Topics in the Chapter
• Physical Quantity
• Fundamental and Derived Units
→ Dimensions of a Physical Quantity
• Important Dimensions of Complete Physics
• Application of Dimensional Analysis
→ Limitations of Dimensional Analysis
• Significant Figures
• Rounding off
• Significant Figures in Calculation
• Order of Magnitude
• Errors of Measurement
• Propagation of Errors
Physical Quantity
→ A quantity which can be measured and expressed in form of laws is called a physical
quantity.
Physical quantity (Q) = Magnitude × Unit = n × u
where,
n = numerical value
u = unit.
As the unit(u) changes, the magnitude (n) will also change but product ‘nu’ will remain
same.
i.e. nu = constant, or n1u1 = n2u2 = constant
Fundamental and Derived Units
Any unit of mass, length and time in mechanics is called a fundamental, absolute or
base unit. Other units which can be expressed in terms of fundamental units, are called
derived units.
System of units:
A complete set of units, both fundamental and derived for all kinds of physical
quantities is called system of units.
There are four systems of units. We only have to study the S.I. system.
(1) CGS system
(2) MKS system
(3) FPS system.
(4) S.I. system
S.I. System
It is known as International system of units. There are seven fundamental quantities in
this system.
Dimensions of a Physical Quantity
When a derived quantity is expressed in terms of fundamental quantities, it is written as
a product of different powers of the fundamental quantities.
The powers to which fundamental quantities must be raised in order to express the
given physical quantity are called derived quantities
Mechanics
Heat
Quantities Having Same Dimensions
Application of Dimensional Analysis.
(i) To find the unit of a physical quantity in a given system of units.
(ii) To find dimensions of physical constant or coefficients.
(iii) To convert a physical quantity from one system to the other.
(iv) To check the dimensional correctness of a given physical relation: This is based on
the ‘principle of homogeneity’. According to this principle the dimensions of each term
on both sides of an equation must be the same.
(v) To derive new relations.
Limitations of Dimensional Analysis.
(i) If dimensions are given, physical quantity may not be unique.
(ii) Numerical constant having no dimensions cannot be deduced by the methods of
dimensions.
(iii) The method of dimensions can not be used to derive relations other than product of
power functions.
For example,
s = ut + (1/2) at2 or y = a sin ωt
(iv) The method of dimensions cannot be applied to derive formula consist of more than
3 physical quantities.
Significant Figures
Significant figures in the measured value of a physical quantity tell the number of digits
in which we have confidence.
Larger the number of significant figures obtained in a measurement, greater is the
accuracy of
the measurement. The reverse is also true.
The following rules are observed in counting the number of significant figures in a given
measured quantity.
(i) All non-zero digits are significant.
(ii) A zero becomes significant figure if it appears between two non-zero digits.
(iii) Leading zeros or the zeros placed to the left of the number are never significant.
Example:
0.543 has three significant figures.
0.006 has one signifi cant fi gures.
(iv) Trailing zeros or the zeros placed to the right of the number are significant.
Example:
4.330 has four significant figures.
343.000 has six significant figures.
(v) In exponential notation, the numerical portion gives the number of significant
figures.
Example:
1.32 × 10-2 has three significant figures.
Rounding Off
(1) If the digit to be dropped is less than 5, then the preceding digit is left unchanged.
Example:
x = 7.82 is rounded off to 7.8,
again x = 3.94 rounded off to 3.9.
(2) If the digit to be dropped is more than 5, then the preceding digit is raised by one.
Example:
x = 6.87 is rounded off to 6.9, again x = 12.78 is rounded off to 12.8.
(3) If the digit to be dropped is 5 followed by digits other than zero, then the preceding
digit is raised by one.
Example:
x = 16.351 is rounded off to 16.4, again x = 6.758 is rounded off to 6.8.
(4) If digit to be dropped is 5 or 5 followed by zeros, then preceding digit is left
unchanged, if it is even.
Example:
x = 3.250 becomes 3.2 on rounding off, again x = 12.650 becomes 12.6 on rounding off.
(5) If digit to be dropped is 5 or 5 followed by zeros, then the preceding digit is raised by
one, if it is odd.
Example:
x = 3.750 is rounded off to 3.8, again x = 16.150 is rounded off to 16.2.
Significant Figures in Calculation
The following two rules should be followed to obtain the proper number of significant
figures in any calculation.
(i) The result of an addition or subtraction in the number having different precisions
should be reported to the same number of decimal places as are present in the number
having the least number of decimal places
