BNEH 1123

ENVIRONMENTAL PHYSICS
Topic 1: Introduction of Physics
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UC T
T OD IC S
IN HY S
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 Video: Environmental Physics | English | Quick Physics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu-JL2J6ncE

 This video will give you a walkthrough about what is

physics and its application in our daily life.
1.1 Definition

 The word “physics” is derived from the Greek word “physika,”

which means “natural things/nature’.

 Goal of physics: to understand, predict on how nature works

and why?

 A study of matter and energy and interaction between them

 Everything in nature obeys the laws of physics

 Everything we build also obeys the laws of physics

 Physics is everywhere; any problems that deal with motion,

temperature, size, position, shape and colour will involve
physics.

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 1.2 Division of physics
The study of physics divided into:

 Classical physics- refers to the traditional forces that were

recognized and developed before the beginning of the 20th century

 Modern physics- refers to the concepts in physics that have

surfaced since the beginning of the 20th century.

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 Classical physics-
1. Mechanics (study of motion)
• Kinetics (describes motion)
• Dynamics (causes of motion)

2. Energy

3. Heat and thermodynamic (the study of relationship between heat and others form
of energy)

4. Optic (study of light)

5. Electromagnetism (study of properties of electric current and magnetism, and their

relationship)

6. Sound (study of production and propagation sound wave )

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 Modern physics-
1. Atomic and Nuclear physics (the study of the components, structure and
behavior of the nucleus of the atom)

2. Quantum physics (study on how atoms work and interact each other)

3. Cosmology (study about universe)

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 Relationship
Physics
and
Environment

Aspects of physics
pervade environmental
processes in our everyday
lives and in naturally
occurring phenomena.
1.3 Measurement

 Measurement is one of the most fundamental concepts in science

 Most of the experiments will involved measurements, like length, mass, time,
temperature, pressure etc.
 In general, scientists use a system of measurement still commonly referred to as the
“metric system.” The metric system was developed in France in the 1790s and was the
first standardized system of measurement. Before that time, people used a variety of
measurement systems.

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1.3 Measurement

 In 1960, the metric system was revised, simplified, and renamed the Système
International d’Unites (International System of Units) or SI system (meters,
kilograms, etc.). This system is the standard form of measurement in almost
 every country around the world, except for the United States, which uses the U.S.
customary units system (inches, quarts, etc.). The SI system is, however, the standard
system used by scientists worldwide, including those in the United States.

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 Derived symbol formula unit Special
quantity name
Density ρ Mass/volume Kg/m3 -
Velocity v Displacemet/time m/s
Acceleration a Change in ms-1/s
velocity/time
Momentum p Massx velocity Kgxms-1
Impulse I Force x time Nxs
Pressure p Force/area N/m2 Pascal(Pa)
Work w Force x displacement Nxm Joule(J)

Energy Ep Potential ½ xmassx(velocity)2 1/2xkgx(ms- Joule(J)

energy )
1 2

Ek Kinetic Mass x heightx Kgxmxms-2 Joule(J)

energy gravity
Power P Work/time Nxm/s Watt(w)
Frequency f 1/T 1/s Hertz(Hz)
Electric charge Q Currentx time Axs Coulumb
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 What is unit in physics?
Why do we need standard units of measurement?

 The standard unit of measurement is defined as measurement

which has a fixed value that does not change from person to
person or place to place.

 Standard units of measurement are necessary because the lack

of a standard unit would cause confusion and waste of time in
converting from one unit to another all the time.

 So, for the sake of uniformity, scientists from all over the world
adopted the SI units of measurement system as the standard
unit system for measurement and now SI is being used as their
official system of measurement in almost all countries in the
world.
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 Rules for writing SI units

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SI PREFIXES
(SI Unit: International Systems of Units)
IMPORTANT UNITS
Mass Distance
1kg = 1000 g 1 km = 1000m
1g = 1000 mg 1m = 100 cm
1mg = 1000 µg 1cm = 10mm
1 µg = 1000 ng

Volume
1L = 1000 ml
1ml = 1cm3
1m3= 1000 L
Conversion of units
 Importance Conversion of Units
• Physics problems frequently ask you to convert between different units of
measurement.
• For example, you may measure the number of feet your toy car goes in three
minutes and thus be able to calculate the speed of the car in feet per minute, but
that’s not a standard unit of measure, so you need to convert feet per minute to
miles per hour, or meters per second.

