Applied Physics

(for Undergraduates)

Lecture 1: Measurements and Standards

Dr. Nasir M Mirza

Email: nasirmm@yahoo.com
 Text Book
• Text Book is:
• Physics, Vol. 1 (fifth or higher Edition), by
Resnick, Halliday and Krane, Published by John
Wiley.
Physical Quantities, Standards, and Units

• Measurements Used to describe natural phenomena

• Each measurement is associated with a physical quantity;
• Need defined standards of standards for measurements;
• Readily accessible;
• Possess some property that can be measured reliably;
• Must yield the same results when used by anyone anywhere;
• Cannot change with time.
Physical Quantities
• Fundamental Quantities, Length, Time, Mass etc …
• Derived Quantities: speed, force, momentum etc

• International System of Units (SI)

• It is based on seven quantities in SI or metric system
 Some Preliminaries

• Prefixes for magnitudes

• The Greek alphabet

PREFIXES FOR MAGNITUDES

FACTOR PREFIX SYMBOL

101 deka- da
102 hecto- h
103 kilo- k
106 mega- M
109 giga- G
1012 tera- T
1015 peta- P
PREFIXES FOR MAGNITUDES
• Thus we can write the output of a typical electrical power plant,
1.3 x 109 watts, as 1.3 gigawatts or 1.3 GW.
• Similarly, we can write a time interval of the size often
encountered in nuclear physics, 2.35 x 10-09 seconds, as 2.35
nanoseconds or 2.35 ns.
• The kilogram is the only SI base unit that already incorporates
one of the prefixes displayed.
• Thus 103 kg is not expressed as 1 kilo kilogram; instead, 103 kg
= 106 g (mega-gram).
• Also, 1 Mg (mega-gram) is also written as one Ton.
•
PREFIXES FOR MAGNITUDES

FACTOR PREFIX SYMBOL

10-1 deci- d
10-2 centi- c
10-3 milli- m
10-6 micro- 
10-9 nano- n
10-12 pico- p
10-15 femto- f
THE GREEK ALPHABET
THE GREEK ALPHABET

Alpha   Iota   Rho  

Beta   Kappa   Sigma  
Gamma   Lambda   Tau  
Delta   Mu   Upsilon  
Epsilon   Nu   Phi  
Zeta   Xi   Chi  
Eta   Omicron   Psi  
Theta   Pi   Omega  
MAIN CATEGORIES of PHYSICAL VARIABLES

1. BASIC: Length, Time, Mass, Amount, Current, …

2. DERIVED: Speed, acceleration, force, momentum, …

Example: Force is a derived unit. In SI it is Newton and abbreviated as N.
1N = 1kg . M /(s)2
Power in SI is one Watt = 1 N.m/s = 1 kg. (m/s2). (m/s)
One Watt = kg. m2 / (s)3 .

Example: 60 miles per hour be converted into SI units.

1 mile = 1609 m; 1 hour = 60 min = 60 x 60 sec = 3600 sec.
Speed = 60(miles/hr)x1609 (m/miles)x (1/3600) (hr/sec) = 60 x 1609/3600 m/s
Speed = 26.8 m/s [ANSWER}
Table 1: SI Based Units
DIMENSION SI UNIT SI UNIT
NAME NAME SYMBOL
LENGTH L meter m

TIME T second s

MASS M kilogram kg

TEMPERATURE theta kelvin K

ELECTRIC
I ampere A
CURRENT
SYSTEMS OF UNITS

System Length Temp Mass Time

SI or metric m K kg s
cgs cm oC g s
ftp ft oF Ibm s
Length Standard
The meter is the length of a path that is
1 cm  10-2 m traveled by light in a vacuum during a
1 inch  2.54 cm time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a
second.
1 ft = 0.3048 m ;
1 m = 3.281 ft; This is equivalent to saying that
1 yard = 0.9144 m c = 299,792,458 m/s.
1 mile = 1.609 km ;
1 km = 0.6214 mile; MEASUREMENT USED TO DETERMINE THE
LENGTH OF A METER

