1.

2 Physical Quantities and Units

At the end of this section, you should be able to:

1.Understand that a physical quantity consists of a

numerical magnitude and a unit.

2. Recall the 6 base physical quantities and their SI

units.

3. Know what is standard form and derived physical

quantities.

4. Use prefixes and symbols to indicate very big or very

small physical quantities.
1.2 Physical Quantities
1. What is a Physical Quantity?

Physical quantity is a quantity that can be measured

and it consists of a numerical magnitude and unit.
1.2 Physical Quantities
Example: Length

The table’s length is 10 m.

10 is the Numerical m is the Unit

magnitude
Base Physical Quantities
2. What is a Base Physical Quantities?

Base physical quantities are the most basic physical

quantities.
SI Unit
2. What is SI unit?

SI units are the units of the base physical quantities.

6 Base Physical Quantities and their SI Units
Base Physical Name of Symbol for SI
Quantities SI Unit Unit
length metre m
mass kilogram kg
time second s
electric current ampere A
thermodynamics kelvin K
temperature
amount of substance mole mol
Derived Physical Quantities

3. What is a Derived Physical Quantities?

Derived physical quantities are physical

quantities derived from the base physical
quantities.
Examples of Derived Physical Quantities
Derived Physical Base Physical Quantities Symbol for
Quantities SI Unit
area length x breadth m2
volume length x breadth x height m3
speed Length ÷ time m/s
Prefixes
4. What are Prefixes?
Prefixes are used to represent
quantities that are either very large or
very small. It is placed in front of the SI
unit.
Prefixes
Example

distance = 1 000 m = 1 km = 103 m

prefixes
length = 0.001 m = 1mm = 10-3 m
Common Prefixes
Prefix Symbol Factor
tera T 1012 ( x 1 000 000 000 000)
giga G x 109
mega M x 106
kilo k x 103
deci d x 10-1
centi c x 10-2
milli m x 10-3
micro  x 10-6
nano n x 10-9
Common Prefixes

f = 10 MHz = 10 x 106 Hz

t = 3 ms = 3 x 10-3 s
 Scale showing the Prefixes

10-9 10-8 10-7 10-6 10-5 10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109

smaller Larger
atom: 10-10 m
Radius of Earth: 106 m
Diameter of Earth: 107 m
Conversion

To convert from a larger unit to a smaller unit

 multiply
1 m = 1 x 100 cm

To convert from a smaller unit to a larger unit

 divide
1 cm = 1  100 m
Standard form

It is a way of writing numbers in the following

format:
Ax 10 B

 A is a number between 1 and <10 (decimal

or whole number)
 B is a whole number (positive or negative
value)
Conversion Practice
1) 30 000 m
1) 30 km = ___________ m
2) 0.15 m

2) 15 cm = ___________ m 3) 600 000 000 mm

4) 0.000000015 Mm
3) 600 km = ____________ mm 5) 230 000 µm

4) 1.5 cm = ___________ Mm

5) 23 cm = ____________ µm
1.3 Measurement of length
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. select and explain the use of appropriate

measuring instruments to measure or
determine physical quantities

2. state the range and precision of the instrument

3. describe how to measure periods of time

using the pendulum, stopwatch and other
appropriate instruments.
Measurement of length
SI unit of length

Physical Name of SI unit Symbol of SI

quantities unit
Length metre m
Digital Calipers Recording: to 0.1 mm
Digital Micrometer Screw Gauge
Recording: to 0.01 mm
Measurement of length
What is precision?
Precision of an instrument
refers to the smallest unit it can
measure.
Measurement of length
Precisions of instruments
Instruments Precision Example of Usage
Measuring 0.1 cm or 1 mm Curved surface / a
tape person’s waist
Range: 0 – several metres
Metre rule 0.1 cm or 1 mm Measure straight length /
height of table
Range: 0 – 100.0 cm
Digital calipers 0.001 cm or 0.01 mm Measure internal and
external diameters of a
Range: 0 – 15.000 cm test tube
Digital 0.0001 cm 0.001 mm External diameter of thin
micrometer wires
screw gauge Range: 0 – 2.5000 cm
Measurement of length
Parallax error

Which diagram shows the accurate way of reading?

Measurement of length
Parallax error
2.9 – 1.0 = 1.9 cm
Measurement of length
What is a parallax error?
• Parallax error is an error due to the wrong
positioning of the eyes to the object when taking a
measurement.
• Our line of sight must be perpendicular to the scale
to avoid parallax error.
Measurement of Time
What is a time interval?

It is the time taken from the beginning to the end

of an event.
Measurement of Time
Instruments used to measure time interval.

Electronic stopwatch
Measurement of Time
Precisions of the stopwatches
Instruments Precision
Electronic / Digital stopwatch 0.01 s
Measurement of Time
Reading the Electronic stopwatch.

39 s
time = 2 min 39.54 s
2 39 54 = 120 s + 39.54 s
= 159.54 s
2 min ≈ 159.5 s
0.54 s
Measurement of Time
Time conversion

1 h = 60 min = 60 x 60 = 3 600 s

1s= 1 / 60 min = 1/ 3600 h

Measurement of Time
A swinging pendulum

string

bob

A C
B
Measurement of Time
What is the Period of a pendulum?

It is the time taken for ONE complete oscillation.

Measurement of Time
Period

1)A-B-C-B-A

A B C
Measurement of Time
Period

2) C-B-A-B-C

A B C
Measurement of Time
Period

3) B-C-B-A-B

A B C
Measurement of Time
Factors affecting Period

1) Length, L
2) Gravitational Field Strength, g
Measurement of Time
Length of the pendulum

The longer the string of the

pendulum, the longer the period OR
the period is increased.
Measurement of Time
Gravity

The lower the gravitational field

strength, the longer the period OR
the period is increased.
Factors affecting period T
Measurement of Time
1. How will the mass of the bob affect the period?
The mass of the bob DOES NOT affect the
period.

2. What is human reaction time?

It is a random error. Hence, digital stopwatch
reading is recorded to nearest one decimal
place.
Measurement of Time
Experiment to measure the period
Measurement of Time
Experiment to measure the period

Length Time for 20 Average time for 20 oscillation

= t t
Period
=
1 2
t 
oscillations 2
20

L/m t1 / s t2 / s <t> / s T/s

Measurement of Time
Experiment to measure the period
1) Set up the experiment as shown.
2) Adjust the length of the string to 0.60 m.
3) Displace the pendulum at a small angle and allow it to
swing.
4) When the swinging is steady, use an electronic
stopwatch to time for 20 oscillation, t1.
5) Repeat step 4. Record as t2.
6) Calculate the average time, <t> = (t1 + t2) / 2.
7) Calculate the period, T = <t> / 20.