LESSON 2

UNIT CONSISTENCY AND

CONVERSIONS
EQUATIONS
• EQUATIONS, WHICH EXPRESS RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN
PHYSICAL QUANTITIES, ARE REPRESENTED BY ALGEBRAIC
SYMBOLS.
• AN ALGEBRAIC SYMBOL ALWAYS DENOTES BOTH A
NUMBER AND A UNIT. (I.E. distance d= 10 m; time t=5
s; velocity v=100m/s)
EQUATIONS
*note: an eqn. must always be DIMENSIONALLY
CONSISTENT

• Two terms may be added or equated only if they

have the same units!
UNIT CONVERSION
• Multiply the given value (with its complete units) to the
conversion factor.
• i.e. Converting the speed 5km/hr to m/s.
 UNIT CONVERSION
• For Area and Volume unit conversions, take the square and
cube of the conversion factor, respectively.
• Example: The world’s largest cut diamond is the First Star of Africa
(mounted in the British Royal Sceptre and kept in the Tower of
London). Its volume is 30.2 cubic centimeter. What is its volume in
cubic meters?
 EXAMPLES ON UNIT CONVERSION

• According to the label on a bottle of salad dressing, the

volume of the contents is 0.473 liter (L). Using only the
conversions 1L = 1000 cm3 and 1in. =2.54cm express this
volume in cubic inches
EXAMPLES ON UNIT CONVERSION

• The density of gold is 19.3 g/cm3 What is this value in

kilograms per cubic meter?
 LESSON 3
INTRODUCTION TO VECTORS
 SCALARS VS VECTORS
• A VECTOR QUANTITY IS A PHYSICAL QUANTITY DESCRIBED
WITH BOTH A MAGNITUDE AND A DIRECTION.
• EXAMPLE: VELOCITY, DISPLACEMENT, FORCE, WORK

• A SCALAR QUANTITY IS A PHYSICAL QUANTITY DESCRIBED

BY A SINGLE NUMBER
• EXAMPLE: SPEED, DISTANCE,TIME, TEMPERATURE
 VECTOR REPRESENTATION

• A VECTOR QUANTITY IS ALWAYS REPRESENTED AS A SINGLE,

BOLDFACED LETTER WITH AN ARROW ABOVE IT. THE ARROW
IS A REMINDER THAT VECTORS HAVE DIRECTION.
 VECTOR REPRESENTATION

• WHEN DRAWING A VECTOR, DRAW A LINE WITH AN

ARROWHEAD AT ITS TIP. THE LENGTH SHOWS THE VECTOR’S
MAGNITUDE WHILE THE DIRECTION OF THE LINE SHOWS
THE VECTOR’S DIRECTION
 DISPLACEMENT

• DISPLACEMENT: DEFINED AS A CHANGE IN OBJECT’S

POSITION
• (VECTOR SINCE WE DESCRIBE IT BY HOW FAR THE OBJECT
MOVED AND IN WHICH DIRECTION)
• A
 PARALLEL AND ANTIPARALLEL
VECTORS

• PARALLEL VECTORS ARE VECTORS

WITH THE SAME DIRECTION.
• ANTIPARALLEL VECTORS ARE
VECTORS WITH OPPOSITE
DIRECTION.
VECTOR ADDITION
AND SUBTRACTION
 VECTOR ADDITION AND
SUBTRACTION

• Note that the order of terms in a vector sum doesn’t matter.

In other words, vector addition obeys the commutative law
MAGNITUDE OF THE
RESULTANT VECTOR
ADDITION OF THREE OR MORE
VECTORS

• H