Measurements in Physics

Fundamental Units Scientists have adopted the SI system for units There are 7 fundamental units: 1.Meter 2.Kilogram 3.Second 4.Ampere 5.Kelvin 6.Mole 7.Candela

Derived Units Derived units are combinations of two or more fundamental units. We will use many of these units in class. When you take measurements you must use fundamental or derived units! Examples of derived units: 1.Newton 2.Hertz 3.Joule 4.Coulomb 5.Volt 6.Watt 7.Ohm 8.Ohm-meter

Non-SI Units A few commonly used non-SI units used are: 1.Gram 2.Hour 3.Electronvolt 4.degree

Scientific Notation Large or small numbers can be written in scientific notation. Scientific notation uses decimals and a power of 10 to represent the original number. To write a number is scientific notation, the number must be written with a decimal point after the first digit.

Pre-Fixes Pre-fixes can be added to SI base units (fundamental or derived) to change the magnitude of the unit. Any unit with a pre-fix can be re-written in the base unit using scientific notation A list of commonly used prefixes can be found on page 1 of your reference table

Scientific Notation with Power of 10 Notation First write out the entire number. Count the number of places you move the decimal point so that the number is written in scientific notation. If you moved the decimal to the left find the notation that has the positive power of ten equal to the number of places you moved the decimal. If you moved the decimal to the right, find the notation that has the negative power of ten equal to the number of places you moved the decimal. Label the value with the base unit for that measurement.

Write In Scientific Notation

Graphing Remember to SLAP IT – Scale – Label – Axis – Plot Points – Investigate – Title! Your independent variable goes along the y- axis The dependent variable goes along the x-axis