PHYSICS CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 1

units, PHYSICAL
QUANTITIES
AND vectors
CHAPTER 1:
Physical quantities and
measurements
(3 Hours)

1
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
Learning Outcome:
1.1 Physical Quantities and Units (1 hours)
At the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
 State basic quantities and their respective SI units: length
2

(m), time (s), mass (kg), electrical current (A), temperature

(K), amount of substance (mol) and luminosity (cd).
( Emphasis on units in calculation)

State derived quantities and their respective units and

symbols: velocity (m s-1), acceleration (m s-2), work (J),
force (N), pressure (Pa), energy (J), power (W) and
frequency (Hz).

 State and convert units with common SI prefixes.

2
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
1.1 Physical Quantities and Units
 Physical quantity is defined as a physical property that can be
expressed in numbers
 It can be categorized into 2 types
 Basic (base) quantity

 Derived quantity

 Basic quantity is defined as a quantity that cannot be expressed in

terms of other quantities.
 Table 1.1 shows all the basic (base) quantities.

Table 1.1

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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
 Derived quantity is defined as a quantity which can be expressed
in term of base quantity.
 Table 1.2 shows some examples of derived quantity.
Derived quantity Symbol Formulae Unit
Velocity v s/t m s-1

Volume …….. lwt m3

Acceleration a v/t m s-2

Density  m/V …………….

Momentum p ………… kg m s-1

Force ……… ma kg m s-2 @ N

Table 1.2
Work W Fs ……….. @ J
Pressure P F/A N m-2 @ ……

Frequency f 1/T s-1 @ ……..

4
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
1.1.1 Unit Prefixes
 It is used for presenting larger and smaller values.
 Table 1.3 shows all the unit prefixes.

Table 1.3

 Examples:
 5740000 m = 5740 km = 5.74 Mm

 0.00000233 s = 2.33  106 s = 2.33 s 5

PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
Example 1.1 :
Solve the following problems of unit conversion.
a. 15 mm2 = ? m2 b. 65 km h1 = ? m s1
c. 450 g cm3 = ? kg m3
Solution :
a. 15 mm2 = ? m2

1 mm  2
 ......m 
2

1 mm 2  10 6 m 2
b. 65 km h-1 = ? m s-1
1st method :
 65  10 3
m
65 km h  
1


 1 h 
 65  10 3
m
65 km h  
1

1
 .......... s 
1
65 km h  ........ m s 6
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
 65 km 
1
2nd method : 65 km h   
 1h 
1 65 km  .......m  .... h 
65 km h     
 1 h  1 ......  3600 s 
65 km h 1  18 m s 1

c. 450 g cm-3 = ? kg m-3

450 g cm 3 

450 g cm 3  4.5  10 5 kg m 3

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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
Follow Up Exercise

1. A hall bulletin board has an area of 250 cm2. What is this area in
square meters ( m2 ) ?

2. The density of metal mercury is 13.6 g/cm3. What is this density

as expressed in kg/m3

3. A sheet of paper has length 27.95 cm, width 8.5 cm and

thickness of 0.10 mm. What is the volume of a sheet of paper in
m3 ?

4. Convert the following into its SI unit:

(a) 80 km h–1 = ? m s–1
(b) 450 g cm–3 = ? kg m–3
(c) 15 dm3 = ? m3
(d) 23 μF = ? F

8
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
Learning Outcome:
1.2 Scalars and Vectors (2 hours)
At the end of this chapter, students should be able to:
a) Define scalar and vector quantities,
b) Perform vector addition and subtraction operations
graphically.
c) Resolve vector into two perpendicular components (2-D)
 Components in the x and y axes.

 Components in the unit vectors in Cartesian

coordinate.

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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
Learning Outcome:
1.2 Scalars and Vectors
At the end of this topic, students should be able to:

d) Define and use dot (scalar) product;

 
A  B  AB cos θ   B  A cos θ 
e) Define and use cross (vector) product;
 
A  B  AB sin θ   B  A sin θ 
Direction of cross product is determined by corkscrew
method or right hand rule.

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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
1.2 Scalars and Vectors
 Scalar quantity is defined as a quantity with magnitude only.
 e.g. mass, time, temperature, pressure, electric current,
work, energy and etc.
 Mathematics operational : ordinary algebra

 Vector quantity is defined as a quantity with both magnitude

& direction.
 e.g. displacement, velocity, acceleration, force, momentum,
electric field, magnetic field and etc.
 Mathematics operational : vector algebra

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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
1.2.1 Vectors

Vector A
Length of an arrow– magnitude of vector A
Direction of arrow – direction of vector A

 Table 1.4 shows written form (notation) of vectors.

displacement velocity acceleration

  
s v a
s v a
s (bold) v (bold) a (bold)
Table 1.4
 Notation of magnitude of vectors.

