GENERAL PHYSICS 1
A. Physical Quantities and Units Unit Prefixes
Physics – study of nature, the understanding of its – symbols placed before the symbol of a unit to
phenomena and how it behaves specify the order of magnitude of a quantity. Makes
expressing very large and small quantities easier
Kinematics – study of motion
Physical Quantities
1) numerical value (number)
2) unit of measurement (unit) – a specific
magnitude of a physical quantity that has been
adopted by convention
Measurement – comparing with a standard
Two types of Measurement:
1) Metric – uses MKS (meter, kilogram,
seconds) or CGS (centimeter, gram, seconds)
2) English – FPS (foot, pound, second) Independent Variable – variable being controlled; in
tables, it is usually written in the first column to the
Most used set of units is a metric system left; in graphs, it is in the horizontal axis
called International System of Units or SI (Le
Systeme Internationale d’Unites) Dependent Variable – variable being observed or
calculated depending on the independent variable; in
Physical Qualities: tables, it is on the right; in graphs, it is on the y axis
1) Fundamental Quantities Graphs are labelled by name of quantity/unit
- Can be used to define other units that are Making estimation – looking for a value that is
called derived units/quantities approximately close to the true value
- Also known as Seven Base Units
a) Mass – kilogram (kg)
b) Length – meter (m)
c) Time – seconds (s) B. Measurements of Certain Uncertainty
d) Electric current – ampere (A) Uncertainty analysis or error analysis – used to
e) Temperature – kelvin (K) calculate uncertainty.
f) Luminous Intensity – candela (cd)
g) Amount of Substance – mole (mol) A value that is measured should have an estimate
2) Derived Quantities together with the uncertainty value.
- Combination of fundamental units
- Example: speed (m/s), Force (N or kg- Reported measurement = best estimate ± uncertainty
m/sˆ2) Example: measured mass = 17.43 ± 0.01 grams
- Symbols for SI are uppercase if names
after a person (e.g. N for Isaac Newton), Where 17.43 is what you measured and 0.01
otherwise it is in lowercase (e.g. meter) is the level of uncertainty you have with your
measurement
GENERAL PHYSICS 1
C. Accuracy and Precision by the environment such as vibrations,
temperature, noise etc.
Accuracy – how close the measurement is to the true
4) Limited scale of the instrument (random) –
value
meter stick cannot measure nanometers
Percent Error/Relative Error – expresses accuracy 5) Unable to calibrate or check zero scale of the
instrument (systematic)
6) Variations in physical measurement (random)
– take several measurements
7) Parallax (systematic/random) – when an
experimenter’s eye is not aligned with a
pointer on a scale, the reading may differ
Measured Error – amount of inaccuracy 8) Personal errors – errors that occur from
Precision – how close the measurements are to each carelessness, poor method or bias
other; quality of the measurement measurement
E. Vector and Scalar
Percent Difference – expresses precision
Classification of Physical Quantities:
1) Vector – has both magnitude and direction
*if it is south or west, you can omit the
direction and just use a negative sign for the
magnitude
2) Scalar – has only magnitude
Relative Uncertainty = uncertainty/measured quantity
x 100
D. Forms of Errors
Two Forms of Errors:
1) Random Error – unexpected change in
measurement due to the outside environment
2) Systematic Error – due to the instrument
Causes of Errors in Doing Experiments
1) Inadequate definition (random/systematic) –
can be solved by determining the specific
conditions that may affect the measurement
2) Unable to include a factor (systematic) –
example: measuring free fall but air resistance
was not considered
3) Factors due to the environment
(systematic/random) – errors brought about
GENERAL PHYSICS 1
F. Distance and Displacement
1) Distance – scalar quantity in which direction or
is not specified
d = total path taken (add all the values regardless
of the sign) H. Speed and Velocity
2) Displacement – change in position, has both Uniform motion – object moving at constant velocity
magnitude and direction in a straight path with a particular direction; when
- Denoted by delta d (∆d); the triangle sign both the velocity and direction remain the same
∆ is Greek for delta which means Velocity – displacement of an object over a time
“change” interval
∆d = d2 – d1 wherein, d1 is the initial point and ∆d
d2 is the final point V=
∆t
Sample Problem for Displacement: Sample Questions for Velocity:
1) A jogger started at 3 m [N] to 9 m [S]
d2 = - 9 m
d1 = 3 m Speed – distance over time; scalar
∆d = - 9 m – (3 m)
∆d = -12 m or 12 m [S]
2) -1 m to -6 m
∆d = - 6 m – (-1 m)
∆d = - 5 m
Sample Problem for Distance:
1) -6 m to 7 m = 13 m
2) + 2 m to -8 m = 10 m
G. Vector Components
Components mean parts. Hence, the components of Sample Questions for Speed:
the vector mean the parts of a vector. A vector has an
x-component/x-part and a y-component/y-part.
GENERAL PHYSICS 1
[Link] Notation
Expressed as: Nx10n , where N is the number from 1-9
(usually has one decimal place), x10 is the base, and
n is the exponent
*if the value of n is negative (-), move the decimal
place nth places to the left
*if the value of n is positive (+), move the decimal
place nth places to the right
I. Branches of Physics Steps on how to write in scientific notation:
Classical (Prior 1900) 1) Move the decimal place so that the only
a) Mechanics – motion, work, force, energy and whole number is a number from 1-9
fluids 2) If you moved to the left then the exponent is
b) Heat & Thermodynamics – heat to positive
mechanical 3) If you moved to the right then the exponent is
c) Optics – light and its properties negative
d) Electricity & Magnetism – electric charges Sample Problems:
and magnetism
e) Wave Motion & Sound – different types of 1) 1391400 km = 1.4x106 km
waves
2) 0.00000042 kg = 4.2x10-7 kg
Modern (Beyond 1900)
*for operations such as addition, subtraction,
a) Nuclear Physics – atomic nucleus multiplication, division in scientific notation, just use
b) General & Special Relativity – movement of calculator
light
c) Particle Physics – elementary particles;
building blocks of matter L. Variance and Standard Deviation
d) Quantum Mechanics – nature and behavior of
matter and energy on the atomic and
subatomic levels
J. Newton’s Laws of Motion
1) Law of Inertia – an object remains at rest
unless a force acts upon it; the lazy law
2) Law of Acceleration – speed,
distance/displacement; an object’s
acceleration is equal to the net force divided
by the mass of the object; F=ma
3) Law of Interaction – for every action, there is
an equal and opposite reaction
