Lectures on Physics

Lecture 2
Physics is an experimental science. Experiments require measurements, and we generally use numbers

to describe the results of measurements. Any number that is used to describe a physical phenomenon

quantitatively is called a physical quantity. For example, two physical quantities that describe you are

your weight and your height. Some physical quantities are so fundamental that we can define them only

by describing how to measure them. Such a definition is called an operational definition. Two examples

are measuring a distance by using a ruler and measuring a time interval by using a stopwatch. In other

cases we define a physical quantity by de-scribing how to calculate it from other quantities that we can

measure. Thus we might define the average speed of a moving object as the distance traveled (measured

with a ruler) divided by the time of travel (measured with a stopwatch).

When we measure a quantity, we always compare it with some reference standard. When we say that a

basketball hoop is 3.05 meters above the ground, we mean that this distance is 3.05 times as long as a

meter stick, which we define to be 1 meter long. Such a standard defines a unit of the quantity. The

meter is a unit of distance, and the second is a unit of time. When we use a number to describe a physical

quantity, we must always specify the unit that we are using; to describe a distance as simply “3.05”

wouldn’t mean anything.

To make accurate, reliable measurements, we need units of measurement that do not change and that

can be duplicated by observers in various locations. The system of units used by scientists and engineers

around the world is commonly called “the metric system,” but since 1960 it has been known officially

as the International System, or SI (the abbreviation for its French name, Système International).

Time
From 1889 until 1967, the unit of time was defined as a certain fraction of the mean solar day, the

average time between successive arrivals of the sun at its highest point in the sky. The present standard,

adopted in 1967, is much more precise. It is based on an atomic clock, which uses the energy difference

between the two lowest energy states of the cesium atom ( ). When bombarded by microwaves of
All the texts are extracted from the reference textbook University Physics with Modern Physics, by
Hugh Young , Roger Freedman Pearson; 15th edition (July 6, 2019)

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precisely the proper frequency, cesium atoms undergo a transition from one of these states to the other.

One second (abbreviated s) is defined as the time required for 9,192,631,770 cycles of this microwave

radiation (Fig. 1.3a).

Figure 1.3: The measurements used to determine (a) the duration of a second and (b) the length of a
meter. These measurements are useful for setting standards because they give the same results no matter
where they are made.
Length
In 1960 an atomic standard for the meter was also established, using the wavelength of the orange-red

light emitted by excited atoms of krypton . From this length standard, the speed of light in vacuum

was measured to be 299,792,458 / . In November 1983, the length standard was changed again so

that the speed of light in vacuum was defined to be precisely 299,792,458 / . Hence, the new

definition of the meter (abbreviated m) is the distance that light travels in vacuum in 1/299,792,458

second (Fig. 1.3b). This modern definition provides a much more precise standard of length than the

one based on a wave-length of light.

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Mass
Until recently the unit of mass, the kilogram (abbreviated kg), was defined to be the mass of a metal

cylinder kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in France (Fig. 1.4). This was a very

inconvenient standard to use. Since 2018 the value of the kilogram has been based on a fundamental

constant of nature called Planck’s constant (symbol ℎ), whose defined value ℎ = 6.62607015 ×

10 ∙ ∙ is related to those of the kilogram, meter, and second. Given the values of the meter

and the second, the masses of objects can be experimentally determined in terms of ℎ. (We will explain

the meaning of h in Chapter 28.) The gram (which is not a fundamental unit) is 0.001 kilogram.

Figure 1.4 Until 2018 a metal cylinder was used to define the value of the kilogram. Today the
kilogram is defined in terms of one of the fundamental constants of nature.
Other derived units can be formed from the fundamental units. For example, the units of speed are

meters per second, or / ; these are the units of length ( ) divided by the units of time ( ).

Unit Prefixes
Once we have defined the fundamental units, it is easy to introduce larger and smaller units for the same

physical quantities. In the metric system these other units are related to the fundamental units (or, in the

case of mass, to the gram) by multiples of 10 or 1/10. Thus one kilometer 1 is 1000 meters, and

All the texts are extracted from the reference textbook University Physics with Modern Physics, by
Hugh Young , Roger Freedman Pearson; 15th edition (July 6, 2019)

3
one centimeter 1 is 1/100 meter. We usually express multiples of 10 or 1/10 in exponential

notation: 1000 = 10 , 1/1000 = 10 , and so on.

With this notation, 1 = 10 and 1 = 10 .

The names of the additional units are derived by adding a prefix to the name of the

fundamental unit. For example, the prefix “kilo-,” abbreviated k, always means a unit

larger by a factor of 1000; thus

1 = 1 = 10 = 10
1 = 1 = 10 = 10
1 = 1 = 10 = 10
The British System
Finally, we mention the British system of units. These units are used in only the United States and a

few other countries, and in most of these they are being replaced by SI units. British units are now

officially defined in terms of SI units, as follows:

Length: 1 ℎ = 2.54 (exactly)

same way as in SI. In physics, British units are used in mechanics and thermodynamics only; there is

no British system of electrical units.

All the texts are extracted from the reference textbook University Physics with Modern Physics, by
Hugh Young , Roger Freedman Pearson; 15th edition (July 6, 2019)