1 light-year  1016 m
Some Measured Lengths (in meters)

Nucleus 10-15 Blue whale 30

Atom 10-11 Earth diameter 1.3x107

DNA diameter 2x10-9 Sun diameter 1.2x109

Small virus 2x10-8 Earth-Sun distance 1.5x1011

Large bacterium 10-6 Solar system diameter 1013

Eukaryotic cell 10-5 Milky Way diameter 2x1021

Human 1-2 Distance to furthest 1.4x1026

observed galaxies
SOME TYPICAL LENGTHS
Length Meters

Distance of farthest observed quasar 2 x E+26

Distance of Andromedia Galaxy 2 x E+22

Radius of our galaxy 6 x E+19

Distance of nearest Star 4 x E+16

Radius of earth 6 x E+06

Height of Mt Everest 9 x E+03

Height of Person 2 x E+00

Size of Atom (typical) 1 x E-11

Radius of Proton 1 x E-15

 End of Slides
Next Lecture: Standards, Units, and Dimensions

Dr. Nasir M Mirza

Email: nasirmm@yahoo.com
 Applied Physics
(for Undergraduates)

Lecture 2: Standards, Units and Dimensions

Dr. Nasir M Mirza

Email: nasirmm@yahoo.com
TIME
• Quartz crystal clocks based on the electrically
1 min = 60 s sustained periodic vibrations of a quartz crystal
1 hour = 60 min serve well as secondary time standards.
• A quartz clock can be calibrated against the rotating
1 day = 24 hr Earth by astronomical observations and used to
1 year = 365.2422 d measure time in the laboratory.
• Their error is 1 second in 200,000 years,

1 hr = 3,600 s One Second is a duration of

1 d = 86,400 s 9,192,631,770 vibrations of radiation
emitted by a specific isotope of a cesium
yr = 3.156x107 s
atom.

• Cesium clocks housed in satellites form the basis of the Global Positioning
System. Portable cesium clocks the size of a suitcase are commercially
available.
• It is also possible to purchase desk-top clocks or wrist-watches that,
automatically and periodically updated by radio time signals.
 Some Measured Time Intervals (in seconds)

Time Intervals Elapsed Time

Nuclear events 10-23 - Dinosaur extinction
2.0x1015
10-10
Atomic events 10-15 - First multi-cellular
2.4x1016
10-9 organisms
Contraction of muscle Life on Earth
10-1 1.2x1017

Typical bacterial Formation of the Earth

3x103 1.4x1017
generation time
Large mammal lifetime Formation of the
109 4.4x1017
Universe
Mass in SI units
• Mass in SI is expressed as one kg. 1kg = 1000 grams.
• However, On the atomic scale, we have a second standard of mass, which is
not an SI unit.
• It is the mass of the 12C atom, which, by international agreement, has been
assigned an atomic mass of 12 unified atomic mass units (abbreviation u),
exactly and by definition.
• One atomic Mass Unit = 1 u = 1.661 x E-27 kg
• We can find the masses of other atoms to considerable accuracy by using a
mass spectrometer.
• The SI unit is mole = Quantity of Substance
• One mole of C-12 atoms has a mass of exactly 12 grams and contains a
number of atoms numerically equal to the Avogadro constant:
• Number of atoms in One Mole = Avogadro Number = N A
• NA = 6.022 x E+23
Table: Some Measured Masses
Object Mass in kg
Known universe (estimate) 1 x E+53
Our Galaxy 2 x E+43
Sun 2 x E+30
Mass of Earth 6 x E+24
Mass of Moon 7 x E+22
Elephant 4 x E+03
Person (average) 6 x E+01
Speck of dust 7 x E-10
Mass of U atom 4 x E-26
Mass of Electron 9 x E-31
Example: distance in SI units
One light year is the distance traveled by light in one year. Find this in
meters. Find the distance of Proxima Centauri (4 x E+16 m ) in light years.

