UNIT 1:

MEASUREMENT AND UNITS

1.01 Number and Units
Prepared by: Dr. Hor
 Physical Quantity
• A complete measurement is called a physical
quantity
• Made up of two parts: a number and a unit
• For example:
10 kg

Number Unit
Sun to earth distance is
147,220,000 km
Size of an atom is as small as
0.00000000003 m
 Numbers
• Make a unit bigger or smaller by putting a prefix
Prefix Meaning Example
G (giga) x 1,000,000,000 (x 109) GW
M (mega) x 1,000,000 (x 106) MW
k (kilo) x 1,000 (x 103) kg
d (deci) (x10-1) dm
cc (centi)
(centi) (x10-2) cm
cm
m
m (mili)
(mili) (x10-3) mg
mg
(micro) (x10-6) m
n (nano) (x10-9) ns
n (nano) ns
 Scientific Notation / Standard Form
 
a x 10n
n = positive or integer (0, 1, 2, 3,…)
Decimal Scientific
notation
5,200
3,600,000
0.52
0.045