 cm 1 cm = 10-2m
1 kg = 1000 g 1 g = 10-3kg
1 m2 = 104cm2 1 cm2 = 10-4m2
1 m3 = 106cm3 1 cm3 = 10-6m
Example 4:
Convert the following units.
1.25 in2 into cm2

2.5 g/cm2 into kg/m2

18 ms-1 to kms-1

You might also like