Physical Quantities

Physical quantities are quantities that can be measured.

We often measure quantities like length, mass, time,
temperature and electric current.

S.I Units
Physical quantities are measured in S.I
units.
The symbols of S.I is an abbreviation for
International System of Units.

Quantity

Unit

Symbol of unit

Length

metre

Mass

kilogram

kg

Time

second

Temperature

kelvin

Electric current

ampere

Table1.2 : Some physical quantities and their S.I units.

Using prefixes in measurements

We usually use prefixes when the
quantities we measure have very big
values or very small values.
Common prefixes used in everyday life
include milli-, centi- and kilo-.

Prefix

Symbol

Value of prefix

kilo

1000

centi

1 / 100

milli

1 / 1000

deci

1 / 10

mega

1,000,000

Table 1.3 : Symbols and some values of prefixes.

Back

1 cm = 10 mm
1 m = 100 cm
1 km = 1000m

Back

1. What is a physical quantity?

Physical quantity is quantity that can be measured.
2. Match the following physical quantities to their S.I.
units correctly.
(a) Mass

ampere (A)

(b) Length

seconds (s)

(c) Electric current

kilogram (kg)

(d) Time

kelvin (K)

(e) Temperature

metre (m)

3. Give the values of these prefixes:

(a) milli-

1 / 1000

(b) centi-

1 / 100

(c) kilo-

1000

4. Rewrite the values of these measurements using

prefixes :
90
(a) 90,000 g = ________kg
6
(b) 0.006 g = ________mg
0.5
(c) 500 g
= ________kg
18.5
(d) 18,500 m = ________km
1.5
(e) 0.0015 m = ________mm
30
(f) 0.3 m
= ________cm