v v

a a
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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
 Two vectors equal if both magnitude and direction are the same.
(shown in figure 1.1)

Q  
 PQ
Figure 1.1
P
  a scalar quantity k
If vector A is multiplied by
 Then, vector A is kA

 kA
A

A
 if k = +ve, the vector is in the same direction as vector A.
 if k = -ve, the vector is in the opposite direction of vector A. 13
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
1.2.2 Direction of Vectors
 Can be represented by using:
a) Direction of compass, i.e east, west, north, south, north-east,
north-west, south-east and south-west
b) Angle with a reference line

e.g. A boy throws a stone at a velocity of 20 m s-1, 50 above

horizontal.

y 
v
50
0 x

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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
c) Cartesian coordinates
 2-Dimension (2-D)


s  ( x, y)  (1 m, 5 m)
y/m

5

s

0
x/m
1

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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
 3-Dimension (3-D)

s  ( x, y, z )  (4, 3, 2) m
s  ...i +...j + ..k
y/m
3


s 4
x/m
2 0

z/m 16
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1

 
d) Polar coordinates 
F  30 N,150 

F
150

Denotes with + or – signs.

+
e)

- +

17
-
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
1.2.3 Addition of Vectors
 There are two methods involved in addition of vectors graphically i.e.
 Parallelogram

 Triangle  
 For example : A  B

 
A B

Parallelogram Triangle

   
 A B A B
B 
B
O  O 
A A 18
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
 Triangle of vectors method:
a) Use a suitable scale to draw vector A.
b) From the head of vector A draw a line to represent the vector B.
c) Complete the triangle. Draw a line from the tail of vector A to the
head of vector B to represent the vector A + B.

   
A B  B  A Commutative Rule


A

B  
B A
O

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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
 of
1.2.4 Subtraction  Vectors
 For example : CD

 ......
C 
D
 
   
CDC D
Parallelogram Triangle
 
C C
O   O   
 CD CD D
D

20
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
 Vectors subtraction can be used
 to determine the velocity of one object relative to another object
i.e. to determine the relative velocity.
 to determine the change in velocity of a moving object.

Exercise 1 :
1. Vector A has a magnitude of 8.00 units and 45 above the positive x
axis. Vector B also has a magnitude of 8.00 units and is directed along
the negative x axis. Using graphical methods and suitable scale to
 
determine
 
a) A  B b) A  B
   
c) A  2B d) 2A  B
(Hint : use 1 cm = 2.00 units)

21
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
1.2.5 Resolving a Vector
 1st method :  2nd method :

y y

 
 R   R 
Ry Ry

0
 x
0
 x
Rx Rx

Rx Rx
 cos θ  Rx  ..........  sin   Rx  R sin 
R R
Ry Ry
 sin θ  ....  R sin θ  cos  ....................
R R
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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
 The magnitude of vector R:

R or R  ................

 Direction of vector R:

1 
Ry Ry 
tan θ  θ  tan  
or

Rx  Rx 
 Vector R in terms of unit vectors written as


R  ...............
23
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
Example 1.2 :
A car moves at a velocity of 50 m s-1 in a direction north 30 east.
Calculate the component of the velocity
a) due north. b) due east.
Solution :
N a) v N  v sin 60 or


 
vN 30
v
60
W  E
vE b)

24
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
Example 1.3 :

F
150
x
S
A particle S experienced a force of 100 N as shown in figure above.
Determine the x-component and the y-component of the force.
Solution :
y Vector x-component y-component
Fx   F cos 30 …………………………
…………………………
 
F Fy
 Fx  86.6 N Fy  50 N
30 150 or
F or

S
x Fx  F cos150 
Fy  F sin 150 
Fx
Fx  100 cos150  Fy  100 sin 150 
Fx  ............. Fy  ........
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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
Example 1.4 : y


F1 (10 N)
x
30o O

30o F2 (30 N)

F3 (40 N)

The figure above shows three forces F1, F2 and F3 acted on a particle O.
Calculate the magnitude and direction of the resultant force on particle
O.

26
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
y
Solution : 
 F2 y
F2 
30o F1
 
F3 x F2 x 60o
x
30o O


 F3 y
F3

27
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
Solution :

Vector x-component y-component

 F1 y  F1
F1 F1 x  0 N
F1 y  10 N
 F2 y  30 sin 60 
F2 F2 y  26 N
 F3 x  40 cos 30 
F3
F3 x  34.6 N
Vector F x  ................. F y  ..................
sum

28
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
Solution :
The magnitude of the resultant force is

