What is Physics? • Physical quantities, units and unit standards • Dimensions and dimensional analysis • Measurement and uncertainty; significant figures • Coordinate systems • Solving physics problems: A basic algebra refresher Chapter 1 Introduction A primer of scientific method Physics represents reality using physical quantities Physical quantities reproduce the coherence of reality To confirm its hypotheses, Physics must measure quantities To express itself, Physics uses math as a language in which physical quantities are words and its grammar reproduce the clockwork of reality
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What is Physics?
• Physical quantities, units and
unit standards
• Dimensions and dimensional
analysis
• Measurement and uncertainty;
significant figures
• Coordinate systems
• Solving physics problems: A
basic algebra refresher
Chapter 1
Introduction
A primer of scientific method
Physics represents reality using
physical quantities
Physical quantities reproduce the
coherence of reality
To confirm its hypotheses, Physics
must measure quantities
To express itself, Physics uses math
as a language in which physical
quantities are words and its grammar
reproduce the clockwork of reality
SCIENCE is the activity for acquiring and organizing knowledge based on the
scientific method. Both in its physical and social forms, it employs systematically:
What is Physics? – The Conditions of Science
Observations: important first step towards formulating a scientific theory. Scientific
observations require educated simplifications of the observed reality meant to focus
on what is important given the goals of the scientific endeavor
Theories: formulated as hypotheses to explain observations and to conceptualize
various instances of nature. A scientific theory must be:
• capable to make predictions
• falsifiable
• always perfectible
Experiments: Systematic and intelligent tests resulting into data which will tell if the
theoretical predication is valid within the limits set by the experimental setup. Then
the cycle goes on.
What is Physics? – Branches of Classical Physics
PHYSICS is the is the fundamental physical science:
Mechanics – the study of motion of physical bodies in its causal emergence. This is
our focus in PHYS 107
Thermodynamics – the balance of heat, work and internal energy of an object
Electricity and Magnetism – the study of the effects of the presence and motion of
electric charges
Optics – behavior and properties of light and its interaction with matter
Quantum and Relativistic Mechanics, and applications such as Nuclear,
Molecular, Solid State Physics, etc. Classical mechanics is just the
macroscopic limit of quantum mechanics, and the small speed limit of
relativistic mechanics
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What is Physics? – Structure of Matter
• Matter is made up of molecules
Molecules are made up of atoms
Atoms are made up of
1. Nucleons:
- protons, positively charged, “heavy”
- neutrons, no charge, about same mass as protons
- Nucleons are made up of quarks
Quarks may also have a structure
2. Electrons:
- negatively charges, “light”
- fundamental particle, no structure
• As the substance is probed deeper and
deeper, the matter obeys the laws of
quantum mechanics – a generalized
mechanics which at “macro” scales
becomes the Newtonian mechanics we’ll
be studying for most of this semester
Physical Quantities – Basic vs Derived
• Physics is an experimental science, that is, any of its statement must be verifiable
via an organized test upon nature.
• During an experiment one measures physical quantities
Ex: mass, length, time, temperature, current, etc.
• The physical quantities describe an objective reality
• Some quantities are considered as basic physical quantities: for instance, in
mechanics
are considered basic since the other physical quantities are derived from them
Ex: velocity, acceleration, energy, momentum, etc.
• Consequently, the units for the derivable quantities can be expressed in units of
length, mass and time
But what are “units”?
Quantity Notation
Length 𝐿, 𝑙
Mass 𝑀,𝑚
Time 𝑇, 𝑡
Quiz 1: Basic quantities: Why
do you think these particular
quantities are fundamental in the
material universe?
Units – Standards
• Any measurement makes necessary a standardized system of units.
Ex: kilograms, slugs, meters, inches, seconds, hours etc.
• Defining units allows a consistent way of providing numerical values for physical
quantities measured in an experiment
• The unit standardization is just a convention agreed upon by some authority.
• Examples of unit standards:
Système International (SI) (International System)
Gaussian System (cgs)
British System
In our course we shall be working
exclusively in the SI (MKS) system,
where the basic units are tabulated
as following:
Quantity Unit Notation
Length meter 𝐿 𝑆𝐼 → m
Mass kilogram 𝑀 𝑆𝐼 → kg
Time second 𝑇 𝑆𝐼 → s
Quantity Unit Standard
Length [L] Meter, m Length of the path traveled by light in 1/299,792,458 second.
Time [T] Second, s Time required for 9,192,631,770 periods of radiation emitted by
cesium atoms
Mass [M] Kilogram,
kg
Formerly: platinum cylinder (International Prototype IPK) kept
in the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, Paris
Currently (2019): The kilogram will be related to a fixed value
for Planck's constant h, a fundamental quantity of quantum
physics. It will be measured using an electromagnetic Kibble
balance
Units – Definitions of basic units
Système International - SI
Old SI New SI Comments:
• When using the inexorably changing
International Prototype, the integrity
of the SI system was affected
• The system of unit dependencies was
reformatted in the new system such
that the kg-definition depends on the
definition of length and time units
• Other unit systems can have significant, albeit local, importance:
Ex: cgs units are
𝐿 : centimeters (cm)
𝑀 : grams (g)
[T]: seconds (s)
British system has force (weight) instead of mass as one of its basic quantities:
[L]: feet (ft)
force: pounds (lb)
[T]: seconds (s)
• Since units are conventional, they can be easily converted using conversion factors
Units – Comments
Ex: 6.00 meters ~ 6.00 meters foot
3.28 meter
19.7 feet
Ex: micro → 10-6, mili → 10-3,
kilo → 103, mega → 106
• However, conversion should be performed consistently, such that all quantities
involved in an operation are specified by numbers with the same units
• When a certain quantity is very large or very small in direct SI units, it is
customary to use powers and ten and corresponding prefixes
Dimensions – Dimensional Analysis
• The dimension of a quantity is a characteristic of its physical nature, and is given by
the basic quantities that make it up; can be written using square brackets
Ex: Speed = distance / time
Dimensions of speed: [v] = [L]/[T]
• Quantities that are being added or subtracted must have the same dimensions
• Any physical equation must always be dimensionally consistent (i.e. all added terms
must have the same dimension)
• A quantity calculated as the solution to a problem should have the correct
dimensions. This can be used to verify the necessary (but not sufficient) validity of a
certain result
Quiz 2: Dimension of derived quantity: The mass density of an object is defined as the
mass of the object (quantity of substance) per the stretch of space occupied by the substance.
