UNIT &

DIMENSIONS
CLASS 11 IIT JEE NEET

BY
GOPAL SARDAR
M.SC(IIT GUWAHATI)
KRISHNAPUR ,
7003462295 GHOSHPARA
 Units & Dimensions
Gopal Sardar

1 Units
To measure a physical quantity we need some standard unit of that quantity , without units anything
is meaningless. suppose just by saying Numbers 10,20,1000,10000 you can’t think & judge any physical
quantity .you have to mention units with the numbers as well. The measurement of the quantity is
mentioned in two parts, the first part gives how many times of the standard unit and the second part gives
the name of the unit. Thus, suppose I say that length of this wire is 5 metre. The numeric part 5 says that
it is 5 times of the unit of length and the second part metre says that unit chosen here is metre.

1.1 Some Commonly used units in physics & conversion between them
1.1.1 Length

commonly used units of length is ”meter” , in short ”1m” . This the SI unit or Mks (meter-kg-s) unit
system.
We have another Unit system called CGS unit system where unit of the length is ” Centimeter” .In short
1cm.
It is important for you to know how other units of length can be converted into SI system , i.e in meters

1cm = 10−2 m
1mm = 10−3 m
1km = 103 m
1nm = 10−9 m
1µm = 10−6 m
1Å = 10−10 m
Astrophysical units
1lyr = 3 × 108 m
1parsecs = 3.086 × 1016 m

Fact:The Andromeda galaxy, or M31, is our Milky Way’s largest galactic neighbor which is approximately
2.52 × 106 ly away from us . The Milky Way galaxy diameter estimated at 26.8 ± 1.1 kiloparsecs.

1.1.2 Mass

Mass is commonly known quantity whose SI unit is ”Kg(kilo-grams)” & CGS unit is ”g(grams)”.
Again the conversion table for mass is given below :

1g = 10−3 kg
1kg = 103 g
For this moment this is more than enough for you to remember.

1.1.3 Time

Another familiar quantity which is used in physics & our daily life is time .The SI units of time is ”s(second)
2 Fundamental and Derived Units
All quantities are not independent , they can be derived from another quantities called fundamental quantity.
For example, if a unit of length is defined, a unit of volume is automatically obtained.
Example:If unit of length is ”m” then unit of Area is m2 & unit of Volume is m3
Thus, we can define a set of fundamental quantities and all other quantities may be expressed in terms of
the fundamental quantities. Fundamental quantities are only seven in numbers. Unit of all other quantities
can be expressed in terms of the units of these seven quantities by multiplication or division.

Figure 1: Fundamental Quantities

Many different choices can be made for the fundamental quantities. For example, if we take
length and time as the fundamental quantities then speed is a derived quantity and if we take
speed and time as fundamental quantities then length is a derived quantity .
For our purpose we choose above mention 7 quantities as fundamental & any other is derived quantity .

3 Dimentions
Dimensions of a physical quantity are the powers to which the fundamental quantities must be raised to
represent the given physical quantity.
Example:(i) velocity= distance
time
so , velocity=[length]1 [T ime]−1 =[length][T ime]−1 =[M 0 L1 T −1 ]
mass
(ii) Density= volume M ass
= length×length×length =[M L−3 T 0 ]
It’s not necessary to write fundamental qualities whose powers are Zero you may omit them and just simply
write ,
velocity=[LT −1 ] & Density=[M L−3 ]

3.1 Dimensionless Quantities

There exists quantities Which are dimensionless , for example : sinθ = perpendicular
hypotenuse
= length
length
So , it is dimen-
sionless.Quantities those are ratio of two quantities they are dimensionless . some examples of dimensionless
quantities are : Angle, x in exp(x), ln(x), sin(x), cos(x),all trigonometric functions & Fine structure con-
1
stant α = 137 Note that : Constant quantities need not be dimensionless . Velocity of light in Vaccum
C=3 × 108 m/s which is universal constant but has units of velocity .

