general physics 1 20

24
first semester 20
25

1.1 Units of
Measurement Fundamental Units
 units adopted for measurement of a
base quantity
Measurement
 process and skill of finding the
Derived Units
dimension of a physical quantity
 all other units made by
mathematically combining the
Units
fundamental units
 standardized values which measure
physical quantities
 fixed quantities with respect to which SI Fundamental Units
a physical quantity is measured Quantity Name Symbol

Physical Quantities
Length Meter m
 all included in the International Mass Kilogram kg
System of Units (SI) are expressed
in terms of combinations of seven Time Second s
fundamental physical units Electric
Current
Ampere A
SI Units: Fundamental and Derived Units Temperature Kelvin K
Amount of
Metric System Substance
Mole mol
 adopted by the SI system of units
Luminous
(acronym for the French Le
Intensity
Candela cd
Système International d’Unitès)
 every other country excluding the
Metric Prefixes
United States uses the metric
 attached at the beginning of units
system
 based on factors of 10
 standard system agreed upon by
scientists and mathematicians  used to characterize its relative
amount in comparison to the
 makes calculations easy because it
standard unit
uses decimal or base-10 system
 the same unit can be used over
English Units extremely large ranges of values
simply by switching to the most-
 also known as the imperial system
appropriate metric prefix
 historically used in nations once
ruled by the British Empire
 currently, the United States is the Prefix Symbol Value Example
only country that still uses English Exa E 18 distance light
units extensively
10
travels in a
century

1
general physics 1 20
24
first semester 20
25
(Exameter) size of a
−15
30 million
Femto F 10 proton
15 (Femtometer)
Peta P 10 years
(Petasecond) time light
takes to
powerful −18
12 Atto A 10 cross an
Tera T 10 laser output atom
(Terawatt) (Attosecond)
microwave
Giga G 109 frequency
(Gigahertz) Unit Conversion and Dimensional Analysis
high
6
Mega M 10 radioactivity
Two quantities cannot be calculated together if
(Megacurie)
they do not have a common unit.
distance a
3
Kilo K 10 car travels
Conversion
(Kilometer)
 changing the unit of a quantity
2 26 gallons following the unit of the other
Hector H 10 (Hectoliter) quantity before calculation
teaspoon of  value or magnitude of the physical
1
Deka Da 10 butter quantity does not change, only the
(Dekagram) unit is changed
0
- 10 ∨1
Conversion Factor
less than half  ratio expressing how many of one
−1
Deci D 10 a soda unit are equal to another unit
(Deciliter)
 simply a fraction which equals to 1
fingertip
−2
Centi C 10 thickness
Important Conversion Factors
(Centimeter)
flea at its 1 cm=10 mm
Milli M 10
−3
shoulder 1 km=1000 m
(Millimeter) 1 m=3.28084 ft
detail in 1 m=39.3701∈¿
−6
Micro μ 10 microscope 1 mi=5,280 ft
(Micrometer) Length
1 mi=1.60934 km
−9
small speck 1 n mi=1.852 km
Nano N 10 of dust
1 ft =12∈¿
(Nanogram)
1 ft =30.48 cm
small
capacitor in
1∈¿ 2.54 cm
−12
Pico P 10 radio Mass 1 kg=1000 g
(Picofrad)
1 slug=14,600 g

2
general physics 1 20
24
first semester 20
25
1 mton=1000 kg 8.4 × 108
1 USton=907.2 kg
1 lb=16 oz
1 stone=14 lbs
1 min=60 s
1 h=60 min
1 day=24 h
Time 1 year=365 days
1 decade=10 years
1 centur y=100 y rs
1 millennium=1,000 y rs
Volume

Scientific Notation
 a way of writing numbers that are
too large or too small to be
conveniently written as a decimal.
 follows the general format x × 10 y
where x is the value of the
measurement with all the
placeholder zeros removed while y
represents the number of zeros in
the given value.

Examples of Scientific Notation

1. Convert 840,000,000 into scientific

To convert the given into scientific

Answer: