Chapter 1

Measurement
1.1 Measuring things
1.2 The international system of units
1.3 Changing units
1.4 Length
1.5 Time
1.6 Mass
1
- In physics we carry out experiments in which we
measure physical parameters. We then try to deduce the
relationship between the measured quantities.
- We usually express this relationship in the form of a
mathematical equation, which we call the physical law,
that describes the phenomenon under study.
- Afamiliar example is Ohms law.
1.1 Measuring things
2
Constant
V
R
I
= =
- For every physical parameter we will need the
appropriate units, i.e. a standard by which we carry out
the measurement by comparison to the standard.
- Example of base quantities:
1.2 The international system of units
3
Quantity Unit Unit abbreviation
Length meter m
Time second s
Mass kilogram kg
Electric current ampere A
Temperature kelvin K
Amount of substance mole mol
Luminous intensity candela cd
4
- Example of derived quantities:
Quantity Unit Unit abbreviation
speed meter per second m/s
force newton N kg.m/s
2
power watt W kg.m
2
/s
3
- Two methods of simplifying the expression of very large
and very small quantities.
1) Use of scientific notation, powers of 10
Examples: 238 000 000 = 2.38 x 10
8
0.000 000 736 = 7.36 x 10
-7
5
2) Using prefix
Factor Prefix Symbol Factor Prefix Symbol
10
12
tera - T 10
-3
milli - m
10
9
giga - G 10
-6
micro -
10
6
mega - M 10
-9
nano - n
10
3
kilo - k 10
-12
pico - p
10
-1
deci - d 10
-15
femto - f
10
-2
centi - c 10
-18
atto - a
- Quite often we have to change the units of a physical
parameter. To do that, we must have the conversion factor
between one unit and the other.
- For example: 1 in. = 2.54 cm
1 = 2.54 cm/in. (conversion factor)
3.3 in. = 3.3 in. x 2.54 cm/in.
= 8.4 cm
1.3 Changing units
6
1.4 Length
- For practical reasons the meter was later defined as the
distance between two fine lines on a standard meter bar
made of platinum-iridium.
- Since 1983 the meter is defined as the length traveled
by light in vacuum during the time interval of
1/299792458 of a second. The reason why this
definition was adapted was that the measurement of the
speed of light had become extremely precise.
7
- In 1792 the meter was defined to
be one ten-millionth of the
distance from the north pole to the
equator.
A
C
B
Earth
Equator
- Initially the second was defined as follows:
- The problem with this definition is that the length of the
day is not constant as shown in the figure.
1.5 Time
8
1
1 second
24 60 60
of the time it takes the Earth
to complete a full rotation
about its axis.

9
- For this reason, since 1967 the second is defined as the
time taken by 9192631770 light oscillations of a
particular wavelength emitted by a cesium-133 atom.
This definition is so precise that it would take two
cesium clocks 6000 years before their readings would
differ by more than 1 second.
1.6 Mass
- The SI standard of mass is a platinum-
iridium cylinder shown in the figure. The
cylinder is kept at the International Bureau
of Weights and Measures near Paris and
assigned a mass of 1 kilogram. Accurate
copies have been sent to other countries.
10
Second mass standard
Precision of comparison is higher if masses of atom is
compared with each other.
carbon 12 atom, a mass of 12 atomic mass units (u).
1 u = 1.6605402 X 10
-27
kg
Earth is approximately a sphere of radius 6.37 10
6
m. What are
(a)its circumference in kilometers?
(b)its surface area in square kilometers?
(c)its volume in cubic kilometers?
( )( )
6 3 3
6.37 10 m 10 km m 6.37 10 km, R

= =
3 4
2 2 (6.37 10 km) 4.00 10 km. s R t t = = =
( )
2
2 3 8 2
4 4 6.37 10 km 5.10 10 km . A R = t = t =
( )
3
3 3 12 3
4 4
6.37 10 km 1.08 10 km .
3 3
V R
t t
= = =
(a) Expressing the radius of the Earth as
its circumference is
(b) The surface area of Earth is
(c) The volume of Earth is
Sample Problem 1:
11
12
The fastest growing plant on record is a Hesperoyucca whipplei that
grew 3.7 m in 14 days. What was its growth rate in micrometers per
second?
Sample Problem 2:
Sample Problem 3:
(a)Assuming that water has a density of exactly 1 g/cm
3
, find the
mass of one cubic meter of water in kilograms.
(b)Suppose that it takes 10.0 h to drain a container of 5700 m
3
of
water. What is the mass flow rate in kilograms per second, of
water from the container?
=
m
V
(a) We introduce the notion of density:
3 3
3 3 3
3 6 3
1 g 10 kg cm
1 g cm 1 10 kg m .
cm g 10 m

| | | |
| |
= =
| | |
\ .
\ . \ .
Thus, the mass of a cubic meter of water is 1000 kg.
( ) ( )
3 3 3 6
5700 m 1 10 kg m 5.70 10 kg. M = =
(b) We divide the mass of the water by the time taken to drain it.
The mass is found from M = rV (the product of the volume of water and its
density):
The time is t = (10h)(3600 s/h) = 3.6 10
4
s, so the mass flow rate R is
Sample Problem 4:
Earth has a mass of 5.98 10
24
kg. The average mass of the atom
that make up Earth is 40 u. How many atoms are there in Earth?
13
(1 u = 1.661 10
-27
kg)