Measurement Quantities and Conventions in Physics

Metric - multiples of 10 Measurement Distance Mass Force Time Energy Metric Units nm, m, mm, cm, m, km mg, cg, g, kg N ps, ns, s, ms, s J, MJ, GJ S.I. units Prefixes of Magnitudes p n m c k M G T 10-12 10-9 10-6 10-3 10-2 103 106 109 1012

Unit Conversion How many m/s in 50 km/h?

Significant Figures - Precision of the measurement The number of reliably known digits in a number is called the number of significant figures. Number of Significant Figures 1 2 3 5 place holder How many significant figures for the final answer? 11.2 m 6.8 m = 76.16 m2 (3 sf) (2 sf) A = 76 m2 (2 sf) *Leave rounding to the final answer Examples 3, 9, 20, 500, 0.1, 0.0003, 5 102, 3 10-12 25, 310, 0.016, 0.020, 1.8 10-6 123, 3210, 101, 1.00 10-10, 0.00222, 1.03 15.001 possible place holder - ambiguous position

11.24 m 6.84 m = 76.88 m2 11.15 m 6.75 m = 75.26 m2

When doing a calculation involving multiplication or division, we leave the final answer to the same precision (ie. same number of significant figures) as the measurement with the least precision in that calculation. Use this rule when problem solving. 3.6 s 0.57 s = 3.03 s (1 dp) (2dp) Scientific Notation M 10n where 1 M < 10 and n is an integer (eg. -2, 0, 3) 1.05 1028 ( 3 sf )( ) ( 2.0 10-12 ) 2 sf (lowest precision) ( ) 3.0 s (2 sf, 1 dp)

How to determine the size of an oil molecule Accuracy and Precision A measurement is accurate if the experimental value is close to the accepted (or actual) value. A measurement is precise if the experimental value has many decimal places associated with it. eg. 5.000 m is more precise than 5.0 m.

Rearranging Formulae

Ex. 1

d = vt Isolate t:

Ex. 3

sin = 0.60 Find (deg. mode). ( ) ( ) Isolate vi for vf2 = vi2 + 2ad.

Ex. 4 Ex. 2 Vf = Vi + at Isolate a:

Solving Quadratic Equations Factoring

We can solve quadratic equations with the quadratic formula:

Step 1: Write the quadratic equation in the form Ax2 + Bx + C = 0 Step 2: Identify A, B, C Step 3: Substitute the numbers into the formula

Vectors & Scalars A measurement quantity which only has magnitude (eg. speed) is known as a scalar (eg. |v|) A measurement quantity which has both magnitude and direction (eg. velocity) is known as a vector (eg. ) Examples of scalars and vectors: Scalar speed, |v| distance, d mass, m density, p time interval, t Vector velocity, displacement, acceleration, weight - force of gravity, (N)

time, t Momentum, , energy, E and Impulse, In physics we often deal with vectors because we are interested in both the magnitude and direction of the measured quantity. Direction Conventions In physics 11, we solve one-dimensional problems - straight line motion. If the motion is horizontal, then going right is positive + (going left is negative). If the motion is vertical then going up is positive + (going down is negative). If you decide to break away from convention, such as using down as a positive direction, then label it as such +.