Fr   F    F 
x
2
y
2

Fr  ................
Fr  52.1 .... y
 
Fr  Fy

and

1 
Fy 
θ  tan  162 

  Fx  18
x

θ  tan 1 
16 
  18
  Fx
O

  49.6 
Its direction is 162 from positive x-axis OR 18 above negative x-axis.

29
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
Exercise 2 : 
1. Vector Ahas components Ax = 1.30 cm, Ay = 2.25 cm; vector B
has components Bx = 4.10 cm, By = -3.75 cm. Determine
a) the components of the vector sum  A B,
b) the magnitude and direction ofA B ,
c) the components of the vector B A,
d) the magnitude and direction of B  A . (Young & freedman,pg.35,no.1.42)
ANS. : 5.40 cm, -1.50 cm; 5.60 cm, 345; 2.80 cm, -6.00 cm;
6.62 cm, 295  
2. For the vectors A and B in Figure 1.2, use the method of vector
 themagnitude and directionyof
resolution to determine
  B ,
 
a) the vector sum A 
b) the vector sum B  A   , B 18.0 m s -1

c) the vector difference A   B ,

d) the vector difference B  A. 
(Young & freedman,pg.35,no.1.39)

ANS. : 11.1 m s-1,

77.6; U think;

A 12.0 m s -1  37.0
x
0
28.5 m s-1, 202; 28.5 m s-1, 22.2 30
Figure 1.2
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
Exercise 2 :
 
3. Vector A points in the negative x direction. Vector
 Bpoints at an
angle of 30 above the positive x axis. Vector C has a magnitude of
15 m    in a direction 40 below the positive x axis. Given
and points 
that A  B  C  0 , determine the magnitudes of A and B .
(Walker,pg.78,no. 65)

ANS. : 28 m; 19 m
4. Given three vectors P, Q and R as shown in Figure 1.3.
 
y 
P 35 m s 2
 

Q 24 m s 2

 
 50
R 10 m s 2
0
x
Figure 1.3
Calculate the resultant vector of P, Q and R.
ANS. : 49.4 m s2; 70.1 above + x-axis
31
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
1.2.6 Unit Vectors
 notations – aˆ , bˆ, cˆ
 E.g. unit vector a – a vector with a magnitude of 1 unit in the direction
of vector A.
 
A A
aˆ    1
A â
 Unit vectors are dimensionless.

aˆ   1
 Unit vector for 3 dimension axes :
x - axis ⇒iˆ @ i(bold)
y - axis⇒ ˆj @ j (bold) iˆ  ˆj  kˆ  1
z - axis ⇒kˆ @ k (bold )
32
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
y

ĵ
x
k̂
iˆ
z
 Vector can be written in term of unit vectors as :

r  rx iˆ  ry ˆj  rz kˆ
 Magnitude of vector,

r rx 2  ry 2  rz 2

33
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
 E.g. :


s  4iˆ  3 ˆj  2kˆ m
s 42  32  22  5.39 m

y/m

3 ĵ

s
x/m
2k̂ 0 4iˆ

z/m

34
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
Example 1.5 :
Two vectors are given as:

 
a  iˆ  2 ˆj  6kˆ m


b  4iˆ  3 ˆj  kˆ m 
Calculate
 
  b and its magnitude,
a) the vector a
b) the vector b  a and its magnitude,

c) the vector 2 a  b and its magnitude.
Solution :
a)
 
a  b  ........................
 a b 
x
 ........................
 
y

a b z  a z  bz  6  1  7kˆ
a  b  .........................
The magnitude, a  b  .....................  9.95 m
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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
b) b  a   bx  ax  ............
b  a   b  a  ................
x

y y

b  a   b  a  ..................
y

z z
z

b  a  .............. m
The magnitude, b  a  .....................
c)  2a  b   .....................
 2a b 
x
 .........................
 
y

2a  b z  2a z  bz  26  1  13kˆ
2 a  b  ....................... m
The magnitude, 2 a  b  62   7 2  132  15.9 m
36
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
1.2.7 Multiplication of Vectors
Scalar (dot) product
 The physical meaning ofthe scalar
 product can be explained by
considering two vectors A and B as shown in Figure 1.4a.

A

Figure 1.4a 

B 
 shows
Figure 1.4b  the projection of vector B onto the direction
 of
 


vector A. A  B  A component of
 B parallel to A
A A
B cos θ
 
Figure 1.4b  Figure 1.4c 
B  Acos θ B

 shows
Figure 1.4c the projection of vector A onto the direction of
vector B . A  B  Bcomponent of A parallel to B  37
  
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
 From the Figure 1.4b, the scalar product can be defined as
 
A  B  AB cos θ 
meanwhile from the Figure 1.4c,
 
B  A  B A cos θ 
where θ : angle between two vectors
 The scalar product is a scalar quantity.
 The angle  ranges from 0 to 180 .
 When 0  θ  90
 
scalar product is positive
9 0   θ  180  scalar product is negative
θ  90  scalar product is zero
 The scalar product obeys the commutative law of multiplication i.e.
   
