Southern Luzon State University

College of Teacher Education

Laboratory School
Lucban, Quezon

MODULE 1: PHYSICAL QUANTITIES AND

VECTORS

OBJECTIVES:

At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:

1. Identify physical quantities and the units used;

2. Understand the difference between scalar and vector quantities;
3. Illustrate and apply vector diagrams for different problems;
4. Determine the vector sum between two vectors;
5. Calculate vector and scalar products; and
6. Apply the right-hand rule to determine the direction of the cross between
two different vectors.

LESSON 1.1 PHYSICAL QUANTITIES

 Physics is one of the main branches of Science which aims to gain greater
understanding of the nature of matter and energy.
 Thus, it involved with measurable quantities which describe a certain
property of a material.
 These are known as PHYSICAL QUANTITIES.
 Physical Quantities can be described using different units. For example,
the length of an object can be described either in meters, inches, or in
feet.
 Thus, the METRIC SYSTEM or the INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM of UNITS (SI) was
devised to set standard units for different measurements.
 The following table is a list of the SI units for each of the quantities.

This system of units is being used in most countries around the world and can
be often seen in scientific research.

LESSON 1.2 SI PREFIXES

 In Physics, it is common to encounter problems involving large or small

numbers. For example, the speed of light, in SI units, is approximately equal
to 300,000,000 meters per second.
 If used for computations, this large quantity can cause a lot of confusion
due to the overwhelming number of zeroes.
 Thus, scientists developed a way to simplify such numbers into scientific
notation.
  In scientific notation, the zeroes are converted into an exponential form
of base 10 raised to the number of zeroes.
 The speed of light in scientific notation is therefore 3x108 meters per second.

Sample Problem 1.1: Transform the following values in scientific notation:

(a) 0.0001 1x10-4
(b) 1000 1x103

 The answers in sample problem 1.1 do not imply that these are the only
possible forms of scientific notation you can use for the given numbers.
 You can use a variety of scientific notations depending, of course, on
what is needed, like the number of significant figures.
 For instance, the scientific notation of 0.0001 can be 10x10-5 or 100x10-6
since they are all still equal to 0.0001.

0.0001 = 1x10-4 = 10x10-5 = 100x10-6 = 1000x10-7

The same goes for the number 1000:
1000 = 1x103 = 10x102 = 100x101

 Additionally, if we can transform a number from decimal form into

scientific notation, then, it also means that we can transform a number from
scientific notation to decimal form.
 If the exponent is positive or negative then you move the decimal point
to the left or right, respectively, by the exponent of 10.

 Scientific notations help simplify mathematical solutions.

 Applying these to metric system, certain scientific notations are assigned
to describe the measurements of physical quantities using prefixes.
 Prefixes are word added before an SI unit to describe the amount of a
quantity in the form of scientific notation.
 For example, the SI unit for mass is kilogram. A kilogram is equal to a
thousand grams. The prefix kilo which in scientific notation is 1x10 3.

Sample Problem 1.2: Apply the proper prefix for the following quantities:
(a) 3x103 m 3 kilometers (km)
(b) 6x10 g
-6 6 micrometers (µm)
LESSON 1.3 ACCURACY AND PRECISION

 Accuracy and precision are two words that are often thought the same.
However, they are different from each other.
 Precision refers to how near multiple measurements are to one another.
 Accuracy, on the other hand, refers to the proximity of a measurement to
a known value.
 To understand the difference between the two, consider the following
situation.
 A certain object has a mass of 1kg. A science student measures the mass
using three different weighing scales and three trials were done for each
of the weighing scales.

 Since the measured mass for each trial was close to 1kg for scale 1, the
measurement of the student is described to be both accurate and precise.
 For the second weighing scale, measurements of the mass were close to
0.80 kg in which is a bit far from 1kg. From this observation, we can say that
the second scale showed inaccurate values but had good precision.
 Finally, the third weighing scale showed values with varying masses for
each of the trials, showing poor accuracy and poor precision.
LESSON 1.4 SIGNIFICANT FIGURES

 For many computations in Physics, the result of certain operations can

lead to numbers having decimal places approaching infinity.
 Significant figures are the number of digits contribute to the accuracy
and precision of certain measurements.
 For instance, pi (π) is a constant often used for computations involving
spheres.
 Using the calculator, pi is approximately 3.141592654 which has 10
significant figures.
 However, in most calculations, pi is shortened to 3.14 having only
three significant figures.
 By increasing the number of significant figures, the accuracy and
precision presumably increases as well.
 There are rules that we followed to determine which digits are significant.

1. Nonzero integers (1-9) always count as significant figures. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,

8,
9)

2. There are three classes of zeros; leading zero, sandwiched zero, and
trailing zero.
 Leading zeros are zeros that precede all the nonzero digits. These do
not count as significant figures. (0.046 has two (2) significant figures)
 Sandwiched zeros are zeros between nonzero digits. These always count
as significant figures. (16.07 has four (4) significant figures)
 Trailing zeros are zeros at the right end of the number. They are
significant only if the number contains a decimal point. (9.300 has four
(4) significant figures while 150 has two (2) significant figures)
 300. Contains three significant figures.
 Notice the decimal made the 2 zeros significant. If the number
was written as 300 without the decimal, then it would only have
one significant figure.

3. Rule for numbers written in exponential form.

 If your value is expressed in proper exponential notation, all of the
figures in the pre-exponential value (prior to the x 10) are significant.
 “7.143 × 10−3 grams” contains 4 significant figures.
LESSON 1.5 SIGNIFICANT FIGURES IN MATHEMATICAL OPERATIONS

 Significant figures can also be applied in different mathematical

operations between numbers of different significant figures.
 Like identifying significant figures, we also have rules in solving significant
figures.

RULES IN SOLVING SIGNIFICANT FIGURES

1. When adding or subtracting measured numbers, the answer can have no

more places after the decimal than the LEAST of the measured numbers.

2. When multiplying or dividing, the result can have no more significant figures
than the least significant figure.

23.4 x 14 = 327.6 → 330 Least significant figure

7.895 + 3.4 = 11.295 → 11.3 Least decimal place
0.0945 x 1.47 = 0.138915 → 0.139 Least significant figure
0.005 – 0.0007 = 0.0043 → 0.004 Least decimal place
7.895/ 34 = 0.23220588 → 0.23 Least significant figure

LESSON 1.6 VECTOR AND SCALAR QUANTITIES

 Physical quantities can be described in two forms: (1) vectors and (2)
scalars.

SCALAR QUANTITIES

These are physical quantities that has only a magnitude.

Examples:
Mass, Length, Time, Temperature, Volume, Density

VECTOR QUANTITIES

These are physical quantities that has both magnitude and direction.

Examples:
Position, Displacement, Velocity, Acceleration, Momentum, Force
LESSON 1.7 VECTOR DIAGRAMS

 Vectors can be illustrated in the form of vector diagrams.

 A vector diagram uses arrows to show the direction of the vector with its
length scaled based on its magnitude.
 To best illustrate this, imagine a compass but instead of using North,
South, East, West, we use coordinates to describe the direction of a
certain quantity.
 Generally, we represent the horizontal line (West to East) as the x-axis
and the vertical line (North to South) as the y-axis. This is what we call
the Cartesian coordinate system.
 The Cartesian coordinate system allows us to designate each point into
two numbers in the form (x-coordinate, y-coordinate) across the
Cartesian plane.
 This Cartesian coordinate system can be described in either two-
dimensions or three-dimensions.

Figure 1.1 Cartesian coordinate is not limited only to the x-axis and y-axis. This axis is known as the -z-axis. The x-axis
points out of the page while the +z-axis points into the page. A Cartesian plane is two-dimensional if only two axes are
present (i.e., the x-axis and y-axis, or the z-axis and x-axis). If all three axes are present, on the other hand, the Cartesian
plane is referred to as a three-dimensional (3D) Cartesian plane.
LESSON 1.8 VECTOR ADDITION

 Vector quantities have magnitude and direction and can be represented

with; arrows, sign conventions, and angles and definite directions (N, E,
S, W).
 Every vector has two parts:

 One dimensional vectors can be used a “+” or “-” sign to show direction.
 For example: +50 m/s (east direction), - 45 m (west direction), - 9.8 m/s2
(south direction), +60 N (north direction).
 When adding scalars, direction does not matter so we add or subtract
magnitudes.
50 kg + 23 kg = 73 kg
25 s – 13 s = 12 s
 Adding vectors is more complicated because the direction affects how
the vectors can be combined.
 One-dimensional vectors either in the same or opposite directions.
 If vectors are in the same direction, we add their magnitudes.
 If vectors are in opposite directions, we subtract their magnitudes.
 One dimensional vector diagrams are the easiest ones to solve.
 We refer to vectors that line up with each other as collinear (“together
linear”) vectors.
 The only thing you have to really watch out for is how you touch the
vectors to each other in the diagram.
 To add vectors , the vectors much touch with the head of one (the pointy
tip) touching the tail (nothing there) of the next vector.

