Chapter 1

Introductions

Souphanouvong University Mr. Pem PHAKVISETH

Faculty of Engineering
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Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Outline
• Fundamental quantities & dimension analysis

• Uncertainty in measurements (significant figures)

• Coordinate system

• Problem solving strategy

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 What does Physics do?

Develop
Theory by
experiment

More
experiments Predict
experiment
Check results
prediction
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Fundamental Quantities and Their Dimension

• Length [L]

• Mass [M]

• Time [T]

Other physical quantities can be constructed from these three

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 Units
• To communicate the result of a measurement for a quantity, a unit must
be defined
• Defining units allows everyone to relate to the same fundamental
amount

Systems of Measurement
• Standardized systems
• Agreed upon by some authority, usually a governmental body
• SI – Systéme International
• Agreed to in 1960 by an international committee
• Main system used in this text
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 Length
• Units
• SI – meter, m
• Defined in terms of a meter – the distance traveled by light in a
vacuum during a given time
• Also establishes the value for the speed of light in a vacuum
in 1/299,792,458 of a second

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 Mass
• Units
• SI – kilogram, kg
• Defined in terms of kilogram,
based on a specific cylinder
kept at the International
Bureau of Weights and
Measures

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 Time
• Units
• seconds, s
• Defined in One second is the time for radiation
from a cesium-133 atom to complete 9,192,631,770
oscillation cycles.
• as 1⁄86400 of a day – this factor derived from the
division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60
minutes and finally to 60 seconds each

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 Other Systems of Measurements
• cgs – Gaussian system
• Named for the first letters of the units it uses for
fundamental quantities
• US Customary
• Everyday units
• Often uses weight, in pounds, instead of mass as a
fundamental quantity

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Prefixes
• Prefixes correspond to powers
of 10
• Each prefix has a specific name
• Each prefix has a specific
abbreviation

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Structure of Matter
• Matter is made up of molecules
• The smallest division that is identifiable as a substance
• Molecules are made up of atoms
• Correspond to elements

More structure of matter

• Atoms are made up of
• Nucleus, very dense, contains
• Protons, positively charged, “heavy”
• Neutrons, no charge, about same mass as protons
• Protons and neutrons are made up of quarks
• Orbited by
• Electrons, negatively charges, “light”
• Fundamental particle, no structure 13
Dimensional Analysis
• Technique to check the correctness of an equation
• Dimensions (length, mass, time, combinations) can be treated
as algebraic quantities
• Add, subtract, multiply, divide
• Both sides of equation must have the same dimensions

From the table:

Distance = velocity × time
Velocity = acceleration × time
Energy = mass × (velocity)2
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Outline
• Fundamental quantities & dimension analysis

• Uncertainty in measurements (significant figures)

• Coordinate system

• Problem solving strategy

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 Topic

Uncertainty in Measurements
• There is uncertainty in every measurement, this uncertainty
carries over through the calculations
• Need a technique to account for this uncertainty
• We will use rules for significant figures to approximate the
uncertainty in results of calculations

Significant Figures
• A significant figure is a reliably known digit
• All non-zero digits are significant
• Zeros are significant when
• Between other non-zero digits
• After the decimal point and another significant figure
• Can be clarified by using scientific notation 16
 Topic

Operations with Significant Figures

When multiplying and dividing, the number of significant

figures in the final result is the same as the number of
significant figures in the least accurate of the factors being
combined

When adding or subtracting, round the result to the

smallest number of decimal places of any term in the
sum
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 Topic

Operations with Significant Figures, rounding

• If the last digit to be dropped is less than 5, drop the digit
• If the last digit dropped is greater than or equal to 5, raise the
last retained digit by 1
Example:
$2.21 + 8% tax = $2.3868, rounds to $2.39
$1.35 + 8% tax = $1.458, rounds to $1.49
Sum: $2.39 + $1.49 = $3.88
$2.21 + $1.35 = $3.56
$3.56 + 8% tax = $3.84
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Example:
A tortoise travels at 2.51 cm/s for 12.23 s. How far does the
tortoise go?

