Chapter 1: Physical Quantities, Units and Dimensions

1.1 Physical quantities

1. In physics we measure quantities such the length of a room or the mass of an electron. The
measurement results in a “physical quantity” consisting of a pure number and a unit.
2. A physical quantity consists of a numerical magnitude and a unit.
3. Physical quantities are classified into base quantities and derived quantities.
Length of the meter ruler = 1 m

(physical quantity) (numerical magnitude) (unit)

1.2 S.I. units (Metric system)

1. The table below shows six base quantities and their SI units.
Base quantity Unit Symbol
Length M
Mass Kilogram
Time
Temperature K
Current
Amount of substance Mole mol

1.3 Derived quantities & derived units

1. A derived quantity is a physical quantity produced from the combination of base quantities
through multiplication, division or both.
Derived Sy Relationship with base Relationship Derived unit
quantity mb quantities (formula) with base
ol units
Area 𝐴 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ × 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑚×𝑚 𝑚2

Volume 𝑉 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ × 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑚×𝑚×𝑚 𝑚3

× 𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ

Density 𝜌 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑘𝑔 𝑘𝑔 𝑚−3

𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑚3
Speed 𝑣 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑚 𝑚−1
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑠

Acceleration 𝑎 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑚 𝑠 −1 𝑚 𝑠 −2

𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑠

Momentum 𝑝 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 × 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑘𝑔 × 𝑚𝑠 −1 𝑘𝑔 𝑚𝑠 −1

Force 𝐹 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 × 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑘𝑔 × 𝑚𝑠 −2 𝑘𝑔 𝑚𝑠 −2 𝑜𝑟 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑡𝑜𝑛 (𝑁)

Pressure 𝑃 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑁 𝑁 𝑚−2 𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙 (𝑃𝑎)

𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑚2

Work 𝑊 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 × 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑁×𝑚 𝑁 𝑚 𝑜𝑟 𝑗𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑒 (𝐽)

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 Power 𝑃 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝐽 𝐽 𝑠 −1 𝑜𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑡 (𝑊)
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑠

Potential/ 𝐸 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 × 𝐿𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑁×𝑚 𝑘𝑔 𝑚2 𝑠 −2 𝑜𝑟 𝐽

Kinetic
Energy
Frequency 𝑓 1 1 𝑠 −1 𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑧 (𝐻𝑧)
𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑 𝑠

Electric 𝑄 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐴×𝑠 𝐴 𝑠 𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑜𝑚𝑏 (𝐶)

charge × 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒

Voltage 𝑉 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝐽 𝐽 𝐶 −1 𝑜𝑟 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡 (𝑉)

𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝐶

Resistance 𝑅 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡 𝑉 𝑉 𝐴−1 𝑜𝑟 𝑜ℎ𝑚 (𝛺)

𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐴

Capacitance 𝐶 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 𝐶 𝐶 𝑉 −1 𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑑 (𝐹)

𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡 𝑉

Impulse 𝐹𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 × 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑁×𝑠 𝑁𝑠

Examples:
1. If the mass of a wooden block is m kg and its temperature is θ K, its heat content in joules
(J) is given by the formula, 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 = 𝑚𝑐𝜃. Where c is the specific heat capacity. What is the
unit of c?
Solution:
𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡, 𝐽 = 𝑚𝑐𝜃
𝐽
𝑐=
𝑚𝜃
𝐽
Derived unit of c =
𝑘𝑔 𝐾
= 𝐽 𝑘𝑔−1 𝐾 −1

𝑀1 𝑀2
2. Gravitational force is given by 𝐹 = 𝐺 2 where 𝑀1 dan 𝑀2 are the masses of two
𝑅
objects whereas R is the separation between the two objects. Find the derived units of G, the
universal gravitational constant.
Solution:
𝑀1 𝑀2
𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒, 𝐹 = 𝐺
𝑅2
2
𝐹𝑅
𝐺=
𝑀1 𝑀2
𝑘𝑔 𝑚 𝑠 −2 𝑚2
Derived unit of G =
𝑘𝑔2

