Overview of Physical Variables and Units
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ScribdTranslationsOverview of Physical Variables and Units
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ScribdTranslationsPHYSICAL VARIABLES
STATISTICAL VARIABLES
A variable is something that changes in relation to something.
A PHYSICAL VARIABLE is the magnitude that can influence the state of a physical system.
example: weight, speed, force, etc. Magnitudes can be scalar or vector.
The main variables of physics are space (distance), velocity, acceleration, and time.
but the main units are those of mass (kg), time (s), and distance (m).
PHYSICAL VARIABLES AND UNITS.
Space (from the Latin spatium) means everything that surrounds us and different concepts in different
disciplines.
Time is aphysical quantity with which we measure the duration or separation of
events, subject to change, of the systems subject to observation; that is, the period that
occurs between the state of the system when it presented astateX and the moment when X
register a noticeable variation for aobserver(the measuring device).
The distance between two points ofEuclidean space it is equivalent to the segment of length
thestraightthat unites them, expressed numerically. In more complex spaces, such as those defined
in thenon-Euclidean geometry, and"the 'shortest path' between two points is a segment of a curve."
It is aphysical magnitude of charactervectorialwhich expresses the distance traveled by an object
byunit of [Link] is represented by or. [Link][L]/[T]Your unit in theSystem
Internationalit is them/s.
The mass, inphysics, andIt is a measure of the amount of matter that a body possesses.
Acceleration is a [Link] the change of indicatesspeedforunit of
[Link] the context of theNewtonian vector mechanicsit is normally represented by o and
onmoduleby. Its dimensions are. Its unit in theInternational Systemit is them/s².
International System of Units
The International System of Units was created in 1960. It has the advantage that all of its
basic units are based on physical phenomena, with the exception of the unit of mass, which is
define in reference to a pattern of iridium-platinum (image of the banner of this section) that
kept in a safe in the Office of Weights and Measures. For more information
detailed about the definitions of each unit, please consult the corresponding page of theweb
from the BPIM.
Basic units
The basic units of the International System are seven:
Physical Magnitude Unit Symbol
Length metro m
Time second s
Period kilogram kg
Electric current intensity ampere A
Temperature kelvin K
Amount of substance mol mole
Luminous intensity candle cd
Since it is a decimal metric system, the multiples and submultiples of each of these
units are expressed in powers of 10. The following table shows the names of
some of them.
1000n Long Scale Decimal equivalence
1,000,000,000,000,000,000
10008 1024 yotta Y Septillion Squadron
000 000
1,000,000,000,000,000,000
10007 1021 zetta Z sextillion One trillion
000
10006 1018 exa E quintillion Trillion 1,000,000,000,000,000,000
10005 1015 peta P Squadron One trillion 1 trillion
10004 1012 tera T Trillion Trillion 1,000,000,000,000
One billion (or
10003 109 giga G Billion 1,000,000,000
billion
10002 106 mega M Million 1,000,000
10001 103 kilo k Thousand 1,000
10002/3 102 hecto h Hundred 100
10001/3 101 deca da / D Decade 10
10000 100 none Unit 1
1000-
10-1 deci d Tenth 0.1
1/3
1000-
10-2 centimeters One hundredth 0.01
2/3
1000-1 10-3 milli m Thousandth 0.001
1000-2 10-6 micro µ Millionth 0.000 001
1000-3 10-9 nano n billionth Trillionth 0.000 000 001
10-
1000-4 pico p trillionth Billionth 0.000 000 000 001
12
10-
1000-5 femto f Quadrillionth trillionth 0.000 000 000 000 001
15
10-
1000-6 act a Quintillionth Trillionth 0.000000000000000001
18
10- 0.000 000 000 000 000 000
1000-7 zepto z Sextillionth trillionth
21 001
10- 0.000 000 000 000 000 000
1000-8 yocto and septillionth Quadrillionth
24 000 001
Unit conversion
The conversion of units is the transformation of the numerical value of aphysical magnitude,
expressed in a certain unit of measurement, in another equivalent numerical value and expressed in another
unit of measurement of the same nature.
This process is usually carried out using theconversion factors and/or thetables of
conversionof units.
Often it is enough to multiply by onefraction(conversion factor) and the result is another
equivalent measure, in which the units have changed. When the change of units implies
the transformation of several units can use several conversion factors one after another,
so that the final result will be the equivalent measurement in the units we are looking for.