• There are times when the units used for the measurement, do not match the
measurement preference and convenience as well as the standards prescribed for
certain processes and applications.
• Converting such units to an extent that it can be understood directly and applied
properly is important.

• To better understand the stated, let us consider the example of a person who is
only familiar with the metric system. The person cannot easily figure out the
height of a tree measuring 25 feet. Converting 25 feet to meters will help the
person better understand the height of the tree.

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Converting Metric Length

• Metric Lengths are in Kilometres (km), Meters (m), Centimetres (cm), and Millimetres (mm).
• The following Conversion Chart can be used to convert metric units of Length .

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Converting Metric Mass
When we measure the weight of objects in the Metric System, the units of mass we use are Tonnes,
kilograms, grams, and milligrams.

A typical medium sized car weighs about a Tonne, which is the same as 1000 kilograms.

Medicine pills we take for illness often have many of their active ingredients present in very small
amounts of milligrams. A milligram is one thousandth of a gram.

For converting Masses, the following chart can be used.

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Converting Unit of Temperature

The SI unit of temperature as per the International System of Units is Kelvin which is represented
by the symbol K. The Kelvin scale is widely accepted or used in the field of science and engineering.
However, in most parts of the world, Celsius or Fahrenheit scale is used for measuring temperature.

In any case, here is the relation between Celsius Fahrenheit, and Kelvin;

Temperature Conversion
Celsius, Fahrenheit and Kelvin are the three common temperature scales. Each of the scales has its
uses, so it is likely that you will encounter them and would require you to convert between them. In
the table below, we have listed the conversion formula.

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Scalar and vector
physical quantities

All physical quantities divided into

1. Scalar quantities
2. Vector quantities
SCALAR PHYSICAL QUANTITY
Scalar physical quantity

1. Time (second, s)
2. Mass (kilogram, kg)
3. Distance (meter, m)
4. Speed (how fast you moving, km/h)
5. Density (grams per cubic centimetre, kg/m3 )
6. Energy (Joule ,J)
7. Work (Force × Distance, Joule,J)
8. Power (watt ,W)
Vector quantity
Vector physical quantity
1. Displacement (change in position)
2. Velocity (speed in a given direction)
3. Acceleration (change of velocity/time)
4. Force (any interaction that, when unopposed, will change the
motion of an object)

5. Pressure (the amount of force exerted per area)

6. Momentum (product of the mass of a particle and its velocity)
7. Weight (measure of the force of gravity pulling down on an
object)
 Example

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 How to use Vernier caliper?
 In order to read the measurement from vernier caliper properly, you need to
remember two things before start.
i. The main scale contributes the main number and one decimal place to the reading
(E.g. 2.1 cm, whereby 2 is the main number and 0.1 is the one decimal place
number)
ii. The vernier scale contributes the second decimal place to the reading (E.g. 0.03
cm)
 A vernier caliper outputs measurement readings in centimetres (cm) and it is
precise up to 2 decimal places (E.g. 1.23 cm, 5.87cm, 3.15cm etc).

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 Main scale

Vernier scale

1. To obtain the main scale reading: Look at the image above, 3.0 cm is to
the immediate left of the zero on the vernier scale. Hence, the main
scale reading is 3.0 cm

2. To obtain the vernier scale reading: Look closely for an alignment of the
scale lines of the main scale and vernier scale. In the image above, the
aligned line correspond to 7. Hence, the vernier scale reading is 0.07 cm.

3. Thus, for the final measurement reading, we will add the main scale
reading and vernier scale reading together.
This will give 3.0 cm + 0.07 cm = 3.07 cm.