A B  B  A

38
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
 Example of scalar product is work done by a constant force where the
expression is givenby

W  F  s  F s cos θ   sF cos θ 
 The scalar product of the unit vectors are shown below :
y
iˆ  iˆ  i 2 cos 0 o  1 1  1
2

ˆj  ˆj  j 2 cos 0 o  12 1  1

kˆ  kˆ  k 2 cos 0 o  1 1  1
2
ĵ
x
k̂
iˆ iˆ  iˆ  ˆj  ˆj  kˆ  kˆ  1
z
iˆ  ˆj  11cos 90 o  0
ˆj  kˆ  11cos 90 o  0 iˆ  ˆj  ˆj  kˆ  iˆ  kˆ  0
iˆ  kˆ  11cos 90 o  0 39
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
Example 1.6  :  
Calculate the A  B and the angle  between vectors A and B for the
 problems.
following 
a) A  iˆ  ˆj  kˆ b) A ˆ
  4iˆ  3 ˆj  k

B  4iˆ  2 ˆj  3kˆ B  2 ˆj  3kˆ ANS.:3; 99.4
Solution :
a) A B  .........iˆ  iˆ  ........ ˆj  ˆj  .......kˆ  kˆ
A  B  .............
A B  3
The magnitude of the vectors: A  12   12  12  3

The angle  ,
B 42   22   32  29

A  B  AB cos θ 
1  A  B  1  3 
θ  cos    cos 
 

 AB   3 29 
θ  71 .2  40
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
y
Example 1.7 : 
C 1 m 
25
0 19 x
D 2 m 
Figure 1.5
Referring to the vectors in Figure 1.5,
a) determine the scalar product between them.
b) express the resultant vector of C and D in unit vector.
Solution :
a) The angle between vectors C and D is
θ  180  25  19  174 
Therefore  
C  D  CD cos θ
 ...................
C  D  1.99 ....... 41
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
b) Vectors C and
 D in unit vector are
C  Cxiˆ  C y ˆj
 .........iˆ  .......... ˆj
 

C   0.91iˆ  0.42 ˆj m
   

and D  2 cos19 iˆ   2 sin 19 ˆj
D  .....................m
 
Hence C  D   0.91  1.89 iˆ  0.42  0.65 ˆj

 0.98iˆ  0.23 ˆj m 

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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
Vector (cross) product 
 Consider two vectors : A  xiˆ  yˆj  zkˆ

B  piˆ  qˆj  rkˆ
 In general, the vector product
  is defined
 as
A B  C
and its magnitude is given by
    
A  B  C  A B sin θ  AB sin θ
where θ : angle between two vectors
 The angle  ranges from 0 to 180  so the vector product always
positive value.
  quantity.
Vector product is a vector
 The direction of vector C is determined by

RIGHT-HAND RULE
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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
 For example:
 How to use right hand rule :

 Point the 4 fingers to the direction of the 1st vector.

 Swept the 4 fingers from the 1st vector towards the 2nd vector.

 The thumb shows the direction of the vector product.

   
C A B  C 
B

 A 
B C   
 B A  C
A    
A B  B  A but
 

 
A B   B  A 

 Direction of the vector product (C ) always perpendicular

to the plane containing the vectors A and B.
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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
Example 1.8 : 
A  3iˆ  2 ˆj  kˆ
Given two vectors :

B  iˆ  5kˆ
 
Determine  
a) A  B and its magnitude  b) A  B
c) the angle between vectors A and B .
Solution :
a)
A B 
 
A  B  10iˆ  16 ˆj  2 kˆ

The magnitude, A B 
 
A  B  19 45
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
b)
 
 
A  B   3iˆ  2 ˆj  kˆ  iˆ  0 ˆj  5kˆ 

 
A B  2
c) The magnitude of vectors,

…………………………………………..
A  14
………………………………………….
B  26
Using the scalar (dot) product formula,
 
A  B  AB cos θ

θ  84 
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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
Exercise 3 : 

1. If vector a = 3iˆ + 5 ˆj b = 2iˆ +4 ˆj , determine
 
 
and vector 

a) a  b , b) a  b , c) a  b  b .
ANS. : 2kˆ; 26; 46

2. Three vectors are given as follow :

  
a  3iˆ  3 ˆj  2kˆ ; b  iˆ  4 ˆj  2kˆ and c  2iˆ  2 ˆj  kˆ

     
 
Calculate
      
a) a  b  c , b) a  b c , c) a  b  c .
ANS. :  21;  9; 5iˆ  11 ˆj  9 kˆ
 
3. ˆ ˆ ˆ
If vector P  3i  2 j  k and vector Q  2iˆ  4 ˆj  3kˆ,
determine  
a) the direction of P  Q 
b) the angle between P and Q .
ANS. : U think, 92.8

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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1

THE END…
Next Chapter…
CHAPTER 2 :
Kinematics of Linear Motion

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