Exercises
Problem 1: units of length
Write the following distances in meters:
15 km
b. 200 dm
c. 23 mm
d. 0.02 dam
e. 2 cm
15 km
To convert from kilometers to meters, we need to go down 3 steps. Therefore, we multiply.
three times ten:
b. 200 dm
To convert from decimeters to meters, we need to move up 1 step, therefore, we divide by one.
time between 10:
c. 23 mm
To convert from millimeters to meters, we need to go up 3 steps, therefore, we divide by three.
times between 10:
Instead of dividing three times by 10, we can also divide once by 1000.
d. 0.02 dam
To convert from decameters to meters, we need to go down 1 step, therefore, we multiply.
once by 10:
e. 2 cm
To convert from centimeters to meters, we need to go up 2 steps, therefore, we divide by two.
times between 10:
Problem 2: units of length
Write the following lengths in decameters by performing a single step (multiplying/dividing)
only once):
11 mm
b. 5 hm
c. 0.05 dm
a. 11 mm
To convert from millimeters to decameters we have to go up 4 steps. Therefore, we have
Dividing 4 times by 10. We can perform these 4 divisions by dividing once.
for 104= 10000:
If we want to avoid decimals, we can use scientific notation:
b. 5 hm
To convert from hectometers to decameters we have to step down one level:
c. 0.05 dm
To convert from decimeters to decameters, we need to move up two steps. Therefore, divide.
twice by 10, which is the same as dividing by 102= 100:
In scientific notation:
Problem 3: units of area
Write the following areas in square decimeters:
13 mm2
b. 200 dams2
0.0000003 km2
a. 13 mm2
To convert from millimeters to decimeters, we need to move up 2 levels.
As we are working with areas, we will have to divide twice by 10.2= 100:
In scientific notation:
200 dams2
To convert from decameters to decimeters we need to go down (multiply) 2 steps.
We multiply 2 times by 100:
In scientific notation:
0.0000003 km2
To convert kilometers to decimeters, we need to go down 4 steps.
Therefore, we multiply 4 times by 100:
Problem 4: area units
Write the following areas in square kilometers by multiplying or dividing only once:
1.3 dam2
b. 0.12 hm2
c. 5 mm2
d. 1,3 dam2
To convert from decameters to kilometers we need to go up 2 steps. Therefore, we have
divide twice by 100.
Dividing twice by 100 is the same as dividing once by 10,000.
In scientific notation:
0.12 hm2
As we have to climb 1 step, we divide once by 100:
In scientific notation:
f. 5 mm2
We have to climb 6 steps, which means dividing 6 times by 100. This is the same.
that divides once by 1006.
Furthermore, let us note that we can write
In this way,
We write directly in scientific notation because we have too many zeros:
Problem 5: units of volume
Write the following measurements in liters:
2.3 ml
b. 4.1 kl
c. 2 dal
d. 3 m3
0.005 km3
f. 9 mm3
g. 2.3 ml
To convert from milliliters to liters, we have to go up 3 steps:
In scientific notation:
h. 4.1 kl
To convert from kiloliters to liters we have to go down 3 steps:
2 cups
To convert from dekaliters to liters, we need to go down 1 step:
j. 3 m3
Since we have the volume in cubic meters, we will have to use the relation
We convert to cubic decimeters (we go down 1 step) and we will have the units in liters:
k. 0.005 km3
We went down 4 steps:
l. 9 mm3
We stepped up 2 steps:
Problem 6: time units
Write the following measurements in minutes:
3 hours
b. 2 days
about 2 months
d. 1980 seconds
3 hours
To convert hours to minutes we need to multiply by 60:
b. 2 days
A day is 24 hours and an hour is 60 minutes:
approximately 2 months
One month is 4 weeks; 1 week is 7 days; 1 day is 24 hours; and 1 hour is 60 minutes.
We multiply by 4 to convert from months to weeks:
We multiply 7 to convert from weeks to days
We multiply by 24 to convert from days to hours
We multiply by 60 to convert from hours to minutes.
d. 1980 seconds
One minute is 60 seconds. Therefore, to convert from seconds to minutes we have to
divide by 60:
Problem 7: units of time
Write the following times in days:
a year and a half
b. 2 quarters
a six-year term
d. Two octavos
259200 seconds
f. 1440 minutes
a year and a half
A year is 365 days, and therefore, a year and a half is
b. 2 trimesters
1 quarter is 3 months; a month is 28 days.
a six-year term
A six-year term is 6 years.
Two octaves
An octaval is 8 days.
Therefore, two octaves are 16 days.
259200 seconds
We move on to minutes:
We move on to hours:
We move on to days:
f. 1440 minutes
We move to hours and then to days by dividing by 60 and by 24:
Problem 8
Calculate how many liters of water can fit in a pool with dimensions 3x6x23 m.
The dimensions are the lengths of the width, length, and depth.
We can write the dimensions in decimeters:
Therefore, the volume of the pool is
And since we have the units in cubic decimeters, we have the liters:
414000 L
Problem 9
Calculate the liters of water that can fit in a spherical glass container with a radius of 0.2 meters.
Help: the volume of a sphere is
Siendorel radio.
The radius is 0.2 meters, that is, 2 dm.
We know that the volume of a sphere is
Approximating π = 3.14159 :
The volume is in cubic decimeters because we have written the radius in decimeters.
Therefore, approximately 33.3 L are needed (because 1L = 1dm)3).
Problem 10
Calculate the total mass of a metal canister weighing 1kg with a cylindrical shape of 1 meter in radius and 2
meters high filled with water.
Help: 1L of water is 1kg of water.
The dimensions of the cylinder are 10 decimeters in radius and 20 decimeters in height.
The area of the base is