Units

With a few exceptions, all physical quantities have

units. Examples:
Mass - kilograms (kg)
Speed - meters per second (m/s)
Pressure - pascals (P)
Energy - joules (J)
Electric Potential - volts (V)
Rather surprisingly, the units of almost all physical
quantities can be expressed as combinations of only
the units for mass, length, and time, i.e., kilograms,
meters, and seconds. A few physical quantities are
pure numbers that have no associated units.
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Standard International Units
Standard International (SI) Units (also known as MKS)
• Length: meter m
• Mass: kilogram kg
• Time: second s
Units for almost all other physical quantities can be constructed from
mass, length, and time, so these are the fundamental units.
Unit Conversions
1 in = 2.54 cm
1 mi = 1.609 km
1 mph = 0.447 m/s
1 cm = 0.3937 in
1 km = 0.621 mi
1 m/s = 2.24 mph
}
English Units
(Used only in USA, Liberia,
and Myanmar)

Note: the English pound unit is a measure of force or weight, not mass.
A kilogram has a weight of 2.2046 pounds at standard gravity.

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 Prefixes

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 Dimensions and Units

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 Some Approximate Magnitudes

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 Scalars and Vectors

Temperature = Scalar Velocity = Vector

Quantity is specified by a single Quantity is specified by
number giving its magnitude. three numbers that give
its magnitude and direction
(or its components in three
perpendicular directions).
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 Properties of Vectors

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 Adding Vectors

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 Subtracting Vectors

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 Combining Vectors

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 Properties of Vectors

Vectors are equal if they

have the same magnitude
and direction.

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 Using the Tip-to-Tail Rule

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 Multiplication by a Scalar

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 Cartesian and Polar
Coordinate Representations

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