For instance, volume density ρ rho) of an object is given by 𝜌 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒
Which of the following represents the dimension of this density in terms of basic quantities?
a) kilograms/meters
b) mass/meters cubed
c) mass/length cubed
d) weight/length cubed
Problem:
1. Dimensional analysis: A student solves a physics problem trying to find the speed of an
object. She winds up with the speed, v, of the object given by equation
where t is time. Her teacher tells her that the equation is correct dimensionally.
a) What are the dimensions of the quantities A and B? What are their respective units? Can
you dare to suggest what could be the physical nature of these quantities?
b) Has the student solved the problem correctly?
2Av Bt
t
Measurement and Uncertainty – Significant Figures
• No measurement is exact; there is always some uncertainty due
to limited instrument accuracy and difficulty reading results
• Every measuring tool is associated with an uncertainty which
can be used to specify the instrument’s accuracy
Ex: The width of a plank cannot be measured to better than a 1 mm both
due to the roughness of the edge and the accuracy of the instrument used
• The uncertainty can be indicated using the number of significant figures: the
reliably known digits in a number directly or indirectly measured
• Then, one knows the uncertainty in the physical quantities given numerically
Ex: 23.21 cm = 2.321×10-1 m has 4 significant figures
0.062 cm = 6.2×10-4 m has 2 significant figures (the initial zeroes don’t count)
Ex: Mass = 148 kg (3 s.f.) Uncertainty ≈ ± 1 kg
(mass between 147 and 149 kg)
Speed = 2.2 m/s (2 s.f.) Uncertainty ≈ ± 0.1 m/s
(speed between 2.1 and 2.3 m/s)
• Writing out the numbers in scientific
notation helps delineate the correct
number of significant figures:
Measurement and Uncertainty – Derived values
• N.B calculators will not give you the right number of significant figures; they
usually give too many but sometimes give too few (especially if there are trailing
zeroes after a decimal point)
• Results of products or divisions retain the uncertainty of the least certain term
• Results of summations or subtractions retain the least number of decimal figures
• Numeric integer or fractional coefficients in equations have no uncertainty.
Ex: 255 × 2.5 = 640 Uncertainty ≈ ± 10
7.68 + 5.2 = 12.9 Uncertainty ≈ ± 0.01
Ex: A calculator will provide wrong significant
figures for the result of operations such as
2.0 / 3.0 or 2.5 × 3.2
Quiz 3: What should be the answers with the correct
number of significant figures in the two cases ?
• The motion of an object can be seen as the change of the object’s location in space
• In order to quantify the “location” we need a reference frame: a coordinate system
• A coordinate system (SC) structures out the space by introducing:
1. a reference point (origin) considered fixed,
2. a set of mutually perpendicular directions (axes) labeled and scaled
• Then the location of a point in space is given by a number of coordinates equal to
the number of directions, or the dimension of the space of interest:
• We employ the SC based on the geometry of the problem we have to analyze
• For instance, for a one-dimensional space (a line) one axis is sufficient:
Coordinate Systems – One-Dimensional
-10 -5 5 10
P (x = 9) Q (x = -7)
Negative x Positive x
7 units in negative
x-direction
9 units in positive
x-direction
• For a two-dimensional space (a plane) we need two parameters to describe a
location. Two popular types of coordinates are:
Coordinate System – Two-Dimensional
3 units
5 units
P (11,49o)
y
x
r
θ x
y
2 2r x y 1tany
x
b) polar coordinates (r,θ): useful in
rotational motions.
a) rectangular coordinates (x,y) (or
Cartesian): useful in linear motions
Quiz 3: What are the Cartesian
coordinates of point N?
N
Problems:
2. Rectangular Coordinates: Two points in a rectangular coordinate system have the
coordinates 𝑥1, 𝑦1 and 𝑥2, 𝑦2 .
a) Determine the distance between these points in terms of the coordinates
b) Use as an example points P and Q on the left frame of the previous slide.
3. Polar Coordinates: A toy car moves around a loop, as
in the figure.
a) What are the polar coordinates (𝑟, 𝜃) of the car in
points A and B?
b) What are the Cartesian coordinates of the car in an
arbitrary point (𝑟, 𝜃) in terms of the respective polar
coordinates?
𝑟
Mathematical refresher – Mind your language…
• The idiom of this physics course will be a mixture of natural language and algebraic
formalism requiring a certain attention. So, treat your algebra with the same respect that you
offer to your everyday parlance. Here is an indispensable albeit incomplete list of
requirements:
• Try to use symbols consistently throughout your solution, and avoid using the same symbol
for different quantities in the same argument
• Adapt the generic equations to the language of the problem and always show symbolic
expressions before feeding in the numbers
Ex: 𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎 is a generic formula for force. If in a problem two masses 𝑚1,2 are acted by