Units and Physical

Quantities
Prepared by: Jaymart P. Villarta

August 23, 2020

 Activity

• Measurement Scavenger Hunt

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What is Physics?

• Physics is one branch of science which

deals with matter and energy, with the
principles that govern the motion particles
and waves, with the interaction of
particles, and with the properties of
molecules, atoms, atomic nuclei, and of
large-scale systems such as gases, liquids,
and solids

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Standards and Units

• Physics is an experimental science in

which experiments are performed to
measure physical quantities.
• Physical quantities can be expressed in
terms of a small number of
fundamental quantities, such as mass,
distance, time, electric charges and
temperature.

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Basic units of the SI System

Quantity Unit Name Symbol

Length/Distance Meter m

Mass Kilogram kg

Time Second s(sec)

Electric Charge Coulomb C

Temperature Kelvin K

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Conversion Factors

1 in 2.54 cm

1 km 0.621 mi

1 liter 1.000 cm3

1 atomic mass unit (u) 1.660 x 1027 kg

1N 0.2248 lb

1J 0.239 cal

1 atm 1.013 x 105 Pa

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Example
What is the equivalent of 90 kilometers per hour in meters
per second? In miles per hour?
Solution:
 
To convert 90 km/hr into m/s, we need the following conversion
factors: 1000 m / 1 km; 1 hr / 60 min; and 1 min / 60 s.

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•   convert 90 km/hr into mi/hr, we need the conversion
To
factor 1 mi / 1.61 km.

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Uncertainty
• Uncertainty - also called “error”,
because it indicates the difference
from the measured value and true
value.
• Accuracy - indicates how close the
measured value is to the true value
- usually indicated by a stated uncertainty
[by the symbol ± or by using ( ) ]

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 Difference between accuracy and
precision
Accuracy describes the nearness of a measurement to
the standard or true value, i.e., a highly accurate
measuring device will provide measurements very close
to the standard, true or known values.
Example: in target shooting a high score indicates the
nearness to the bull's eye and is a measure of the
shooter's accuracy.

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Difference between accuracy and
precision
• Precision is the degree to which several
measurements provide answers very close to each
other. It is an indicator of the scatter in the data. The
lesser the scatter, the higher the precision.

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Some other examples

• Ideally, we want to make measurements that are both

accurate AND precise. However, we can never make a
perfect measurement. The best we can do is to come
as close as possible within the limitations of the
measuring instruments.

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 Percent Error calculation

•   | x 100%

Where:
VE = experimental value
VT = theoretical value

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For example:

• The length of a stick is 58.96 ± 0.02 m

means that the true value is between
58.94 m and 58.98 m while the number
1.6454(21) means 1.6454 ± 0.0021.

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For Example
• If you determine from an experiment that the
acceleration due to gravity is 10 m/s2 then the ‘error’
is the difference between that value and the accepted
value of 9.8m/s2 , or 0.2m/s2 . The error can also be
expressed as a percent:
 
| x 100%

= 2%

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Significant Figures
The uncertainty is indicated by the
number of significant figures.
For example, we measured the length of
this book to be 29.7 cm, which has three
significant figures. Automatically the last
digit of 29.7 cm is uncertain, so the
uncertainty is about 0.1 cm.

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Rules in Determining the Number of
Significant Figures
1. All nonzero digits are significant. For example, 1894 has
four significant figures and 3.67 has three significant
figures.
2. Zeros appearing between nonzero digits are significant.
For example, 30.9 has three significant figures and 78009
has five significant figures.
3. Zeros appearing before nonzero digits are not significant.
For example, 0.00876 has three significant figures and
0.0008 has one significant figure.

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Rules in Determining the Number of
Significant Figures
4. Zeros at the end of a number and to the right of
a decimal point are significant.
For example, 76.00 has four significant figures
and 6700.000 has seven significant figures.

5. Zeros at the end of a number without a decimal

point may or may not be significant. 3700 could
have between two or four significant figures.

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• To resolve the ambiguity in rule number 5, we
can express 3700 as 3.7 x 103 to indicate that it
has two significant figures, or we can express
3700 as 3.700 x 103 to show that it has four
significant figures.

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Example

What is the number of significant figures of

300.00?
Answer: There are five significant figures.
Remember the zeros at the end of a number and
to the right of a decimal point are significant.

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Scientific Notation

• Scientific notation, which expresses very large

or very small numbers as number between 1
and 10 multiplied by the appropriate power of
10.

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 Examples:
1. Consider the number 0.0000084 m/s.
We move the decimal point 6 places to the right, because we
want 0.0000084 m/s to become 8.4 x 10-6 m/s. Now it is clear
that it has two significant figures.

2. Using the scientific notation, compute 120 x 6000.

Solution:

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Note that:

When multiplying or dividing numbers, the number of

significant figures in the result can be no greater than
the factor with the lowest number of significant figures.
While in adding and subtracting numbers, the location
of the decimal point matters than the number of
significant figures.
 

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 Examples
1. Find the sum of 1.040 and 0.2134.
Solution:
The first number 1.040 has only three significant figures
beyond the decimal point, whereas the second, 0.2134, has
four. So the sum can only have three significant figures
beyond the decimal point. Hence,

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2. A “liter” is the volume of a cube that is 10 cm x 10 cm x 10 cm in
dimensions. Find the volume of a liter in cubic centimeters and in cubic
meters.
Solution:
The volume V of a cube of side L is L3. Therefore,

 
To convert 103 cm3 to cubic meters, we need the conversion factor 10-2 m / 1 cm.

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Do the exercise part in the module!

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Thank you!

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