G = 𝑚3 𝑠 −2 𝑘𝑔−1

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1.4 Prefixes
Prefixes used in the S.I system are used to represent physical quantities which are very big or
very small.
Prefix Symbol Multiplication factor
Yotta Y 1 x 1024
Zetta Z 1 x 1021
Exa E 1 x 1018
Peta P 1 x 1015
Tera T 1 x 1012
Giga G
Mega M
Kilo k
Hecto h
Deca da 1 x 101
Deci d 1 x 10-1
Centi c 1 x 10-2
Milli m 1 x 10-3
Micro µ 1 x 10-6
Nano n 1 x 10-9
Pico p
Femto f
Atto a
Zepto z
Yocto y 1 x 10-24

1.5 Unit consistency & conversions

1. For the conversion of one prefix to another, the base unit is the intermediary unit.
2. Or you can also find the difference between two prefixes and get its final answer.
Example:
(a) 0.02 m = _____ cm
(b) 2× 10−9 s = ________ ns
(c) 720 𝑘𝑚 ℎ−1 = ____________ m𝑠 −1
(d) 321 𝑚3 = ___________𝑐𝑚3
(e) 2.16 𝑘𝑚 ℎ−2 = ________𝑚 𝑠 −2

3. Complete the conversion of unit below.

5 Ym = _______ Zm 5 × 102 Ys = _______ Zs
5 Zm = _______ Ym 5 × 102 Zs = _______ Ys
5 Em = _______ Gm 5 × 102 Es = _______ Gs
5 Gm = _______ Em 5 × 102 Gs = _______ Es
3 Mm = _______ cm 3 × 10−2 Ms = _______ cs
3 cm = _________ Mm 3 × 10−2 cs = _________ Ms
3 km = ________ mm 3 × 10−2 ks = ________ ms
3 mm = ______ km 3 × 10−2 ms = ______ ks

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Example 1
The density of solid pure gold is 19.32 𝑔𝑐𝑚−3 . Express this density value in 𝑔𝑚𝑚−3 and
𝑘𝑔𝑚−3.
Solution:
19.32𝑔 1𝑐𝑚 3
( )×( )
1𝑐𝑚3 10𝑚𝑚
= 1.93 × 10−2 𝑔𝑚𝑚−3
19.32𝑔 100𝑐𝑚 3 1𝑘𝑔
( 3
)×( ) ×( )
1𝑐𝑚 1𝑚 1000𝑔
= 1.93 × 104 𝑘𝑔𝑚−3

Example 2
A solid cube of copper has a density of 8.94𝑔𝑐𝑚−3 . Convert this value to 𝑘𝑔𝑚−3.
8.94 1𝑘𝑔 100𝑐𝑚 3
𝜌𝑐𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑟 = ( )×( )×( )
1𝑐𝑚3 1000𝑔 1𝑚
= 8.94 × 103 𝑘𝑔𝑚−3

1.6 Significant figure

Significant figures are the digits in any measurements that are known with certainty plus one
digit that is uncertain.
Rule Example No. of significant figures
In numbers that do not 4.3689 5
contain zeroes, all digit are 4.36 3
significant 3898 4
All zeros between significant 9.025 4
digits are significant. 8088 4
808 3
Zeros to the left of the first 0.009 1
non-zero digit serve only to 0.000038 2
fix the position of the 0.00000008 1
decimal point and are not
significant.
In a number with digits to the 58.00 4
right of a decimal point, 68.00 4
zeros to the right of the last 0.00800 3
non-zero digit are 0.00070 2
significant.

Example:
1. How many significant figures does each of the following numbers have?
a) 123 b) 0.0008 c) 0.0012000 d) 55.40 e) 900 × 10−4