Lab Report
Lab Report
Lab Report
Physics is an experimental science in which physicists seek patterns that relate the phenomena of nature.
The patterns are called physical theories. A very well established or widely used theory is called a physical law or
principle.
All of the Problem-Solving Strategies and Examples in this book will follow these four steps:
•Identify the relevant concepts, target variables, and known quantities, as stated or implied in the problem.
• Set Up the problem: Choose the equations that you’ll use to solve the problem, and draw a sketch of the situation.
•Execute the solution: This is where you “do the math.”
•Evaluate your answer: Compare your answer with your estimates, and reconsider things if there’s a discrepancy.
WHY USE UNITS : THIS TABLE IS 1000 LONG ,,, THIS TABLE
UNIT PREFIXES
IS 1 LONG.
• Prefixes can be used to create larger and smaller
units for the fundamental quantities. Some examples
are:
• 1 µm = 10−6 m (size of some bacteria and living
cells)
• 1 km = 103 m (a 10-minute walk)
• 1 mg = 10−6 kg (mass of a grain of salt)
• 1 g = 10−3 kg (mass of a paper clip)
• 1 ns = 10−9 s (time for light to travel 0.3 m)
Unit consistency and conversions
• An equation must be dimensionally consistent. Terms to be added or equated must always have the same units.
(Be sure you’re adding “apples to apples.”)
• Always carry units through calculations.
• Convert to standard units as necessary, by forming a ratio of the same physical quantity in two different units, and
using it as a multiplier.
• For example, to find the number of seconds in 3 min, we write:
EXAMPLE: .
As this train mishap illustrates, even a small percent error can have spectacular results! (AN ACCIDENT)
• Scientific notation or power-of-10 notation 384,000,000 doesn’t indicate significant figures 384,000,000=3.84×108
Three significant figures00
A scalar quantity can be described by a single number. Mass, Length (Vectors and scalars)
• A vector quantity has both a magnitude and a direction in space.
• In this book, a vector quantity is represented in boldface italic type with an arrow over it: .
• The magnitude of is written as A or |A|.
Drawing vectors
• Draw a vector as a line with an arrowhead at its tip.
• The length of the line shows the vector’s magnitude.
• The direction of the line shows the vector’s direction.
Example 1.7
Three players on a reality TV show are brought to the center of a large, flat field. Each is given a meter stick, a
compass, a calculator, a shovel, and (in a different order for each contestant) the following three displacements: A S:
72.4 m, 32.0 east of north B S: 57.3 m, 36.0 south of west C S: 17.8 m due south The three displacements lead to the
point in the field where the keys to a new Porsche are buried. Two players start measuring immediately, but the
winner first calculates where to go. What does she calculate?
Unit vectors
• A unit vector has a magnitude of 1 with no units.
• The unit vector points in the +x-direction, points in the +y-direction, and points in the +z-direction.
• Any vector can be expressed in terms of its components as