Here are dimension of some physical quantities used in physics

 Solved Examples: Find the dimensional formula of the following quantities :
(a) Density (b) Velocity (c) Acceleration (d) Momentum (e) Force (f) Work or energy (g) Power (h) Pressure
Ans:
Step1: Recall the definations of following quantities and write them in mathematical form .
step2: write only those fundamental quantities which have non zero powers .
[M ] −3 [L]
(a)Density = VMolume
ass
= [L3 ] =[M L ] (b) Velocity = Distance
T ime
= [T ]
=[LT −1 ]
−1
(c) Acceleration= V Telocity
ime
= [L][T
[T ]
]
=[LT −2 ] (d) Momentum = mass × velocity=[M].[LT −1 ]=[M LT −1 ]
(e) Force= momentum
time
or mass × acceleration=[M LT −2 ]
(f)For Energy you can take formula for any energy you know , for example kinetic or potential energy .
Kinetic energy= 21 × m × V 2 =[M].([LT −1 ])2 =[M L2 T −2 ] (g)Power= EnergyT ime
=[M L2 T −3 ]
−2
orce [M LT ]
(h) Pressure= FArea = [L2 ] =[M L−1 T −2 ]
Exercise :
1.If force (F), velocity (V) and time (T) are take As fundamental units, then the dimensions of mass are :
(A) [F V T −1 ]
(B) [F V T −2 ]
(C) [F V −1 T −1]
(D) [F V −1 T ] ans : (D) [Hint: use newtons law ]
2.consider the newton law of viscosity F = η × A × du dx
, where F is force , du is velocity , dx is length then
find the dimension of η ans : N.s.m−2
3.In dimension of critical velocity Vc , of liquid following through a tube are expressed as (η x ρy rz ), where
η, ρ, r are the coefficient of viscosity of liquid,density of liquid and radius of the tube respectively,then the
values of x, y and z are given by : (A) 1, 1, 1 (B) 1, –1, –1 (C) –1, –1, 1 (D) –1, –1, –1 ans: B
4.A particle is moving with velocity V=90km/h.Covert the velocity of the particle in m/s
5.If g is the acceleration due to gravity and R is the radius of the earth, then dimension formula for gR is
(A)[M 2 L2 T −2 ]
(B)[M 0 L0 T 0 ]
(C)[M L2 T −2 ]
(D)[M 0 L2 T −2 ] ans: (D)
6.Given that V is the speed , r is the radius & g is the acceleration due to gravity, which of the following is
dimensionless?
(A)v 2 g/r (B)v 2 rg (C)vr2 g (D) v 2 /rg ans: (D)
7.If the units of M & L are doubled then the unit of kinetic energy becomes ,
(A) 2 times (B) 4 times (C) 8 times (D) 16 times ans : (C)
8.If the units of force & that or length are doubled then unit of energy will be -
(A) 41 times (B) 12 times (C) 2times (D) 4times ans:(D)

3.2 Application of theory of Dimension

3.2.1 Conversion of units

This is based on the fact that the product of the numerical value (n) and its corresponding unit (u) is a
constant, i.e.n[u] = constant . This is obvious since you just changing the unit system.

n1 [u1 ] = n2 [u2 ]
Suppose the dimensions of a physical quantity are a in mass, b in length and c in time. If the fundamental
units in one system are M1 , L1 , and T1 and in the other system are M2 , L2 & T2 respectively. Then, we can
write

n1 [M1a Lb1 T1c ] = n2 [M2a Lb2 T2c ]

" a b c #
M2 L2 T2
 
n1 = n2 × ×
M1 L1 T1
Solved Example :
The value of gravitation constant is G =6.67 × 10−11 N − m2 /kg 2 in SI units. Convert it into CGS system
of units.
ans:
Here n1 we want to know with given n2 i.e n2 = 6.67 × 10−11 , given system 2 is SI unit system & we want
to find the value of a given quantity in CGS system so system 1 is CGS system . so ,
System 2(SI UNIT SYSTEM):M2 = 1kg, L2 = 1m & T1 = 1s Where as
System 1 (CGS UNIT SYSTEM):M1 = 1g, L1 = 1cm, T1 = 1s
Now write down the dimension formula for G (use newtons law of gravitation F = G× M.mr2
): [G]=[M −1 L3 T −2 ]
Note one very important point is that in the Mass ratio , length ratio & Time ratio you have put them into
same units , i.e M
M1
2
= 101kg
−3 kg like that

 !−1 
3 −2
1kg 1m 1s
 
n1 = 6.67 × 10−11  × × 
10−3 kg 10−2 m 1s

n1 = 6.67 × 10−2

we successfully converted SI to CGS system & got the numerical factor now units becomes N→ dyne ,
m→cm & kg →g
Final answer :6.67 × 10−2 dyne − cm2 /g 2

Figure 2: Table of Quantities with their Cgs & SI units name

Exercise:
1.Given that the value of gravitational acceleration ”g” , in SI units is 9.8m/s2 then its value in CGS unit
system is —– ans: 980 cm/s2
2.Value of plank constant(h) in SI units is 6.626 × 10−34 Joule.seconds . Find the value of h in CGS units
[Hint : use E = hν to know dimension of h , where E is energy ν is frequency ] ans : 6.626×10−27 Erg.Second
3.Convert 1Erg in joules ans: 10−7 joules
4.Convert 1 pascal to bar . ans:10−5 bar
Solved Example
1.The unit of current in C.G.S. system is
(A)10A (B)1/100 A (C)1/1000 A (D)1/10 A
ans:
The C.G.S unit of current is called biot (Bi).
1C
1A = 1sec = 1/10e.m.u−of
1sec
charge 1
= 10 Bi
so , 1Bi=10A
5.Given that the dimension formula for magnetic flux density is [M T −2 A−1 ] , establish the relation between
Gauss & tesla .[Hint: use the Result of previous solved example]

3.2.2 Dimension Analysis

Principle of Homogeneity:The dimensions of each term on both sides of an equation must be the same.
This is obvious for example you can’t add 2kg to 2liters(1l = 1000cm3 ), 2meters can’t be added to 2kg .
using this principle we can check the validity of the equation & find the dimension of the quantities present
in the equation.
Solved Example:
1.Show that V = u + at is dimensionally correct.
ans:
V has the dimension of velocity , so each term separated by + or - should have dimension of velocity.
(i)”u” has dimension of velocity
(ii) ”a” has dimension of accn [LT −2 ] & T has dimension of [T] , so multiplication of them has dimensions
[LT −1 ] :Velocity.
above equation is dimensionally correct.

2.

3.
3.2.3 Derive the formula

If we know the factors on which a given physical quantity may depend, we can find a formula relating the
quantity with those factors.
Note:you can’t get the numerical factor & dimensionless constant in this method .
Solved Example:
Practice problems: