Lesson purpose

Spec statements
1: know and understand the distinction
between base and derived quantities
and their SI units
4: understand the limitations of
physical measurement and apply these
limitations to practical situations
What is a physical
quantity?
 A physical quantity is
anything measurable.
All physical quantities have a
magnitude (size i.e. how
much)
and…………
and…
a unit!
What physical quantities do
you know already?
 In General Physics,

Mass, Length, Time, Area,

Volume, Density…….
 In Describing Motion,

Distance, Speed
Displacement, Velocity,
Acceleration
 In Forces and Motion,

Force, Momentum, Impulse….

 In Pressure

Pressure, Volume,
Temperature, Amount of
Substance….
 In Forces and Energy

Work, Energy,
Kinetic Energy,
Gravitational Potential
Energy, Elastic
Potential Energy
Power,
Efficiency…
 In Thermal Physics

Temperature, Specific Heat

Capacity….
 In Electricity

Amount of Charge, Electric

Current, Potential Difference,
Resistance, Power ….
 In Light

Power of a Lens,
Magnification….
In Atomic and Nuclear Physics

Count Rate….
Except two in the above list,
all are measurable
and have units.
Efficiency and Magnification

are measurable but have no

units.
We take just seven of these
as base quantities
All others come from i.e. are
generated from these base or
fundamental quantities.
 In 1971 world’s scientists
agreed on a common system
of units for those 7 base
quantities. These are….
 These are the SI units.

SI = Systeme Internationale
Base Quantity SI Unit &
Abbreviation
Length metre, m
Time second, s
Mass kilogram, kg
Temperature kelvin, K
Electric current ampere, A
Amount of mole, mol
substance
Luminous candela, cd
Intensity
What are other quantities
called?
Take speed. It’s defined by

speed = distance/time
 Speed = distance/time

The equation is derived from

two base quantities.

So, speed is a derived

quantity.
 Volume of cuboid =

length x width x height

Width and height are also

lengths.
So, volume is a derived
quantity.
 Density = mass/volume

This is derived from a base

quantity, mass and another
derived quantity, volume.
So density is a derived
quantity.
 Any quantity that’s defined in
terms of base or other derived
quantities must then be a
derived quantity.
 Accordingly, a derived
quantity should also have
units.
This is simple. The units come
from the defining equation.
Units of volume =
unit of
(length x length x length)
=mxmxm
= m3
Units of density =

unit of mass/unit of volume

= kg/m 3

= kgm-3
Units of velocity =

unit of displacement/unit of
time

= m/s

= ms-1
Units of acceleration =

units of velocity/units of time

= ms-1/s

= ms -2
Units of force =

= units of mass x units of

acceleration

= kg x ms-2

= kgms-2
This looks unfamiliar as we know that force is
measured in newtons, N
Units of force = kgms-2
This looks unfamiliar as we
know that force is measured
in newtons, N

Is 1 N same as 1 kgms-2 ?

Yes, exactly. The newton is a

derived unit.
Class work

Find the units of pressure in

terms of the base units!
Units of pressure =

= unit of force/ unit of area

= kgms-2/ m2

= kgm-1s-2

Again this looks unfamiliar as we know that

pressure is measured in pascals, Pa. The pascal
 Find the units of ….
1. Energy
2. Force
3. Momentum
4. Acceleration
5. Gravitational field strength

Challenge:
6. Potential difference
7. Current
8. Resistance
It may be an equation you
have never seen!

The resistance force F on a body of

cross-sectional area A moving with
constant speed v in a fluid is given
by F = kAv, where k is a constant.

Find the SI units of k in terms of

base units.
Answer

k = F/Av

Units of k =

= units of force/ (units of area x units of

speed)

= (kgms-2) / (m2 ms-1)

= kgm-2s-1
 The importance of units
• Any quantity that has a unit must be
written with that unit
• A mark is deducted from a question if a
unit is not given
• You will also need to give the unit for
gradient calculations
• The only exception is magnification,
efficiency expressed as a decimal and a
complicated unit from a gradient you
would not normally be expected to know.
The above is an example of
dimensional analysis. It uses
homogeneity in physics equations.
Homogeneity means uniform.

A homogeneous mixture of tea with

sugar will have same sugar
concentration everywhere!
 Homogeneity of Equations

An equation in Physics makes sense

only if the left-hand side (RHS)
quantity and the right-hand side
(LHS) quantity have the same units,
AND the LHS magnitude is the same
as the RHS magnitude.
 Prove that…
1. The units of kinetic energy and
gravitational potential energy are the
same
2. The units for pressure at a surface and
pressure at depth are the same
3. A unit for momentum is a Ns

Challenge
3. The units for power are the same for the
equations, P=I2R and P=V2/R
Now, we in Physics have to deal with very
small and very large quantities.
.
The diameter of an atom is about
0.0000000001 m = 0.1 of one thousand
millionth of a metre,

and the earth to sun distance is just

under 150,000,000,000 m.
It wouldn’t make mathematical sense to
use the metre for either of these. Why?

