Lecture 1 (PHY 107)

S P R ING 2 0 1 6
I N STRUC TOR : S U BI R G HOS H, P HD

Measurements and Units

Each physical quantities is measured in its own units, by comparison with a standard.
A unit is unique name assigned to measure of that quantity. , for example, meter for the quantity
length.
All physical quantities can be divided into two groups dependent and independent.
Independent physical quantities are measured in terms of base standards or units.

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The SI System of Unit

SI Systme International
International system of measurement
Developed in 1960 from the MKS (meter-kilogram-second) system
Worlds most widely used system of measurement

A unified system of measurements :

MKS (meter-kilogram-second)
Electrical, magnetic quantities
Modified and created through international agreement (For example, the meter is now defined as
the distance travelled by light in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of second, but initially it was defined as
one ten-millionth of the distance from the north pole to the equator)
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Standards

Atomic Clock at NIST

Accuracy of about 3 millionth of a second

Standard kg at NIST

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Types of Units
Base Units:

Length - meter (m)

Mass - kilogram (kg)
Time - second (s)
Temperature - kelvin (K)

Derived Units:
Force newton (N)
Energy joule (J)
Frequency Hertz (Hz) and so on..

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Relative Size of Units

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1 meter is about 1 yard.

1 inch is about 2 centimeters.
1 newton is about the force required to lift a -pound weight.
Raising a -pound weight 1 meter in 1 s requires about 1 watt.
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Converting Units
Convert 60 miles/hour to km/hr.

Convert 60 miles/hour to m/s

A circle has radius of 8 inches. Determine the area in square meters
A car travels 60ft in 2 seconds. Determine
a. its speed in meter per second
b. its speed in kilometer per hour

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Power of Ten Notation

Used to handle very large and very small numbers
35 000 = 3.5 104 or 35 103
458 000 = 4.58 105 or 458 103
0.000 042 = 4.2 10-5 or 42 10-6

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Types of Notations
Scientific Notation - Power of ten numbers are written with one digit to the left of the
decimal place
24 700 = 2.4 104
0.000 046 = 4.6 10-5
Engineering Notation - uses only powers which are factors of 3:
24 700 = 24.7 103
0.000 046 = 46 10-6

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Engineering Notations

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Engineering Notations
Convert 0.01MV to kiloVolts
Convert 35cm to nm
Compute the sum of 1A and 100mA
If I1= 120 mA and I2= 23410-3A, what is I1 + I2 in mA?

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Density
Density is defined as mass per unit volume, measured in kg/m3
Atomic mass of an element is defined as the average mass of an atom, measured in u (1 u =
1.66053886x10-27kg)
One mole (mol) of a substance is that amount of the substance that contains as many particles
(atoms, molecules, or other particles) as there are atoms in 12 g of the carbon-12 isotope. One
mole of substance A contains the same number of particles as there are in 1 mol of any other
substance B.
One mole of a substance contains 6.023x1023 atoms.

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Example 1.1

Molar mass of aluminium is 27gm

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Dimensional Analysis
Dimensional analysis makes use of the fact that dimensions can be treated as algebraic quantities.
In this analysis, quantities can be added and subtracted only if they have same dimension.

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Significant Digits
The number of digits in a number that carry actual information are called
Significant Digits.
It is a common error to show more digits of accuracy than are warranted.

The number of significant digits in a result due to multiplication or division is

the same as the number of significant digits in the number with the least
number of significant digits.

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Example 1.8

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Estimation and Order of Magnitude Calculation

By making estimates and Order of magnitude calculation, it is possible to approximate the answer of a
problem when there is not enough information available to completely specify an exact solution.

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