Chapter 1
Introduction to Physics
Singgih Dwi Prasetyo, S.T., M.T.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
• Physics and the Laws of Nature
• Units of Length, Mass, and Time
• Dimensional Analysis
• Significant Figures
• Converting Units
• Order-of-Magnitude Calculations
• Scalars and Vectors
• Problem Solving in Physics
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Why Study
Physics?
Physics is the foundation of every science
(astronomy, biology, chemistry…).
Many pieces of technology and/or medical
equipment and procedures are developed with
the help of physicists.
Studying physics will help you develop good
thinking skills, problem solving skills, and give you
the background needed to differentiate between
science and pseudoscience.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Physics: the study of the fundamental laws of nature
•these laws can be expressed as mathematical
equations
•much complexity can arise from relatively simple
laws
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Physics
Speak
Be aware that physicists have their own precise
definitions of some words that are different from
their common English language definitions.
Examples: speed and velocity are no longer
synonyms; acceleration is a change of speed or
direction.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Definition
s:
y mx
b
x is multiplied by the factor m.
The terms mx and b are added
together.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Exampl
e:
x
y a
c
x is multiplied by the factor 1/a or x is divided by
the factor
a. The terms x/a and c are added together.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Percentages
:
Example: You put $10,000 in a CD for one year. The
APY is 3.05%. How much interest does the bank
pay you at the end of the year?
$10,000 1.0305 $10,305
The bank
pays you
$305 in
interest.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Example: You have $5,000 invested in stock XYZ. It
loses 6.4% of its value today. How much is your
investment now worth?
$5,000 0.936
$4,680
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
n
The general rule is to multiply by 100
1
where the (+) is used if the quantity is increasing
and (–) is used if the quantity is decreasing.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Proportions
:
A A is proportional to B. The value
of A is
B directly dependent on the value of
B.
1 A is proportional to 1/B. The value of
AB A is
inversely dependent on the value of
B.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Example: For items at the grocery
store:
cost weight
The more you buy, the more you pay. This
is just the relationship between cost and
weight.
To change from to = we need to know the
proportionality constant.
cost (cost per pound) (weight)
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Example: The area of a A r
circle is 2
.
The area is proportional to the radius Ar
squared. 2
The proportionality constant
is .
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Example: If you have one circle with a radius of 5.0
cm and a second circle with a radius of 3.0 cm, by
what factor is the area of the first circle larger than
the area of the second circle?
The area of a circle is proportional to r2:
A r 2 5
1 1
3 2
A2 r22 cm 2.8
cm 2
The area of the first circle is 2.8 times
larger than the second circle.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
§1.4 Scientific
Notation &
Significant Figures
This is a shorthand way of writing very large
and/or very small numbers.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
1-4 Significant Figures
• accuracy of measurements is limited
•significant figures: the number of digits in a quantity that
are known with certainty
•number of significant figures after multiplication or
division is the number of significant figures in the least-
known quantity
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Example:
A tortoise travels at 2.51 cm/s for 12.23 s. How far does
the tortoise go?
Answer: 2.51 cm/s × 12.23 s = 30.7 cm (three significant
figures)
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Example: The radius of the sun is
700,000 km.
Write as 7.0105
km.
When properly written this
number will be between 1.0 and
10.0
Example: The radius of a hydrogen atom is
0.0000000000529
m. This is more easily written as 5.2910-11 m.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Scientific Notation
•Leading or trailing zeroes can make it hard to
determine number of significant figures: 2500, 0.000036
• Each of these has two significant figures
•Scientific notation writes these as a number from 1-10
multiplied by a power of 10, making the number of
significant figures much clearer:
2500 = 2.5 × 103
0.000036 = 3.6 x 10-5
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Round-off error:
The last digit in a calculated number may vary depending
on how it is calculated, due to rounding off of insignificant
digits
Example:
$2.21 + 8% tax = $2.3868, rounds to $2.39
$1.35 + 8% tax = $1.458, rounds to $1.46
Sum: $2.39 + $1.46 = $3.85
$2.21 + $1.35 = $3.56
$3.56 + 8% tax = $3.84
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Dimensions are basic types of quantities that can
be measured or computed. Examples are length,
time, mass, electric current, and temperature.
A unit is a standard amount of a dimensional
quantity. There is a need for a system of units.
SI units will be used throughout this class.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Units of Length, Mass, and Time
SI units of length (L), mass (M), time (T):
Length: the meter
Was: one ten-millionth of the distance from the North Pole
to the equator
Now: the distance traveled by light in a vacuum in
1/299,792,458 of a second
Mass: the kilogram
One kilogram is the mass of a particular platinum-iridium
cylinder kept at the International Bureau of Weights and
Standards, Sèvres, France.