Answer: 2.51 cm/s × 12.23 s = 30.7 cm (three significant figures)

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 Topic

Conversion of units
• When units are not consistent, you may need to convert to
appropriate ones
• See the inside of the front cover for an extensive list of
conversion factors
• Units can be treated like algebraic quantities that can “cancel”
each other
• Example: 15.0 in  2.54 cm  38.1 cm
1 in
• Converting feet to meters:
1 m = 3.281 ft (this is a conversion factor)
Or: 1 = 1 m / 3.281 ft
316 ft × (1 m / 3.281 ft) = 96.3 m
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 Topic

Examples 1.4 & 1.5

28.0 m/s= mi/h?
22.0 m/s2= km/min2

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 Topic

Estimates
• Can yield useful approximate answers
• An exact answer may be difficult or impossible
• Mathematical reasons
• Limited information available
• Can serve as a partial check for exact calculations

Order of Magnitude
• Approximation based on a number of assumptions
• May need to modify assumptions if more precise results are needed
• Order of magnitude is the power of 10 that applies
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 Topic

Outline

• Fundamental quantities & dimension analysis

• Uncertainty in measurements (significant figures)

• Coordinate system

• Problem solving strategy

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 Topic

Coordinate Systems
• Used to describe the position of a point in space
• Coordinate system consists of
• A fixed reference point called the origin, O
• Specified axes with scales and labels
• Instructions on how to label a point relative to the origin and the
axes

Types of Coordinate Systems

• Cartesian
• Plane polar

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 Topic

Cartesian coordinate system

 Also called rectangular
coordinate system
 x- and y- axes
 Points are labeled (x,y)

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 Topic

Plane polar coordinate system

 Origin and reference

line are noted
 Point is distance r from
the origin in the
direction of angle 
from reference line
 Points are labeled (r,)

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 Topic

Trigonometry Review
opposite side
sin  
hypotenuse
adjacent side
cos  
hypotenuse
opposite side
tan  
adjacent side
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 Topic

More Trigonometry
• Pythagorean Theorem
• r2 = x2 + y2
• To find an angle, you need the inverse trig function
• For example, q = sin-1 0.707 = 45.0°

Degrees vs. Radians

• Be sure your calculator is set for the appropriate angular
units for the problem
• For example:
• tan -1 0.5774 = 30.00°
• tan -1 0.5774 = 0.5236 rad 28
 Topic

Rectangular  Polar
• Rectangular to polar
• Given x and y, use Pythagorean theorem to find r
• Use x and y and the inverse tangent to find angle
• Polar to rectangular
• x = r cos 
• y = r sin 

Example 1.9 Cartesian and Polar Coordinates

(a) The Cartesian coordinates of a point in the xy-plane are (x,
y)=(-3.50 m, -2.50 m), as shown in Active Figure 1.7. Find the
polar coordinates of this point. (b) Convert (r, )=(5.00 m,
37.0o) to rectangular coordinates.
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Outline
• Fundamental quantities & dimension analysis

• Uncertainty in measurements (significant figures)

• Coordinate system

• Problem solving strategy

PHYS I @ HCC 30
 Problem Solving in Physics Topic

No recipe or plug-and-chug works all the time, but here are some
guidelines:
1. Read the problem carefully
2. Sketch the system
3. Visualize the physical process
4. Strategize
5. Identify appropriate equations
6. Solve the equations
7. Check your answer
8. Explore limits and special cases 31
 Thank you for your attention !!!

감사합니다 !!!

Next Chapter is Motion

Souphanouvong University in One Dimension
Faculty of Engineering
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
32
 Topic

Some Images in this Chapter were

taken from:
Publicatio
Main / Sub Title Writer Publisher
n Year
Serway, BROOKS/COLE
College Physics, 8th
Main Vuille, Cengage 2008
Edition Learning
Faughn

Dept. of Physics,
NUOL,
Sub Physics 1(221PH111) Faculty of 2016
Laos
Natural Science

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