UNITS AND MEASUREMENTS

⚡ High-Yield Revision Infographic Booklet ⚡

MAHARASHTRA STATE BOARD CURRICULUM

1. THE FOUNDATION OF QUANTITIES & SYSTEMS

Physics is highly quantitative. Every measurement requires a clear standard comparison called a unit. Any
expression contains a value and its standard: Q = n × u.

CORE TERMINOLOGY

• Physical Quantity: Any trait of an object/system that can be explicitly measured.

• Unit: An internationally approved baseline standard selected for quantitative comparison.

HISTORICAL & MODERN SYSTEMS OF UNITS

Four primary standardized systems exist historically and modernly. SI units use a clear decimal structure, making
scale adjustments extremely simple:

CGS MKS FPS

Centimetre Metre Foot SI System
Gram Kilogram Pound International Standard
Second Second Second (1971)

2. BASE, DERIVED & SUPPLEMENTARY CLASSIFICATIONS

2.1 THE 7 FUNDAMENTAL BASELINE QUANTITIES

Fundamental quantities are independent elements that form the operational framework of all structural physics
equations:

NO. FUNDAMENTAL QUANTITY SI BASE UNIT NAME OFFICIAL SYMBOL

1 Length metre m

2 Mass kilogram kg

3 Time second s

4 Temperature kelvin K

5 Electric Current ampere A

6 Luminous Intensity candela cd

7 Amount of Substance mole mol

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2.2 DERIVED QUANTITIES
Derived quantities depend directly on core base units and are evaluated through mathematical combinations:
-1
• Velocity: Displacement ⁄ Time → m ⁄ s or m·s
-1
• Momentum: Mass × Velocity → kg·m ⁄ s or kg·m·s

2.3 SUPPLEMENTARY GEOMETRIC UNITS (WITH VISUALS)

Two geometric supplementary structures are added to support physical vector configurations:

PLANE ANGLE (DΘ) SOLID ANGLE (DΩ)

The 2D ratio of an intersecting circle's arc length (ds) to The 3D conical space ratio of an intercepted spherical
2
its structural radius (r). surface area (dA) to the square of radius (r ).

dθ = ds ⁄ r (rad) dΩ = dA ⁄ r2 (sr)

Key Radians Conversions: Full Intercept Value:

•π rad = 180° For a complete sphere, the total integrated surface area
2
• 1° = 1.745 × 10-2 rad boundary equals 4πr .

• 1'(arcmin) = 2.91 × 10-4 rad

-6 Ω = 4πr2 ⁄ r2 = 4π sr
• 1" (arcsec) = 4.847 × 10 rad

dA (Area)

ds (arc) dΩ
dθ r
O O
r (radius)

3. MANDATORY SI RULES & PROTOCOL CHECKLIST

❌ Incorrect Practice: ✅ Correct SI Standard Protocol:

• 5 Newtons / 5 NT (Pluralized / Capital full name) • 5 newton or 5 N (Lower full name, Capital symbol)
• 15 kg. (Punctuation at end) • 15 kg (Clean symbol without tailing full stops)
• m/s/s (Chained fractions) • m⁄s2 or m·s-2 (Unified index notation)
• 10 mμs (Double prefixes used) • 10 ns (Single prefix simplified notation)
• ms-1 (No space; means per millisecond) • m s-1 or m-s-1 (Space/hyphen separates separate
units)

4. ADVANCED MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS & MACRO SCALES

4.1 PARALLAX METHOD (FOR LARGE ASTRONOMICAL DISTANCES)

Astronomical objects cannot be measured with standard laboratory instruments. The Parallax Method tracks the
apparent shift of an object against background coordinates when viewed from two different locations.

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 PARALLAX MECHANICS
EARTH
Let b represent the base baseline separation distance between A
D
points A and B on Earth. Let θ equal the evaluated parallax
b θ S
angle convergent at target star/planet S.
B
D

θ=b⁄D⇒D=b⁄θ

If measuring actual diameter (d) of a planetary surface using its

measured telescope angular diameter (α):

d=α×D

4.2 SCALE CONVERSION CONSTANTS

• Astronomical Unit (AU): Mean Earth-Sun orbital center radius → 1 AU = 1.496 × 1011 m
15
• Light Year (ly): Distance light spans in vacuum over 1 year → 1 ly = 9.467 × 10 m

• Parsec (pc): Base line distance where 1 AU separation subtends 1 arcsec → 1 pc = 3.08 × 1016 m = 3.26 ly
• Micro Constants: Fermi (1 F = 10-15 m) | Angstrom (1 Å = 10 Sec-10 m)

5. DIMENSIONS & FORMULA MASTERY CHART

a b c d
Dimensions represent the fundamental index scaling exponents [L M T I ] necessary to construct a derived value:

DIMENSIONAL
PHYSICAL QUANTITY DEFINING BASE FORMULA STANDARD SI UNIT
EXPRESSION

Density (ρ) M⁄V kg ⁄ m3 [L-3 M1 T0]

