Topic 1

Unit and Measurement

Lecture Outline
1.1 Basic units and quantity
1.2 Unit conversion
1.3 Unit analysis

Physics and measurement

Physics attempts to describe nature in an
objective way through measurement
Measurement are expressed in units;
Officially accepted unit are called standard
unit
Major systems of unit:
Metric cgs system centimeter, gram, second
British (used by the U.S.) feet, pound,
second

1.1 Basic units and quantity

Length, mass and time are the
fundamental quantities; combination of
them will form all the other unit.
Today the most important system is the
Systme International (SI), which also
based on the metric system meter,
kilogram and second

Length
SI unit of length: meter (m)
The original definition: one ten-millionth
of the distance from the earth equator to
either pole
The newest definition: The meter is the
length of path traveled by light in vacuum
during time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a
second

Time
SI unit of Time: second (s)
The original definition: one second is
define as 1/86,400 of a mean solar day
(24h/day 60min/h 60s/min =
86,400s/day)
The newest definition: Time required for
9,192,631,770 periods of radiation emitted
by cesium atoms

Mass
SI unit of mass: kilogram (kg)
The original definition: one kilogram is the
mass of 0.10 m3 of water
The newest definition: the standard
kilogram is a platinum-iridium cylinder
kept at he French Bureau of Weights and
measurement

These are the standard SI

prefixes for indicating
powers of 10. Many are
familiar; yotta, zetta, exa,
hecto, deka, atto, zepto, and
yocto are rarely used.

We will be working in the SI system, in which the basic

units are kilograms, meters, and seconds. Quantities not
in the table are derived quantities, expressed in terms of
the base units.

1.2 Unit conversion

A conversion factor simply lets you express a
quantity in terms of other units without
changing its physical value or size
Example:
1 in. = 2.54 cm.
Written another way:
1 = 2.54 cm/in.
So if we have measured a length of 21.5 inches,
and wish to convert it to centimeters, we use the
conversion factor:

Table shows the conversion factors between

SI and British units for length and mass only.

Length
1 m = 39.37 in = 3.281 ft
1 in = 2.54 cm
1 km = 0.621 mi
1 mi = 5280 ft = 1.609 km
1 angstrom () = 10-10 m

Mass
1 kg = 103 g
1 slug = 14.59 kg
1 lb = 0.453 592 kg
1 kg = 0.0685 slug

Example 1-2: The 8000-m peaks.

The fourteen tallest peaks in the world are referred
to as eight-thousanders, meaning their summits
are over 8000 m above sea level. What is the
elevation, in feet, of an elevation of 8000 m?

Example 1-4 Speeds

Where the posted speed limit is 55 miles per
hour (mi/h or mph), what is this speed
a) in meter per second (m/s)
b) in kilometer per hour (km/h)
(1 mile = 5280 ft, 12 in = 2.54 cm)

1.3 Unit Analysis

A powerful way to check your calculation
is to use unit analysis
Not only must the numerical values on
both sides of an equation be equal, the
units must be equal as well

Dimensions
Dimensions of a quantity are the base units that
make it up; they are generally written using square
brackets.
Example: Speed = distance/time
Dimensions of speed: [L/T]
In dimensions, mass, length, time, temperature,
and electric current is symbolize with M, L, T, K
and A respectively.

Dimensional analysis is the checking of

dimensions of all quantities in an equation to
ensure that those which are added, subtracted,
or equated have the same dimensions.
Example: Is this the correct equation for velocity?

Check the dimensions:

Wrong!

EXAMPLE PROBLEM
Show that the equation for impulse Ft = mv - mu is
dimensionally correct.
Writing this in dimensional form we have:
[M][L][T]-2[T] = [M][L][T]-1 + [M][L][T]-1
Therefore, [M][L][T]-1 = [M][L][T]-1
and the equation is correct, both sides having the
dimensions of momentum.

EXAMPLE 2

A student suggests that the frictional drag, F, on a car body is

given by the equation

1
F CAv
2

Where is the density of air, v is the velocity of the car, A is the

cross-sectional area of the car and C is a dimensionless constant.
Use dimensional analysis to check if the equation is correct.

L.H.S. of equation : [F] MLT -2

R.H.S. of equation : [ Av ] ML-3 L2 LT -1 MT -1
Since the terms on both sides have diff dimensions,
the equation is incorrect

QUESTION