PHY 101

(General Physics I)
Dr. Hakeem I. Kuforiji
 Concept of Space and Time

What is Space?

• A three-dimensional continuum or boundless extent

• Relative position and direction of object can be

y − plane
described
• Event continues to occur therein
• Occurs everywhere beneath and above the Earth 𝑥 − plane

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 Concept of Space and Time

What is Time?
• It is a measure of the forward flow of events in space
• It is sometimes said to be a fourth dimension
• It NEVER runs backward
• It is Unstoppable
• As the events occur or unfold within the space, time
continues to elapse

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 Concept of Space and Time

Time is a very important quantity in all aspects of life

• A pharmacist administers drugs to patients specifying the dose and
duration (time)
• The event of Earth rotation occurs in 24 hours to bring days and nights
• The period of Earth’s revolution is 365 days

1 𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 60 𝑠𝑒𝑐
1 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 = 60 𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 60 × 60 = 3600 𝑠𝑒𝑐
1 𝑑𝑎𝑦 = 24 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟 = 24 × 3600 = 86400 𝑠𝑒𝑐
1 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 = 365 𝑑𝑎𝑦𝑠 = 365 × 86400 = 31536000 𝑠𝑒𝑐

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 Concept of Space and Time

Specific time can be marked with specific events

Dawn Afternoon Evening7

7:00 am 12:00 noon :00 pm

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 Example 1
The time interval between the first and the second dose of most brands of
antimalaria is 8 hours. To avoid waking up at midnight for the second
dose, a patient takes the first dose such that he takes the second dose at
5:00 am, What should be the time when he took the first dose?

Solution

The information shows that he took the first dose 8 hours before 5:00 am.
Then we have to trace the even 8 hours backward.
5: 00 am − 8.00 hrs = 9: 00 pm

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 Length
• Moving object covers some distances in some time interval
• The total distance traversed by the body as it makes the translation motion around the space is
called the length
• Originally defined as 1/10 000 000 of the distance between the north pole and the equator along a
meridian
• Later redefined in terms of an unvarying property of light in 1983
• Light travels 299792458 meters in one second
• Speed of light in a vacuum is equal to 299792458 m/s
• It is a base quantity with the SI unit of meter (m)
• Length measuring instruments include: vernier caliper, micrometer screw gauge, ruler, tape rule,
etc.

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 Mass
• This is the base quantity that is used to describe the inertia of
an object
• A massive object contains a massive quantity of matter and
hence will possess huge inertia
• Although mass is measured in kilograms (kg), very small or
huge masses can be measured in appropriate units
• For very large masses (e.g. mass of a truck), we can use tons.
1 kg = 0.001102 ton
1 ton is approximately equal to 1000 kg.

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 SI Base Units
Whenever a physical quantity is measured, it is always necessary to report the unit of
measurement. For example, if you see a new shoe with your friend who has just returned from
the USA and tells you that he bought the shoe for 2000, you will know that the statement is
incomplete, and your next question will be “2000 dollars or 2000 Naira?”. The dollar or the
Naira are the unit of currency.

Unit Systems

• The standard unit of length, time, and mass constitutes the metric system called the
mks system, which stands for meter-kilogram-second
• A kilogram is the SI unit of mass, but it is quite large to be used for small masses
(e.g. drugs)
• Another metric system that can be used for smaller quantities is called the cgs
system, which stands for centimetre-gram-second
• The British use a system called the fps system, which stands for foot-pound-second.

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 Fundamental Quantities
• The fundamental physical quantities, are the quantities that
cannot be defined in terms of any other physical quantities and
are called the base quantities
• They are known as the building block or foundation for all other
physical quantities
• There are seven base quantities.

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 Fundamental Physical Quantities

S/N Quantity Symbol SI Unit

1 Time 𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠 (𝑠)

2 Length 𝑙 𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑒 (𝑚)

3 Mass 𝑚 𝑘𝑖𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚 (𝑘𝑔)

4 Electric current 𝐼 𝐴𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑒 (𝐴)

5 Temperature 𝑇 𝑜𝑟 𝜃 𝐾

6 Luminous intensity 𝐼𝑉 𝐶𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑠 (𝑐𝑑)

7 Amount of substance 𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑙

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 Derived Physical
Quantities
• The fundamental physical quantities are the quantities that
can be defined in terms of fundamental or any other physical
quantities
• Their units are equally derived
• Derived quantities are more than the fundamental quantities
• Examples include: area, volume, velocity, acceleration,
pressure, moment, momentum, energy, power etc.

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 Multiples and their prefixes
• In science, prefixes are used to modify the meaning of a unit by
placing them before a numerical value, which indicates their
multiples and submultiples
• When multiples (larger units) or submultiples (smaller units) are
used, very large or very small magnitude values can be expressed
in a manageable way to simplify calculations and make
communication clearer
• Some of the common prefixes for multiples and submultiples, set
by the International System of Units (SI) for universal consistency
across all fields are shown in the following Table.

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Multiples and Prefixes for Metric Units
S/N Multiples Prefix Sub-multiples Prefix (Abbreviation)
(Abbreviation)
1 10 (Deca (da) 10-1 Deci (d)
2 102 hecto (h) 10-2 Centi (c)
3 103 kilo (k) 10-3 Milli (m)
4 106 Mega (M) 10-6 Micro (µ)
5 109 Giga (G) 10-9 Nano (n)
6 1012 Tera (T) 10-12 Pico (p)
7 1015 Peta (P) 10-15 Femto (f)
8 1018 exa (E) 10-18 Atto (a)
9 1021 Zetta (Z) 10-21 Zepto (z)
10 1024 Yotta (Y) 10-24 Yocto (y)

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 Appropriate use of multiples and
submultiples
(Mass measurement)

Large mass (kilogram) Very small mass (milligram)

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 Appropriate use of multiples and submultiples
(Length measurement)

Tape rule
measures
long lengths
Measuring tape measures longer lengths

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 Appropriate use of multiples and submultiple
(Volume measurement)

Doctors directly measure the volume of an injection

in smaller units using submultiples

1𝑚3 = 1000 𝐿

103 −3 𝐿 = 1000 𝑚𝐿
1𝐿 =1× = 1000 × 10
103

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 Example 2

Convert 1 kg to its grams equivalent

Solution
Recall that kilo (k) = 103 , Then
1 𝑘𝑔 = 1 × 103 𝑔 = 1000 𝑔

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 Example 3

A bottle of a certain children’s Syrup is 0.1 L. Suppose

a dose of the drug is 5 ml, Find the number of doses in
the whole bottle of the drug.

Solution
10−3 0.1 −3 𝐿 = 100 𝑚𝐿
0.1 𝐿 = 0.1 × −3 = 10
10 10−3
100 𝑚𝐿
= 20 𝑑𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠
5 𝑚𝐿
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 Example 4
Find the SI equivalent of 200 cm

Solution
Recall that centi (c) = 10-2 = 1/100
Then
200 𝑐𝑚 = 200 × 10−2
200 1
= × =2𝑚
1 100
Self-Assessment Problem
Convert 120 km/hr to metres/second

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