1. PHYSICS and MEASUREMENT
Chapter 1
PHYSICS and
MEASUREMENT

2. PHYSICS and MEASUREMENT
1.1 Standards of Length, Mass and Time
1.2 Matter and model building
1.3 Density and Atomic Mass
1.4 Dimensional Analysis
1.5 Conversion of Units
1.6 Estimates and Order-of-Magnitude Calculations
1.7 Significant Figures

3. 1.1 Standards of Length, Mass and Time
SI: Système International
7 Basic quantities
Length (m)
The amount of substance (mol)
Mass (kg)
Luminous intensity (cd)
Time (s)
Electric curent (A)
Temperature (K)

4. 1.2 Matter and Model building

5. 1.3 Density and Atomic Mass
Density: mass per unit volume
Atomic mass: mass of single atom
Atomic mass units:
u = × 10 – 27 kg

6. Quick Quiz
In a machine shop, two cams are produced, one of aluminum and one of iron. Both cams have the same mass. Which cam is larger?
A. The aluminum cam.
B. The iron cam.
C. Both cams have the same size.

7. Example
A solid cube of aluminum (density g/cm3) has a volume of cm3. It is known that 27.0 g of aluminum contains 6.02×1023 atoms. How many aluminum atoms are contained in the cube?

8. Problem
On your wedding day your lover gives you a gold ring of mass 3,8 g. Fifty years later its mass is 3,35 g. On the average, how many atoms were abraded from the ring during each second of your marriage? The atomic mass of gold is 197u.

9. 1.4 Dimensional Analysis
The word dimension has a special meaning in physics. It denotes the physical nature of a quantity.
Whether a distance is measured in units of feet or meters or fathoms, it is still a distance. We say its dimension is length.

10. Physical quantity
Mass
Length
Time
Symbol for dimension M L T
Unit kg m s

11. In many situations, you may have to derive or check a specific equation. A useful and powerful procedure called dimensional analysis can be used to assist in the derivation or to check your final expression.

12. Rules:
Quantities can be added or subtracted only if they have the same dimensions.
The terms on both sides of an equation must have the same dimensions.

13. Example 1 Analysis of an Equation
Show that the expression v = at is dimensionally correct, where v represents speed, a acceleration, and t an instant of time.

14. Example 2 Analysis of a Power Law
Suppose we are told that the acceleration a of a particle moving with uniform speed v in a circle of radius r is proportional to some power of r, say rn, and some power of v, say vm. Determine the values of n and m and write the simplest form of an equation for the acceleration.

15. Problem
The position of a particle moving under uniform acceleration is some funtion of time and the acceleration. Suppose we write this position s=kamtn, where k is a dimensionless constant. Show by dimensional analysis that this expression is satisfied if m=1 and n=2. Can this analysis give the value of k?

16. 1.5 Conversion of Units
1 mile = m = km
1 ft = m = cm
1 m = in. = ft
1 in. = m = 2.54 cm
1 km/h = 5/18 m/s
1 m/s = 3.6 km/h

17. Example
On an interstate highway in a rural region of Wyoming, a car is traveling at a speed of 38.0 m/s. Is this car exceeding the speed limit of 75.0 mi/h? What is the speed of the car in km/h?

18. Problem
A solid piece of lead has a mass of 23.94g and a volume of 2.1 cm3. From these data, calculate the density of lead in SI units.

19. 1.6 Estimates and Order-of-magnitude Calculations

20. 1.7 Significant Figures
A significant figure in a measurement is a reliably known digit (other than a zero used to locate the decimal point) or the first estimated digit.

21. When multiplying several quantities, the number of significant figures in the final answer is the same as the number of significant figures in quantity having the lowest number of significant figures.

22. When numbers are added (or subtracted), the number of decimal places in the result should equal the smallest number of decimal places of any term in the sum.

23. Problem
The radius of a solid sphere is measured to be , and its mass is measured to be Determine the density of the sphere in kilograms per cubic meter and the uncertainty in the density.