PHYSICS CHAPTER 1

www.kmph.matrik.edu.my/physics

CHAPTER 1:
Physical quantities and
measurements
(5 Hours)

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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
1.1 Physical Quantities and Units
 Physical quantity is defined as a quantity which can be measured.
 It can be categorised into 2 types
 Basic (base) quantity

 Derived quantity

 Basic quantity is defined as a quantity which cannot be derived

from any physical quantities.
 Table 1.1 shows all the basic (base) quantities.
Quantity Symbol SI Unit Symbol
Length l metre m
Mass m kilogram kg
Time t second s
Temperature T/ kelvin K
Electric current I ampere A
Amount of substance N mole mol
Table 1.1 Luminous Intensity candela cd 2
PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
 Derived quantity is defined as a quantity which can be expressed
in term of base quantity.
 Table 1.2 shows some examples of derived quantity.

Derived quantity Symbol Formulae Unit

Velocity v s/t m s-1
Volume V lwt M3
Acceleration a v/t m s-2

Density  m/V kg m-3

Momentum p mv kg m s-1

Force F ma kg m s-2 @ N

Table 1.2
Work W Fs kg m2 s-2 @ J

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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
 Unit is defined as a standard size of measurement of physical
quantities.
 Examples :
 1 second is defined as the time required for 9,192,631,770
vibrations of radiation emitted by a caesium-133 atom.
 1 kilogram is defined as the mass of a platinum-iridium
cylinder kept at International Bureau of Weights and
Measures Paris.
 1 meter is defined as the length of the path travelled by light
in vacuum during a time interval of

1
s
299,792,458

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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
 The unit of basic quantity is called base unit
 addition unit for base unit:

 unit of plane angle - radian (rd)

 rad  180o
180o
1 rad   57.296o


 unit of solid angle- steradian (sr)

 The common system of units used today are S.I unit (System
International/metric system) and cgs unit - UK.
 The unit of derived quantity – called derived unit
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PHYSICS CHAPTER 1
1.1.1 Unit Prefixes
 It is used for presenting larger and smaller values.
 Table 1.3 shows all the unit prefixes.
Prefix Value Symbol
tera  1012 T
giga  109 G
mega  106 M
kilo  103 k
deci  10-1 d
centi  10-2 c
milli  10-3 m
micro  10-6 
Table 1.3 nano  10-9 n
pico  10-12 p
 Examples:
 2700000 m = 2700 km = 2.7 Mm

 0.00000476 s = 4.76 x 10-6 s = 4.76 s 6