Solution: One year = 365 (days) x 24 (hr/day) x 60 (min/hr) x 60 (sec/min)

One year = 3.16 x E+07 seconds
Speed of light = c = 3.00 x E+08 m/s
In One year light will travel a distance of
1 light-yr = 3.00 x E+08 (m/s) x (3.16 x E+07 s) = 9.48 x E+15 m
So, One light-year = 9.48 x E+15 m
Then the distance of the nearest star (Proxima Centauri ) is
D = (4.0 x E+16 m) /(9.48 x E+15 m/light-year)
D = 4.2 light-year
Significant Figures
• The significant figures of a number are digits that carry meaning
contributing to its measurement resolution.
• If one measure the thickness of a cardboard with an ordinary ruler,
the measurement is reliable to the nearest millimeter.
• If x = 3m then x lies between 2m and 4 m.
• If x = 3.14159 m then x lies between 3.14158 and 3.14160 m.
• So, Rule1: Count from the left and ignore leading zeros, keep all
the digits to the first doubtful one. When we add and subtract
numbers, it’s the location of the decimal point that matters.
• Example: x = 0.0030 km has 2 significant figures.
• X = 3.0 m means again 2 significant figures.
Rules for Significant Digits
• Rule-I: Count from the left and ignore leading zeros, keep all
the digits to the first doubtful one.
– X = 3 m and X = 0.003 km have the same significant figures
– X = 3 x 102, 3.0 x 102, 3.00 x 102 have one, two and three Significant
Figures
65.4 has three significant digits
4.5300 has five significant figures
.0018=0.0018 = 1.8*10-3 has two significant figures
.001800 = 0.001800 = 1.800*10-3 has four significant figures
When adding or subtracting, the number of significant figures is determined
by the number having the largest uncertainty or least digits to the right of the
decimal point.
27.153 + 138.2 – 11.74 = 153.6
Rules for Significant Digits
The second rule is for division and multiplication:
• Rule II: When multiplying or dividing, the number of significant figures in
the result should be no greater than the significant figures in the least
precise of the factors.
2.3 x 3.14159 = 7.2
9.8 x 1.03 = 10.1
• The result may have no more significant figures than the starting number
with the fewest significant figures:
0.745 x 2.2 / 3.885 = 0.42
1.32578 x 107 x 4.11 x 10-3 = 5.45 x 104
• In an Experiment, we found that Measure values of diameter (2r) and
circumference (2πr) are 135 and 142 mm respectively.
– The True Value of π (pi) to ten digits = 3.141592654
– The ratio = 142 mm/135 mm = 3.140740741 (the incorrect way);
– To three significant digits, it is 3.14 (the correct way).
 Identifying Significant Figures
Concise rules:
• All non-zero digits are significant: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
• Zeros between non-zero digits are significant: 102, 2005, 50009.
• Leading zeros are never significant: 0.02, 1.0887, 51.05.
• In a number with a decimal point, trailing zeros (those to the right of
the last non-zero digit) are significant: 2.02000, 5.400, 57.5400
• In a number without a decimal point, trailing zeros may or may not
be significant.
• More information through additional graphical symbols or explicit
information on errors is needed to clarify the significance of trailing
zeros.
Example: Fractional Uncertainty
You want to weigh your pet cat. At home, you only have an ordinary scale. It is a
digital scale. It can only display your weight in a whole number of pounds. You
determine your own weight to be 119 lbs, and then holding the cat you find your
combined weight to be 128 lbs.
• Question: What is the fractional or percentage uncertainty in your weight
and in the weight of your cat?
• Solution The least significant digit is the unit digit, and so your weight is
uncertain by about 1 pound.
• Your scale would read 119 lb for any weight between 118.5 and 119.5 lb. The
fractional uncertainty is therefore
1 /119 = 0.008, or 0.8% .
• The weight of the cat is 128 lb - 119 lb = 9 lb. However, the uncertainty in
the cat’s weight is still about 1 lb, and so the fractional uncertainty is
1 lb/(128 – 119) lb = 0.11 or 11%.
• This shows a commonly occurring danger in the subtraction of two numbers
that are nearly equal: the relative or percentage uncertainty in the difference
can be very large.
Dimensional Analysis
• Dimensions of a quantity are expressed in terms of
fundamental quantities like Length (L), Mass (M), Mole
(mol), and Time (T) in general.
• For example, dimension of speed is L/T and units are m/s
in SI.
• It is written as: [speed] = [length]/[time] = L/T.
• A useful and powerful procedure called dimensional
analysis can be used to assist in the derivation or to check
the final expression.
• Dimensional analysis makes use of the fact that dimension
can be treated as algebraic quantities.

