Topic 1

UNIT AND
MEASUREMENT
 Lecture Outline
1.1 Basic units and quantity
1.2 Unit conversion
1.3 Unit analysis
Physics and • Physics attempts to describe nature
in an objective way through
measuremen measurement
• Measurement are expressed in units;
t Officially accepted unit are called
standard unit
• Major systems of unit:
– Metric cgs system – centimeter, gram,
second
– British (used by the U.S.) – feet, pound,
second
1.1 Basic • Length, mass and time are the
fundamental quantities; combination
units and of them will form all the other unit.

quantity • Today the most important system is

the Système International (SI),
which also based on the metric
system – meter, kilogram and second
Length • SI unit of length: meter (m)
• The original definition: one ten-
millionth of the distance from the
earth equator to either pole
• The newest definition: ‘The meter is
the length of path traveled by light in
vacuum during time interval of
1/299,792,458 of a second’
Time • SI unit of Time: second (s)
• The original definition: one second is
define as 1/86,400 of a mean solar
day (24h/day × 60min/h × 60s/min
= 86,400s/day)
• The newest definition: Time required
for 9,192,631,770 periods of radiation
emitted by cesium atoms
Mass • SI unit of mass: kilogram (kg)
• The original definition: one kilogram
is the mass of 0.10 m3 of water
• The newest definition: the standard
kilogram is a platinum-iridium
cylinder kept at he French Bureau of
Weights and measurement
These are the standard SI
prefixes for indicating
powers of 10. Many are
familiar; yotta, zetta, exa,
hecto, deka, atto, zepto, and
yocto are rarely used.
We will be working in the SI system, in which the basic
units are kilograms, meters, and seconds. Quantities not
in the table are derived quantities, expressed in terms of
the base units.
1.2 Unit conversion
A conversion factor simply lets you express a
quantity in terms of other units without
changing its physical value or size
Example: 1 in. = 2.54 cm.
Written another way: 1 = 2.54 cm/in.
So if we have measured a length of 21.5 inches,
and wish to convert it to centimeters, we use the
conversion factor:
Table shows the conversion factors between
SI and British units for length and mass only.

Length Mass
1 m = 39.37 in = 3.281 ft 1 kg = 103 g
1 in = 2.54 cm 1 slug = 14.59 kg
1 km = 0.621 mi 1 lb = 0.453 592 kg
1 mi = 5280 ft = 1.609 km 1 kg = 0.0685 slug
1 angstrom (Å) = 10-10 m
Example 1-2: The 8000-m peaks.
The fourteen tallest peaks in the world are referred
to as “eight-thousanders,” meaning their summits
are over 8000 m above sea level. What is the
elevation, in feet, of an elevation of 8000 m?
Example 1-4 Speeds
Where the posted speed
limit is 55 miles per hour
(mi/h or mph), what is
this speed
a) in meter per second
(m/s)
b) in kilometer per hour
(km/h)
(1 mile = 5280 ft, 12 in =
2.54 cm)
1.3 Unit Analysis
A powerful way to check your calculation is to use unit analysis

Not only must the numerical values on both sides of an equation be

equal, the units must be equal as well
Dimensions
Dimensions of a quantity are the base units that
make it up; they are generally written using square
brackets.
Example: Speed = distance/time
Dimensions of speed: [L/T]
In dimensions, mass, length, time, temperature,
and electric current is symbolize with M, L, T, K
and A respectively.
 Dimensional analysis is the checking of
dimensions of all quantities in an equation to
ensure that those which are added, subtracted, or
equated have the same dimensions.
Example: Is this the correct equation for velocity?

Check the dimensions:

Wrong!
 EXAMPLE PROBLEM

Show that the equation for impulse Ft = mv - mu is

dimensionally correct.

Writing this in dimensional form we have:

[M][L][T]-2[T] = [M][L][T]-1 + [M][L][T]-1

Therefore, [M][L][T]-1 = [M][L][T]-1

and the equation is correct, both sides having the dimensions
of momentum.
 EXAMPLE 2
• A student suggests that the frictional drag, F, on a car body is given by the
equation
1
F  CAv
2
Where ρ is the density of air, v is the velocity of the car, A is the cross-sectional
area of the car and C is a dimensionless constant. Use dimensional analysis
to check if the equation is correct.

L.H.S. of equation : [F]  MLT -2

R.H.S. of equation : [ Av ]  ML-3  L2  LT -1  MT -1
Since the terms on both sides have diff dimensions,
the equation is incorrect
QUESTION