Lecture 1.

Introduction to Physics and Measurement

Fields of Physics.
Physics is a body of knowledge that deals with matter and energy.

Traditionally, it has been divided into several branches:

Mechanics and properties of matter. The branch the deals primarily with the
motion of bodies, the concept of force and its effect on the motion and shape of bodies.
Properties of solids, liquids, and gases are also taken up in this branch.
 Sound and wave motion. It deals with the study of transfer of energy by means of
periodic disturbances through various media.

Heat and thermodynamics. The branch of physics that deals with thermal
expansion, heat capacities of substances, change of state, and heat transfer.
Thermodynamics is precisely concerned with the relationship between heat and work.
 Electricity and magnetism. It deals with the concept of electric charges, the
concept of electric and magnetic fields and their interaction.

Optics. It is concerned with the fundamental concepts of electromagnetic waves,

absorption and transmission of light, and the phenomena of reflection, refraction,
interference, diffraction, and polarization.
 Modern physics. It deals with the study of the atom and the nucleus, and related
phenomena like radioactivity, X rays, nuclear fission and fusion. This also includes the
study of fundamental particles, lasers, and chain reactions.

Measurement.
Some scientists consider physics as primarily the science of measurement. William
Thomson, a British mathematician and physicist, who later become known as Lord
Kelvin, said that in physical science one knows what he is talking about only when he
can measure and express it in numbers. Concepts and mental constructs in physics like
acceleration, force, mass, momentum, energy, electromagnetic field, and electric dipoles
are quantities which can be measured directly or indirectly.
 Direct Method. Example, measuring the edge of the table.

Indirect Method. Example, finding the area of the table.

Fundamental Quantities.
All physical quantities which will be encountered in the study of mechanics can
be reduced to three fundamental quantities: length, mass, and time. These three are the
simplest type of quantities and cannot be reduced further, hence, the word fundamental.
They are not defined in terms of other quantities. All other quantities, examples of which
are area, volume, speed, acceleration, energy and momentum, are derived from the
combination of two or three of the fundamental quantities and therefore known as
derived quantities.
 Units that are assigned to the fundamental quantities are known as fundamental
units. Any unit, then, which is used in the measurement of mass, length, and time is a
fundamental unit. Examples are meter, foot, gram, pound, second, and hour. Any unit
used in measurement of a derived quantity is called a derived unit. Examples of derived
units are square meter, cubic centimeter, meter per second, newton per square meter, and
kilogram per cubic meter.

Length. The distance between two point. The standard unit is meter (m). The
standard meter is the distance between two fine lines in a platinum-iridium alloy bar,
kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sevres near Paris, France.
But in 1983, meter is redefined as the length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum
1
during a time interval of 299,792,458 of a second.

Mass. The amount of matter in a given body. The standard unit of mass is the
kilogram (kg), which is the mass of a platinum block kept at the International Bureau of
Weights and Measures in Sevres near Paris, France. One kilogram is equal to 1,000 times
the mass of 1 cubic centimeter of water at 4°C. More precisely, one kilogram is the mass
of 5.0188 x 1028 atoms of carbon 12 (C12).

Time. The interval between two successive events or phenomenon. The standard
1
unit of time is second, defined as 86,400 of the mean solar day, which is the time taken by
the Earth to make one complete rotation about its own axis. But, in October 1964, the
International Committee on Weights and Measures adopted a new definition of the
second based on the vibrations of cesium atoms, that is, one second equals 9,192,631,770
oscillations of C133 atoms.

Dimensional Analysis.
The three fundamental quantities have dimensions, and for mass, length, and time,
the dimensions can be denoted by M, L, and T, respectively. The derived quantities also
have dimensions which are more complicated than the dimensions of the fundamental
quantities. The study and analysis of the dimensions of derived quantities in terms of M,
L, and T, constitute what is known as dimensional analysis. The dimensions of a given
quantity can be reduced to a combination of the fundamental dimensions. To illustrate
a few:
Area = length x length = L2
Volume = length x length x length = L3
𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ
Velocity = 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 = LT-1
𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦
Acceleration = = LT-2
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠
Density = 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 = ML-3

In any equation in physics, the dimensions for all the terms on both sides of the
equation must be the same. If we have an equation of the form

A+B=C+D

which relates the physical quantities A, B, C, and D, the units should be the same for all
the terms. It is instructive to check the dimensions to verify the validity of the equation
being used. Habitual checking of these dimension is strongly advised; the student will
gain valuable insight into the quantities he is dealing with when he makes such an
analysis.