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 Example

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Structure of Micrometer Screw Gauge
 Micrometer Screw Gauge consists of a main scale and a thimble
scale. It is used to measure diameter of small metal rod or
anything less than 1 cm

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How to use?

Step 1: Place the object between anvil and spindle, and turn the thimble until the anvil
and spindle grip the object. Then turn the ratchet until it starts to click for careful
tightening as shown in the above diagram.

Step 2: Read the main scale reading at the edge of the thimble. In this case, the reading
on the main scale is 4.5 mm.

Step 3: Read the thimble scale mark that coincides with the datum line of the main
scale. In this case, it is 0.22 mm.

Step 4: The actual measurement is then the sum of main scale reading and thimble scale
reading, i.e. 4.5 + 0.22 = 4.72 mm

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 Figure 1: Answer______

Figure 2: Answer______
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  The last graduation visible to the left
of the thimble is 7 mm and the thimble
lines up with the main scale at 38
hundredths of a millimetre (0.38 mm);
therefore the reading is 7.38 mm.

 The last graduation visible to the left

of the thimble is 7.5 mm; therefore the
reading is 7.5 mm plus the thimble
reading of 0.22 mm, giving 7.72 mm.

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 The last graduation visible to the left
of the thimble is 5.5 mm; therefore the
reading is 5.5 mm plus the thimble
reading of 0.30 mm, giving 5.80 mm.
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 Precision and accuracy
 Precision is the ability of an instrument in measuring a quantity in a consistent
manner with only a small relative deviation between readings.
 For example, consider an iron rod of length 12 cm.
o The scale 1 measures it to be 11.9 cm and scale 2 measures it to be 12.426 cm.
o Here scale 1 is more accurate but scale 2 is more precise.
o Now another scale 3 measures it to be 12.0056 cm.
 We can say scale 3 is both accurate and precise.

 Accuracy is the approximation of the measurement to the actual value

 The measurement is more accurate if its number of significant figures increases.
 Table below shows that the micrometer screw gauge is more accurate than
the other measuring instruments.

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 Precision and accuracy
 Precision is the ability of an instrument in measuring a quantity in
a consistent manner with only a small relative deviation between
readings.
 Accuracy is the approximation of the measurement to the actual
value
Dartboard analogy
Precision is about how close
attempts are to each other,
and accuracy is about how
close they are to the
target.

A good example is a marksmanship target, as seen above, where you could have a tight cluster
of shots far from the bullseye—which would be precision. Or you could have a loose group near
the center that’s fairly accurate but not very precise.

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 Type of errors

c. Error due to external causes

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 Systematic errors
Examples of systematic errors are
1. Zero error: which cause by an incorrect position of the zero point instruments.

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 Systematic errors
Examples of systematic errors are
2) Incorrect calibration of the measuring instrument

 Systematic error can be reduced by

 Conducting the experiment with care.
 Repeating the experiment by using different instruments.

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 Random errors
If you take multiple measurements, the values cluster around the true value. Thus, random error
primarily affects precision. Typically, random error affects the last significant digit of a measurement.

The main reasons for random error are limitations of instruments, environmental factors, and slight
variations in procedure.

For example:

1. When weighing yourself on a scale, you position yourself slightly differently each time.
2. When taking a volume reading in a flask, you may read the value from a different angle each time
(parallax error)
3. Measuring the mass of a sample on an analytical balance may produce different values as air
currents affect the balance or as water enters and leaves the specimen.
4. Measuring your height is affected by minor posture changes.
5. Measuring wind velocity depends on the height and time at which a measurement is taken. Multiple
readings must be taken and averaged because gusts and changes in direction affect the value.
6. Readings must be estimated when they fall between marks on a scale or when the thickness of a
measurement marking is taken into account.

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 Parallax error which arises due to the habit of taking measurements
by always holding the observer’s head a bit too far to the right or
left while reading the position of a needle on the scale.

 We can reduce the gross error by increasing the number of

observers who are taking the readings. Also, proper care should be
taken while reading and recording the data.

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