Time: the second
One second is the time for radiation from a cesium-133
atom to complete 9,192,631,770 oscillation cycles.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
The quantities in this
column are based
on an agreed upon
standard.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
1-2 Units of Length, Mass, and Time
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
1-2 Units of Length, Mass, and Time
= mass of a
proton
(hydrogen atom -
electron)
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
1-2 Units of Length, Mass, and Time
= 63.4 years
(60x60x24x365x63
.4)
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
1-2 Units of Length, Mass, and Time
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
A derived unit is composed of combinations of base
units.
Example: The SI unit of energy is the
joule.
1 joule = 1 kg
m2/sec2
Derived Base
unit units
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
1-5 Converting Units
Converting feet to meters:
1 m = 3.281 ft (this is a conversion
factor) Or: 1 = 1 m / 3.281 ft
316 ft × (1 m / 3.281 ft) = 96.3 m
Note that the units cancel properly – this is the key to
using the conversion factor correctly!
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Units can be freely converted from one to
another. Examples:
12 inches = 1 foot
1 inch = 2.54 cm
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Example: The density of air is 1.3 kg/m3. Change
the units to slugs/ft3.
1 slug = 14.59
kg
1 m = 3.28
feet
3
kg 1slug 1 3
1.3 3 slugs/ft 3
m 14.59 kgm 3.28 feet 2.510
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Dimensional
Analysis
Dimensions are basic types of quantities such as
length [L]; time [T]; or mass [M].
The square brackets
are referring to
dimensions not units.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Dimensional Analysis
•Any valid physical formula must be dimensionally
consistent – each term must have the same dimensions
From the table:
Distance = velocity × time
Velocity = acceleration × time
Energy = mass × (velocity)2
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Example: Estimate the number of times a
human heart beats during its lifetime.
Estimate that a typical heart beats ~60 times per
minute:
75
60 beats
1 minute 601minutes 24 hours 365 days
1 year 1 lifetime
hour 1day
years
2.4 109
beats/lifetime
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Graph
s
Experimenters vary a quantity (the independent
variable) and measure another quantity (the
dependent variable).
Dependent
variable
here
Independent variable
here
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Be sure to label the axes with both the quantity and
its unit. For example:
Positio
n
(meter
s)
Time
(seconds)
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Example: A nurse recorded the values shown in the
table for a patient’s temperature. Plot a graph of
temperature versus time and find (a) the patient’s
temperature at noon, (b) the slope of the graph, and
(c) if you would expect the graph to follow the same
trend over the next 12 hours? Explain.
Time Decimal time Temp (°F)
The given 10:00 AM 10.0 100.00
data: 10:30 AM 10.5 100.45
11:00 AM 11.0 100.90
11:30 AM 11.5 101.35
12:45 PM 12.75 102.48
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
103
102.
5
102
temp
101.
(F)
5
101
100.
5
100 1 1 1 1
0 1 2 3
99.5 time (hours)
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
(a Reading from the graph:
) 101.8 F.
(b slope T1 101.8 F 100.0 F
0.9 F/hour
) T2
t 2 t1 12.0 hr 10.0 hr
(c)
No.
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Scalars and Vectors
Scalar – a numerical value. May be positive or negative.
Examples: temperature, speed, height
Vector – a quantity with both magnitude and direction.
Examples: displacement (e.g., 10 feet north), force,
magnetic field
Important for motion:
- difference between speed and velocity
- difference between distance and displacement
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Problem Solving in Physics
No recipe or plug-and-chug works all the time, but here
are some guidelines:
1. Read the problem carefully
2. Sketch the system
3. Visualize the physical process
4. Strategize
5. Identify appropriate equations
6. Solve the equations
7. Check your answer
8. Explore limits and special cases
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Summary of Chapter 1
•Physics is based on a small number of laws and
principles
•Units of length are meters; of mass, kilograms; and of
time, seconds
•All terms in an equation must have the same
dimensions
•The result of a calculation should have only as many
significant figures as the least accurate
measurement used in it
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
Summary of Chapter 1
•Convert one unit to another by multiplying by
their ratio
•Order-of-magnitude calculations are designed to be
accurate within a power of 10
•Scalars are numbers; vectors have both magnitude
and direction
•Problem solving: read, sketch, visualize, strategize,
identify equations, solve, check, explore limits
Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.