Example 1. One of the equations for uniformly accelerated motion is

vf = vi + at
which means that the final velocity is equal to the initial velocity plus the product of the
acceleration and the time. We will show that the equation is dimensionally correct.
Substituting the dimensions for the velocities, acceleration, and time, we have:

LT-1 = LT-1 + {LT-2} x T

or LT-1 = LT-1 + LT-1

The last equation shows that all the terms have the dimension of velocity.

One must also see to it that the units he uses in any equation are consistent. In the
example just shown, if the velocities are expressed in meters per second (m/s), then the
acceleration must be expressed in meters per second2 (m/s2) and the time is expressed in
seconds (s). Some quantities encountered in physics are dimensionless; they are pure
numbers representing certain ratios and no units are assigned to them. An example of
dimensionless quantity is the specific gravity of an object, defined as the ratio of the
density of the object to the density of water, that is;
 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑏𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡
Specific gravity = .
𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟

The units in the numerator and denominator cancel each other, making specific
gravity a dimensionless quantity.

Systems of Units.
The fundamental units together with all the derived units form a system of units.
These maybe classified into two general categories: the metric system and the English
system which is also known as the British engineering system. The metric system may
further be classified into the MKS (representing the meter, kilogram, and second) system
and the cgs (representing centimeter, gram, and second) system. Later, the MKS symbol
was improved and expanded to MKSC - the letter C representing coulomb, the
fundamental unit of charge in electricity and magnetism.
Many scientists would rather use the symbol MKSA where the letter A represents
Ampere, the fundamental unit of current. Although, strictly speaking, the electric charge
is a more fundamental quantity than the current, the symbol MKSA is preferred to MKSC
because the current is easier to measure than the charge. The MKSA system, also
considered as the modem metric system, is the International System of Units, and it is
represented by the more accepted symbol SI. It started as an abbreviation of Le Systeme
Internationale d’ Unites, the original name in French. Translated into English, it is the
International Systems of Units. As prescribed by law, which took effect on January 01,
1983, only the SI units will be used in the Philippines for all measurements. The modern
metric system is preferred by those working in the basic sciences. In Physics, it is gaining
a widespread usage mainly because being a decimal system with prefixes, it is easy to
learn and to use. Since both the metric and the English systems are used in the
Philippines, it will take some time before the country can completely convert to the SI
units. Because of this situation, one sometimes has to make troublesome conversions
from one system to another.
Example 2. An object has a density of 80.0 pounds per cubic foot. Express its density in
grams per cubic centimeters.

Solution:
𝑙𝑏 𝑙𝑏 453.6 𝑔 1 𝑓𝑡 3 1 𝑖𝑛 3 𝑔
80.0 3
= 80.0 3
× × { } × { } = 1.28
𝑓𝑡 𝑓𝑡 1 𝑙𝑏 12 𝑖𝑛 2.54 𝑐𝑚 𝑐𝑚3

Scientific Notation.
In some branches of physics, we deal with either very small or very large numbers,
and it is considerable help if we can express these numbers in an abbreviated form. A few
examples are given below.

Velocity of light = 30 000 000 000 cm/s

Mass of the electron = 0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 911 kg
Avogadro's number = 602 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 molecules/mole

These quantities maybe written, in terms of powers of ten, as follows:

Velocity of light = 3 x 1010 cm/s

Mass of the electron = 9.11 x 10-31 kg
Avogadro's number = 6.02 x l023 molecules/mole

This method of writing numbers is known as scientific notation. Besides saving

time, space and mental effort, this method reduces probability of committing errors in
computations.

Example 3. The kinetic energy (KE) of a particle of mass m (in kg) which is moving with
a velocity v (in m/s) is given by:

1
𝐾𝐸 = 𝑚𝑣 2 joules.
2

Find the kinetic energy of an electron which is traveling with a velocity of 1,000 km/s.

Solution:

KE = ½ x (9.11 x 10-31 kg) x (106 m/s)2

= ½ x 9.11 x l0 -31+12 kg . m2/s2
= 4.55x 10-19 joule