Measurement and

uncertainties
1.1 Measurement in physics
The SI system (short for Système International d’Unités)
has seven fundamental units:
1.metre (m) unit of distance
2.kilogram (kg) unit of mass
3.second (s) unit of time
4.ampere (A) unit of electric current
5.kelvin (K) unit of temperature
6.mole (mol) unit of amount of substance
7.candela (cd) unit of luminous intensity
Physical quantities other than those above have units that
are combinations of the seven fundamental units. They
have derived units.
Small or large quantities can be expressed in terms of
units that are related to the basic ones by powers of 10.
The most common prefixes are given in Table 1.1.
1.2 Uncertainties and errors
The SI system (short for Système International d’Unités)
has seven fundamental units:
1.metre (m) unit of distance
2.kilogram (kg) unit of mass
3.second (s) unit of time
4.ampere (A) unit of electric current
5.kelvin (K) unit of temperature
6.mole (mol) unit of amount of substance
7.candela (cd) unit of luminous intensity
Physical quantities other than those above have units that
are combinations of the seven fundamental units. They
have derived units.
 Summary
You should know:
◆ how to measure length, volume, mass
and time
◆ how to measure small quantities
◆ that special instruments are available to
measure with greater precision
◆ all about density.