Acceleration (a) v⁄t m ⁄ s2 [L1 M0 T-2]

Momentum (P) m×v kg·m ⁄ s [L1 M1 T-1]

Force (F) m×a N (kg·m·s-2) [L1 M1 T-2]

Impulse (J) F×t N·s [L1 M1 T-1]

Work / Energy (W) F×s J (kg·m2·s-2) [L2 M1 T-2]

Pressure (P) F⁄A Pa (kg ⁄ m·s2) [L-1 M1 T-2]

Electric Charge (q) I×t C (A·s) [L0 M0 T1 I1]

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5.1 CORE USES & APPLICATION FRAMEWORKS
1. Checking Equation Homogeneity: Dimensions of matching addition terms across LHS and RHS must be
1 0 -1
equivalent. (e.g. in v = u + at, all components resolve to [L M T ]).
2. Establishing Ratios & Dependencies: Deriving functional constraints (e.g., establishing the pendulum formula
T = 2π√(l⁄g)).
3. Unit System Scaling Interconversions: Converting metrics between divergent base models (e.g., establishing
1 ext{ Joule} = 107 ext{ ergs} via scaling ratios).

5.2 CRITICAL CONSTRAINTS OF DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS

⚠️ Limitations Checklist for Exam Prep:

1. Pure numerical scaling coefficients (e.g. 1⁄2, 2π) are invisible to dimensional calculations.
x
2. Cannot evaluate functions incorporating transcendental components like trigonometry (sin θ) or exponents (e ).
3. Completely fails if structural scaling variables possess unique dimensions themselves (e.g., Gravitational
Constant G).
4. Cannot detect missing independent additive parts sharing parallel scaling dimensions (e.g., missing the ut within

S = ½at2).

6. ERROR MANAGEMENT & STATISTICAL PROPAGATION

Accuracy marks the spatial deviation from absolute true values. Precision defines the operational cluster tight
consistency across repeated attempts.

6.1 SYSTEM ERROR TAXONOMY

• Systematic Flaws (Directional): Defective physical configurations that consistently bias results in one direction.
Includes Instrumental Calibration Faults, Defective Setup/Technique, and Personal Parallax Observer Bias.
Minimizable by instrument calibration.
• Random Fluctuations: Unpredictable variation from environmental changes (e.g., voltage spikes). Completely
unpreventable, but mitigated by taking large sample populations and calculating their mean value.

6.2 STATISTICAL CALCULATION FRAMEWORK

Given repeated measurements a , a , ..., a :
1 2 n

1. Arithmetic Mean Value: 3. Relative Deviation Index:

amean = Σ ai ⁄ n Relative Error = Δamean ⁄ amean

2. Mean Absolute Deviation: 4. Percentage Error Scaling (%E):

Δamean = Σ |amean - ai| ⁄ n % Error = (Δamean ⁄ amean) × 100

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6.3 COMPOUNDING & PROPAGATION VECTORS

MATHEMATICAL MATRIX BASE FORMULA STRUCTURE PROPAGATED COMBINED ERROR LIMIT

Addition / Subtraction Z=A±B ΔZ = ΔA + ΔB (Absolute errors accumulate)

ΔZ⁄Z = ΔA⁄A + ΔB⁄B (Relative errors

Product / Quotient Z = A × B or Z = A ⁄ B
accumulate)

Power Exponential Matrix Z = ApBq ⁄ Cr ΔZ⁄Z = p(ΔA⁄A) + q(ΔB⁄B) + r(ΔC⁄C)

⚠️ Key Concept: Variables holding the highest scaling power index introduce the dominant error component to the system.

7. SIGNIFICANT DIGITS & 2019 SI METROLOGY UPDATE

Significant Figures Evaluation Rules:

1. All non-zero digits are instantly valid (178.43 has 5 figures).
2. Trapped zeros inside non-zero boundaries count (165.02 has 5 figures).
3. Leading placeholder zeros below index 1 are excluded (0.001405 has 4 figures: 1, 4, 0, 5).
4. Tailing zeros count only if explicitly trailing behind a decimal marker (e.g. 1.500 holds 4 figures, while
un-punctuated baseline metric count 12500 ext{ m} has only 3 figures).

THE 2019 INTERNATIONAL CONSTANTS BASELINE

On May 20, 2019, physical material prototypes were replaced. All 7 fundamental units are now fixed explicitly by
invariant universal physical constant values:

• Planck Constant (h): 6.62607015 × 10-34 J·s → Anchors Mass definitions (kg)
-1
• Speed of Light (c): 299792458 m·s → Anchors Space definitions (m)
• Caesium Oscillation frequency (ΔνCs): 9192631770 Hz → Anchors Time definitions (s)
• Elementary Charge (e): 1.602176634 × 10-19 C → Anchors Current definitions (A)
23 -1
• Avogadro Index (NA): 6.02214076 × 10 mol → Anchors Substance definition (mol)

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