1. It takes too long to write so many

zeros.
2. It takes too much paper!

We use sub multiples of the metre for

small numbers and multiples for large
numbers.

The advantage of having these is we can

have sensible small numbers, like 5mm,
pico (p) = 10 -12
 pico means million millionth
pico (p) = 10-12

Size of a hydrogen atom is 10-10m

which is 100pm

Pico is popular for expressing an

electrical quantity called capacitance, in
picofarads.

1pF = 1 x 10-12 F

1000 pF = 1 nF
nano (n) = 10 -9
nano means thousand millionth.
You may have heard of
nanotechnology which is about
building machines on the scale
of molecules, a few nanometres
wide.

1 nanometre (nm) = 10-9 m

1000 nm = 1 mm
micro (m) = 10 -6
 micro means millionth.

1 micrometre (mm) = 10-6m

The size of a dust particle is one

micrometre.

The average wavelength of

visible light is 500 nm or 0.5 mm
micro (m) = 10 -6
milli (m) = 10 -3
 milli means thousandth

1 millimetre (mm) = 10-3 m

10 mm = 1 cm
1000 mm = 1m

Remember that 1mm = 1x10-3m

centi (c) = 10 -2
1 centimetre (cm) = 10-2m

100cm = 1 m
1 decimetre (dm) = 10-1 m

= (1/10) m

= 10 cm

1 dm3 = 1000 cm3

This is the same as 1 litre

Chemists use dm3

kilo (k) = 103
 kilo means thousand.

1 kilogram (kg) = 1000 grams

Radius of the Earth is just over

6000 km.
mega (M) = 106
 mega means million

1 megawatt (MW) = 1000 000W

Giga (G) = 109
 Giga means thousand million.

1 Gigawatt (GW) = 1000 000 000 W

Tera (T) = 1012
 1 Tera (T) = 1000 Giga

Average power consumed by the

world’s population is about 16 TW
Now we come to making estimates.

1. Estimate the circumference of a

human head!
1. Circumference = π x diameter

Look around. How big is a head?

I reckon it’s 20cm.

Taking π as 3,

Circumference = 3 x 20
= 60cm
2. Estimate the pressure at the
bottom of pacific ocean, 10 000m
deep.
P = ρgh

= 10 000 x 1100 x 10

= 110 000 000 Pa

= 110 MPa
Now let’s look at how to record
results of experiments at A Level.
Consider an experiment
investigating how the time T for
one oscillation of a simple
pendulum depends on the length L
of the pendulum.
You would take a set of L and T
measurements, right?
Suppose you will take L= 20.0cm,
40.0cm, ... 100/0cm

L = 20.0cm = 0.200m
Firstly, we take a measurement of
0.200m as 0.200 x m .

So, if a length
L = 0.200m, then L/m = 0.200
Quantity/Unit = Pure number
This is how you would record your
results:
 Length, L/m Time for 20 Time for one
oscillations t/s oscillation, T/s

0.000
0.200
0.400
0.600
0.800
1.000

The advantages are

1. No need to repeat writing units
2. It is easier to see you results
3. It is scientifically correct
4. It will gain you more marks
Now suppose you want to extend
the analysis to check if there is a
relation between L and T2.

You extend the table like this:

 Time for 20 Time for
oscillations one
Length, L/m T2/s2
t/s oscillation,
T/s
0.000
0.200
0.400
0.600
0.800
1.000
Same practice for labelling axes in
graphs.
 T/s

DO NOT use brackets

for your unit

The only exception to

this is if you are plotting
log values

0 L/m
 T2/s2

0 L/m
 Check our learning
• Multiple choice questions
 Lesson purpose
Spec statements
5: be able to communicate information
and ideas in appropriate ways using
appropriate terminology
 Lesson purpose
• To recall how to rearrange equations
• To draw a straight-line graph*
• To calculate a gradient*

*A-level style!
 Rules for graphs
1. No pen anywhere near your graph!
Pencil and ruler only
2. Scales (1, 2, 5 or 10 only)
3. Axes (covers more than ½ page in both
directions)
4. Plotted points (no blobs or big crosses
+/- 1mm, half a small square)
5. Units (no brackets)
6. LOBF (balanced)
 Draw a graph
Acceleration /
Mass/kg ms-2
4.2 2.8
8.2 5.2
12.1 7.3
16.0 10.0
20.3 12.0
24.5 14.4
28.2 16.8
32.4 19.3
Draw a graph
 Significant figures
You must only round at the end of a
calculation
You must express you answers to the
same number of significant figures as
the numbers in the question (unless
specified otherwise)
‘show that’ questions must have a
sufficient number of significant figures
such that the value can be proved