10th Grade

Physics
Unit 1
Scientific notation
Standards of length, mass and time
Conversion of units
Significant figures
Uncertainty in measurement
Dimensional analysis
Unit 1

Decimal separator
Is a symbol used to mark the border between the integral
and the fractional parts of a decimal number.

In English speaking countries, it is called decimal point

and represented with a period .
For example, 2.5 can be read as two point five.

In Spanish speaking countries, it is called decimal

comma and represented with a comma ,
For example, 2,5 can be read as dos coma cinco.
Unit 1

Scientific notation
Many quantities in science have very large or very small
values. For example:

Distance from Earth to Proxima Centauri

40 000 000 000 000 000 m
Approximate mass of a bacteria
0.000 000 000 000 001 kg
Age of Universe
500 000 000 000 000 000 s
Duration of nuclear collision
0.000 000 000 000 000 000 000 1 s
Unit 1

Scientific notation
The key to solve this problem is to use powers of 10.

The number of decimal places following the first digit in

the number corresponds to the power to which 10 is
raised, called the exponent of 10.
Unit 1

Scientific notation

In these cases, the number of decimal places to the right

of the decimal point up to and including only the first
nonzero digit equals the value of the (negative) exponent.
Unit 1

Scientific notation
Numbers expressed as some power of 10 multiplied by
another number between 1 and 10 are said to be in
scientific notation.

Distance from Earth to Proxima Centauri would be 4 1016 m

Approximate mass of a bacteria would be 1 10-16 kg
Age of Universe would be 5 1017 s
Duration of nuclear collision would be 1 10-22 s
Unit 1

Scientific notation
Using the ideas expressed above, write the answers to the
following:
Unit 1

Standards of Length, Mass, and Time

To communicate the result of a measurement of a certain
physical quantity, a unit for the quantity must be defined.

In 1960 an international committee agreed on a standard

system of units for the fundamental quantities of science,
called SI (Systme International).

Its units of length, mass, and time are the meter,

kilogram, and second, respectively.
Unit 1

Length
The meter is defined as the distance traveled by light in
vacuum during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 second.
Mass
The kilogram, is defined as the mass of a specific
platinumiridium alloy cylinder kept at the International
Bureau of Weights and Measures at Svres, France.
Time
The second is defined as 9 192 631 700 times the period
of oscillation of radiation from the cesium atom.
Unit 1

Other systems of units

Other systems of units commonly used in physics are:

The cgs, or Gaussian system, in which the units of

length, mass, and time are the centimeter (cm),
gram (g), and second (s)

The U.S. customary system, in which the units of

length, mass, and time are the foot (ft), slug, and
second (s).
Unit 1

Some
Prefixes for
Powers of
Ten
Unit 1
Some Conversion Factors
Unit 1

Conversion of units
Sometimes its necessary to convert units from one
system to another or even on the same system.
Conversion factors are often used to transform units of
the same magnitude, or to calculate the equivalence
between multiples and submultiples of a certain unit.

Using conversion factors and equivalences, convert the

following to the SI:
g cm mg
1.65 12.07 77.5
cm3 min cm 2
Unit 1

Conversion of units
a) A car is traveling at a speed of 38 m/s on an interstate
highway where the speed limit is 75 mi/h. Is the driver
exceeding the speed limit? Justify your answer.

b) A certain car has a fuel efficiency of 25 miles per gallon

(mi/gal). Express this efficiency in kilometers per liter
(km/L).

c) The diameter of a sphere is measured to be 5.36 in. Find (a)

the radius of the sphere in centimeters, (b) the surface area
of the sphere in square centimeters, and (c) the volume of
the sphere in cubic centimeters.
Unit 1

Conversion of units
d) Suppose your hair grows at the rate of 1/32 inch per day.
Find the rate at which it grows in nanometers per second.
Because the distance between atoms in a molecule is on the
order of 0.1 nm, your answer suggests how rapidly atoms
are assembled in this protein synthesis.

e) The base of a pyramid covers an area of 13.0 acres

(1 acre = 43 560 ft2) and has a height of 481 ft. If the
volume of a pyramid is given by the expression V = bh/3,
where b is the area of the base and h is the height, find the
volume of this pyramid in cubic meters.
Unit 1

Conversion of units
f) The speed of light is about 3.003 x 108 m/s. Convert this
figure to miles per hour.

g) A house is 50 ft long and 26 ft wide and has 8-ft high

ceilings. What is the volume of the interior of the house in
cubic meters and in cubic centimeters?
Unit 1

Significant Figures
A simple method, called significant figures, is used to
indicate the approximate number of digits that should be
retained at the end of a calculation. Although that method
is not mathematically rigorous, its easy to apply and
works fairly well.

In general, a significant figure is a reliably known digit

(other than a zero used to locate a decimal point).
Unit 1

Significant Figures Rules

ALL non-zero numbers (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) are
ALWAYS significant.

ALL zeroes between non-zero numbers are ALWAYS

significant.

ALL zeroes which are SIMULTANEOUSLY to the

right of the decimal point AND at the end of the
number are ALWAYS significant.
Unit 1

Significant Figures Rules

How many significant figures are present in the following
numbers?

48 923
3.967
900.06
0.0004
8.1000
501.040
3 000
2 500.
10.0
Unit 1

Significant Figures
ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION:
When adding or subtracting numbers, count the
NUMBER OF DECIMAL PLACES to determine the
number of significant figures. The answer cannot
CONTAIN MORE PLACES AFTER THE DECIMAL
POINT THAN THE SMALLEST NUMBER OF
DECIMAL PLACES in the numbers being added or
subtracted.
Unit 1

Significant Figures
MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION:
When multiplying or dividing numbers, count the
NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT FIGURES. The answer
cannot CONTAIN MORE SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
THAN THE NUMBER BEING MULTIPLIED OR
DIVIDED with the LEAST NUMBER OF
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES.
Unit 1

Uncertainty in Measurement
Physics is a science in which mathematical laws are
tested by experiment. No physical quantity can be
determined with complete accuracy because our senses
are physically limited, even when extended with
microscopes, cyclotrons, and other instruments.

All measurements have uncertainties associated with

them, whether or not they are explicitly stated.
Unit 1

Uncertainty in Measurement
The accuracy of a measurement depends on the
sensitivity of the instrument, the skill of the person
carrying out the measurement, and the number of times
the measurement is repeated.

Suppose that in a laboratory experiment we measure the

length of a cylindrical bar with a measuring tape. Lets
assume that the accuracy to which we can measure a
particular dimension of the bar is 0.1 cm. If the length
of the bar is measured to be 16.3 cm, we can claim only
that it lies somewhere between 16.2 cm and 16.4 cm.
Unit 1

Dimensional Analysis
In physics the word 'dimension' denotes the physical
nature of a quantity. The distance between two points, for
example, can be measured in feet or meters, which are
different ways of expressing the dimension of length.

The symbols used in this section to specify the

dimensions of length, mass, and time are L, M, and T,
respectively. Brackets [ ] will often be used to denote the
dimensions of a physical quantity.
Unit 1

Dimensional Analysis
In physics its often necessary to deal with mathematical
expressions that relate different physical quantities. One
way to analyze such expressions, called dimensional
analysis, makes use of the fact that dimensions can be
treated as algebraic quantities.

EXAMPLE
Show that the expression x = x0 + v0t + at2 is
dimensionally correct, where x and x0 represent
positions, v0 is initial velocity, a is acceleration, and t is a
time interval.