Systems Area Volume Speed Acceleration

SI or Metric L2 (m2) L3 (m3) L/T (m/s) L/T2 (m/s2)
Dimensional Analysis
• Any equation must be dimensionally consistent; that is, the
dimensions on both sides must be the same.
• Attention to dimensions can often keep you from making
errors in writing equations.
• For example, the distance x covered in a time t by an object
starting from rest and moving to constant acceleration, a, is
x = at2/2.
• Dimensions of x = [x] = L and
• Dimensions of acceleration = [a] = L/T2 and
• Dimensions of time = [t] = T
• and [a][t]2 = L/T2 . T2 = L
• So, the equation is dimensionally consistent as both sides
have dimensions of length.
Dimensional Analysis
Acceleration = a = meter /second (these are units in SI)
Dimension of Length, x = [x] = L (length)
Dimension of Time, t = [t] = T
So, Acceleration = [a] = L/T2 or [a] = L T-2

Example: Centripetal force is proportional to ma vb rc

where, m = mass, v = velocity, r = radius.
In terms of dimensions then,
[force] = [ma vb rc ] =[ ma ]. [vb ] .[rc ]
M. L/T2 = Ma.( Lb / Tb). (Lc) =
M. L. T-2 = Ma. Lb+c . T-b
Then comparing the powers of M, L and T on both sides
For M, a = 1;
For L, b+c=1
For T, b = 2 => c = -1 and then the centripetal force is
F ~ m.v2 / r is the desired answer
Another Example on Dimensions
Given are three fundamental constants in Physics;
• Speed of light = c = 3.00 x E+08 m/s;
• Newton’s Gravitational constant = G = 6.67 x E-11 m3/(s2. kg)
• Plank’s constant = h = 6.63 x E-34 kg. m2/s.
Use dimensional analysis to find the value of Plank Time (tP) which
depends on the above three fundamental constants.
Solution: First the dimensions of these three constants:
• [c] = [m/s] = L/T
• [G] = [m3/(s2. kg)] = L3 . T-2 . M-1
• [h] = [kg. m2/s ] = M. L2. T-1
• Plank’s Time tP depends on these constants as a product (say like
this):
tP ~ ci . Gj . hk
Example (continued):
Now the time is said to depend on three constants: tP ~ ci . Gj . hk
[tP] ~ [ci . Gj . hk ] =
[tP] ~ [ci ]. [Gj ]. [hk ]
[tP] = (L/T)i . (L3 . T-2 . M-1 )j . (M. L2. T-1 )k
T = (L)(i+3j+2k) (T)(-i-2j-k) . (M)(-j+k)
Then equating the powers of L, T, and M on both sides
i + 3j + 2k = 0
- i - 2j – k = 1
-j+k=0
Let us solve these three equations and get the values:
j = ½ ; k = ½ ; i = -5/2 .
Therefore, finally we see tP ~ c-5/2 . G1/2 . h1/2 [ANSWER]
Example (continued):
Let us find the numerical value of this constant as well.
• tP ~ c-5/2 . G1/2 . h1/2 .
• Putting values of these constants we get:
• tP2 = (6.67 x 10-11 m3/s2.kg)x(6.63 10-34 kg.m2/s)/ (3.00 x
108 m/s)5
tP = 1.35 x 10-45 s.
• As commonly defined, the Planck time differs from this
value by a constant factor only. Such dimensionless
factors cannot be found by this technique.
• In a similar fashion, we can also determine the Planck
length and the Planck mass. Both have also very
fundamental interpretations.
 End of Slides

Next Lecture: Motion and Kinematics

Dr. Nasir M Mirza

Email: nasirmm@yahoo.com