Physical Quantities and Units: Physics
Physical Quantities and Units: Physics
Physical Quantities and Units: Physics
Physics
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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
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Table 1 gives the fundamental SI units that are used throughout this
textbook. This text uses non-SI units in a few applications where they are
in very common use, such as the measurement of blood pressure in
millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). Whenever non-SI units are discussed,
they will be tied to SI units through conversions.
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Electric
Length Mass Time
Current
The Second
The SI unit for time, the second(abbreviated s), has a long history. For
many years it was de ned as 1/86,400 of a mean solar day. More
recently, a new standard was adopted to gain greater accuracy and to
de ne the second in terms of a non-varying, or constant, physical
phenomenon (because the solar day is getting longer due to very
gradual slowing of the Earth’s rotation). Cesium atoms can be made to
vibrate in a very steady way, and these vibrations can be readily
observed and counted. In 1967 the second was rede ned as the time
required for 9,192,631,770 of these vibrations. (See Figure 3.) Accuracy in
the fundamental units is essential, because all measurements are
ultimately expressed in terms of fundamental units and can be no more
accurate than are the fundamental units themselves.
The Meter
The SI unit for length is the meter (abbreviated m); its de nition has also
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The Kilogram
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SI units are part of the metric system. The metric system is convenient
for scienti c and engineering calculations because the units are
categorized by factors of 10. Table 2 gives metric pre xes and symbols
used to denote various factors of 10.
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distance
exa E 1018 exameter Em 1018 m light travels
in a century
30 million
peta P 1015 petasecond Ps 1015 s years
powerful
tera T 1012 terawatt TW 1012 W laser output
a
giga G 109 gigahertz GHz 109 Hz microwave
frequency
high
mega M 106 megacurie MCi 106 Ci radioactivity
about 6/10
kilo k 103 kilometer km 103 m mile
teaspoon
deka da 101 dekagram dag 101 g of butter
— —
100
(=1)
less than
deci d 10− 1 deciliter dL 10− 1 L half a soda
ngertip
centi c 10− 2 centimeter cm 10− 2 m thickness
ea at its
milli m 10− 3 millimeter mm 10− 3 m shoulders
detail in
micro µ 10− 6 micrometer µm 10− 6 m microscope
small speck
nano n 10− 9 nanogram ng 10− 9 g of dust
small
pico p 10− 12 picofarad pF 10− 12 F capacitor in
radio
size of a
femto f 10− 15 femtometer fm 10− 15 m proton
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time light
atto a 10− 18 attosecond as 10− 18 s crosses an
atom
The vastness of the universe and the breadth over which physics applies
are illustrated by the wide range of examples of known lengths, masses,
and times in Table 1.3. Examination of this table will give you some
feeling for the range of possible topics and numerical values. (See Figure
5 and Figure 6.)
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Let us consider a simple example of how to convert units. Let us say that
we want to convert 80 meters (m) to kilometers (km).
The rst thing to do is to list the units that you have and the units that
you want to convert to. In this case, we have units in meters and we
want to convert to kilometers.
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Now we can set up our unit conversion. We will write the units that we
have and then multiply them by the conversion factor so that the units
cancel out, as shown:
1 km
80)m × = 0.080 km.
1000)m
Note that the unwanted m unit cancels, leaving only the desired km unit.
You can use this method to convert between any types of unit.
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Present
experimental
Mass of an electron Time for lig
limit to
10− 18 smallest
10− 30 (9.11 × 10− 31 kg) 10− 23 to cross a
proton
observable
detail
Thickness of
membranes Time for on
Mass of a
10− 8 in cells of 10− 2 hummingbird
10− 8 oscillation o
living FM radio w
organisms
About half t
Greatest Mass of a large
104 ocean depth
1012 iceberg
109 life expecta
of a human
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Distance
from the Mass of the Moon Age of the
1011 1023 1017
Earth to the (7.35 × 1022 kg) Earth
Sun
Distance
traveled by Mass of the Earth Age of the
1016 1025 1018
light in 1 year (5.97 × 1024 kg) universe
(a light year)
Distance
from the
Mass of the Milky
Earth to the
1022 nearest large
1042 Way galaxy (current
upper limit)
galaxy
(Andromeda)
Distance
from the
Mass of the known
Earth to the
1026 edges of the
1053 universe (current
upper limit)
known
universe
Strategy
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(1) Be sure that you have properly cancelled the units in the
unit conversion. If you have written the unit conversion factor
upside down, the units will not cancel properly in the
equation. If you accidentally get the ratio upside down, then
the units will not cancel; rather, they will give you the wrong
units as follows:
km 1 hr 1 km ⋅ hr
× = ,
min 60 min 60 min2
which are obviously not the desired units of km/h.
(2) Check that the units of the nal answer are the desired
units. The problem asked us to solve for average speed in
units of km/h and we have indeed obtained these units.
(3) Check the signi cant gures. Because each of the values
given in the problem has three signi cant gures, the answer
should also have three signi cant gures. The answer 30.0
km/hr does indeed have three signi cant gures, so this is
appropriate. Note that the signi cant gures in the conversion
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(1) Start with the answer to (a) and convert km/h to m/s. Two
conversion factors are needed—one to convert hours to
seconds, and another to convert kilometers to meters.
You may have noted that the answers in the worked example just
covered were given to three digits. Why? When do you need to be
concerned about the number of digits in something you calculate? Why
not write down all the digits your calculator produces? The module
Accuracy, Precision, and Signi cant Figures will help you answer these
questions.
NONSTANDARD UNITS
While there are numerous types of units that we are all familiar with,
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there are others that are much more obscure. For example, a rkin is
a unit of volume that was once used to measure beer. One rkin
equals about 34 liters. To learn more about nonstandard units, use a
dictionary or encyclopedia to research di erent “weights and
measures.” Take note of any unusual units, such as a barleycorn, that
are not listed in the text. Think about how the unit is de ned and
state its relationship to SI units.
Section Summary
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The four fundamental units we will use in this text are the meter
(for length), the kilogram (for mass), the second (for time), and the
ampere (for electric current). These units are part of the metric
system, which uses powers of 10 to relate quantities over the vast
ranges encountered in nature.
CONCEPTUAL QUESTIONS
3. Show that 1.0 m/s = 3.6 km/h. Hint: Show the explicit steps
involved in converting 1.0 m/s = 3.6 km/h.
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10. (a) Refer to Table 2: Metric Pre xes for Powers of 10 and
their Symbols to determine the average distance between the
Earth and the Sun. Then calculate the average speed of the
Earth in its orbit in kilometers per second. (b) What is this in
meters per second?
Glossary
physical quantity:
a characteristic or property of an object that can be
measured or calculated from other measurements
units:
a standard used for expressing and comparing
measurements
SI units:
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English units:
system of measurement used in the United States;
includes units of measurement such as feet, gallons, and
pounds
fundamental units:
units that can only be expressed relative to the
procedure used to measure them
derived units:
units that can be calculated using algebraic combinations
of the fundamental units
second:
the SI unit for time, abbreviated (s)
meter:
the SI unit for length, abbreviated (m)
kilogram:
the SI unit for mass, abbreviated (kg)
metric system:
a system in which values can be calculated in factors of
10
order of magnitude:
refers to the size of a quantity as it relates to a power of
10
conversion factor:
a ratio expressing how many of one unit are equal to
another unit
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7. 8.847 kn
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