EXAMPLE 1: Sketch a diagram that shows how you add the following two
vectors, A and B.

If I wanted to draw B + A instead, it would look like Drawing 3.

EXAMPLE 2: I was planning to walk 4 km East, and then another 6 km East.

 A resultant is the sum total of two or more vectors added. It shows you what
you would get as an end result of the other vectors put together.

 The resultant is just another vector drawn as an arrow.

 The difference is that the resultant touches tail-to-tail and head-to-head.
 This is because the resultant has to start at the beginning (the tail of A)
and finish at the end (the head of B). That's the only way for the resultant to
show that it has the same overall result as the two original vectors.

ADDITION OF TWO-DIMENSIONAL VECTORS

 Addition of two-dimensional vectors requires other methods such as

graphical, mathematical and component method.
 The addition of vectors yields a RESULTANT or R = A + B.
 Vectors that are perpendicular to each other are independent from
each other.

GRAPHICAL ADDITION OF VECTORS

1. Pick an appropriate scale to draw vectors.

2. Draw the first vector (A) to scale.
3. Draw the next vector (B) from the head of the previous vector).
4. Draw the resultant (R) from the Tail of the first vector to the head of the last
vector.
5. Measure the resultant (R), length and direction, and use your scale to give
your answer.

TRIANGLE METHOD OF ADDITION OF VECTORS

1. Use a Vector Diagram to make your triangle.

2. See what kind of triangle you have.
3. If you have right triangle, use:
 Pythagorean Theorem: c2 = a2 + b2
 Tangent Function: tanØ = Opposite/Adjacent = O/A
4. If you do not have right triangle, use:
 Law of Cosines: c2 = a2 + b2 – 2abcos(C)
 Law of Sines: Sin(A)/a = Sin(B)/b = Sin(C)/c

Find the magnitude of the sum of a 15-km displacement and a 25-km displacement
when the angle between them is 135º.
GIVEN: FIND: SOLUTION:
d1 = 15-km c2 = a2 + b2 – 2abcos(c)
d2 = 25-km Rd = ? c = √ a2 + b2 –
Ø = 135º 2abcos(c)
= √(15km)2 + (25km)2 – 2(15)(25)cos(135 º)
= √225 km + 625 km – 750 cos(135)
= √850 km – (-747.07)
= √1597.07 km
c = 39.96 km
 A car is driven 125 km due west, then 65 km due south. What is the magnitude of its
displacement?
GIVEN: FIND: SOLUTION:
d1 = 125-km East
d2 = 65-km South Rd = ? c2 = a 2 + b2
c = √ a2 +
b2
= √ (125 km)2 + (65)2
= √ 27,225 km + 4225
= √ 31,450 km
c = 177.34 km

 However, we may encounter vectors that are not parallel or perpendicular

to each other. So how are we going to get its resultant vector?
 We need to add this vector by using the component method.
 Break the given into their components at their respective x and y
components.
 So, we can find the resultant vector.
 Take note of the following formula below because it will be useful in
solving for the resultant force.
Fx = F cos Ɵ
Fy = F sin Ɵ
RF2 = Fx2 + Fy2

STEPS IN ADDING VECTOR USING COMPONENT METHOD

1. Read and analyze the problem.

2. Identify the given and required.
3. Plot the given vectors in the cartesian plane.
4. Identify the summation of x and y components of the vectors.
5. Create a vector diagram using head-to-tail method.
6. Use Pythagorean Theorem to find Resultant Vector (R).
7. Use trigonometric function to find the reference angle.
8. The final answer should include both the size and direction of the vector.

Let’s say we have a force vector that is 100 N directed to east and another one
that is 150 N directed at 30° above the x-axis. How can we get the resultant
vector and its direction?
GIVEN: FIND:

F1 = 100 N East RF = ?
F2 = 150 N Direction = ?
Ø2 = 30º
 30º
100 N

The resultant force is 230 N with 18º North

East.