PHYS 1701 General Physics I

Lecture Number 1:
Scientific Methods
and
Units of Measurement

Introduction

The Physical Sciences are the fields of

study that investigate how the Universe
functions. In order to perform such
examinations correctly, practitioners in
this line of research must follow a strict
set of tenets for their work to be
meaningful, rigorous, and consistent.
These tenets can be expressed in terms
of six key definitions that are useful in
the description of the Physical Sciences.

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1. Concept: An idea or physical quantity used to analyze nature (e.g. the

notions of space, length, mass, and time).
2. Principle: A very general statement on how Nature functions (e.g. the old
adageswhich are true under certain circumstances and
conditionsNature abhors a vacuum and what goes up, must
come down). We shall learn that there are certain quantities that are
always Conserved, i.e. their values remain constant throughout an
interaction, a property that will help us solve problems.
3. Law: A mathematical relationship between physical quantities (e.g. the
most famous equation in Science, Einsteins formula relating the
energy contained in an object to that bodys mass and the speed of
light, E = mc2).
4. Model: A representation of a physical system consisting of mathematical
relationships, which together attempts to replicate the behavior of
the actual physical system under study and can be used to predict
the reaction of the system to different environments (e.g. Niels
Bohrs model of the Hydrogen atom, which helped to prove the
validity of Quantum Mechanics, and the computer models that
meteorologists use to predict the weather over the course of the
next five days).

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5. Hypothesis: The tentative stages of a model whose validity has not been
confirmed through repeated experiments and/or observations
(e.g. Ptolemys model of the Solar System).
6. Theory:

Hypotheses that have been confirmed through repeated

experiments and / or observations (e.g. Newtons Theory of Gravity
and Einsteins General Theory of Relativity).

We note here that the word theory has different meanings in everyday usage,
where it can mean that one is making a guess at something. However, this is
not the case when the word is used in the scientific community, where it has a
very precise meaning. In Science, a hypothesis is not labeled as a theory
unless it has been validated through repeated experiments and / or observations
following a specific procedure known as the Scientific Method.

Scientific theories are developed using the Scientific Method, which can be
succinctly codified in four steps.

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The Scientific Method

a)

A hypothesis is developed from experimental data, observations, or from

a moment of insight.

b)

A model is then constructed from the hypothesis based on accepted laws

and principles.

c)

The model is subsequently tested via repeated experiments and / or

observations.

d)

If the hypothesis / model is confirmed from repeated experiments and / or

observations, it then becomes a theory.

In science, the word theory does not mean that one does not have proof to
support a hypothesis, as is the typical connotation associated with the word in
common usage. Indeed, in order for a hypothesis to be accepted as a theory, a
scientist must present experimental and / or observational verification.

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A theory is only valid as long as an experiment and / or an observation

does not refute it. It only takes one repeatable experiment or observation
to dethrone an accepted theory. Often in such cases, it is found that the
theory is actually an approximation of a more far-reaching theory.
Such was the case with Newtons Theory of Gravity, which was the accepted
model for Gravitation from the Seventeenth Century to the dawn of the
Twentieth Century, when Einstein proposed his General Theory of Relativity.
It was subsequently determined that Newtons theory was an approximation
of Einsteins, valid for the relatively weak gravitational fields produced by
small bodies like those composing the Solar System.

The revision of theories is a never-ending process in Science. As more

knowledge is gained from experiments and observations, new hypotheses
must be postulated to account for new phenomena while still encompassing
established theories. As was the case with Newtons Theory of Gravity, the
discovery of atomic and nuclear phenomena associated with the fields of
Quantum Electrodynamics and Quantum Chromodynamics led to new models
which supersede Einsteins General Theory of Relativity. Today, physicists are
searching for the so-called Grand Unified Theory, a model that would account
for every phenomenon in the Universe.

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Scientific Analysis
There are two ways that scientists can investigate Nature:
Qualitative AnalysisDescribes the characteristics of a physical system
and its behavior.
Quantitative AnalysisMeasures the properties of a physical system and
how it changes over time.

In order to perform Quantitative Analysis, it was necessary to establish a fixed

set of measurements, or units, that could be used to provide a consistent
basis for all measurements.
Except in the context of abstract Mathematics, numbers are meaningless
without units. For example, if a merchant posts a price tag that simply has the
number 8 written upon it, one does not know whether the item cost $8.00, 8 ,
8 , or 8 . The monetary unit must be specifically stated to avoid any
ambiguity.
This is even more important in the Physical Sciences and
Engineering, where disastrous consequences can occur if there is any
miscommunication about the system of units being employed in a particular
project.

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There are several physical quantities that scientists and engineers typically use,
but we shall just concern ourselves with three of them for now:
Length the distance between two points in space.

Time the period between two events.

Mass a measure of the amount of matter constituting an object.
A note on mass and weight: these two quantities are not the same, but they are
related. The weight of an object is the amount of force that object experiences
due to its mass when it is placed into a gravitational field.
There are two different systems of units that are usually used in science and
engineering:
The most widely used is the Systme International dUnits, which is French
for International System of Units. This is typically abbreviated in texts as SI,
after its French name, or sometimes as MKS, from meter-kilogram-second,
the basic units for distance, mass, and time, respectively. Americans usually
refer to it as the Metric System.
The other system is the so-called English System of Units. This is the system
that is currently in use in the United States and a few small countries around the
World. Unlike the SI, this system is an amalgamation of units gleaned over the
centuries from various countries.
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Length

Time

Mass

Force

SI

meter (m)

second (sec.)

kilogram (kg)

Newton (N)

English

foot (ft)

second (sec.)

slug (sl.)

pound (lb.)

As was mentioned before, mass measures the amount of matter in an object, while weight is
the force experienced by a mass when subjected to a gravitational field. When you step on a
metric scale, you are measuring your mass in kilograms, but when you hop on an EnglishSystem scale, you are determining your weight (i.e. the gravitational force pulling down on
your mass) in pounds. The English System usually deals with the weights of objects
instead of their masses.
The SI system was based on scientific principles. Originally, the meter was intended to be
one-ten-millionth the distance between the North Pole and the Earths Equator along a line
of longitude, but a measuring error was made, so this is not actually the case. SI units of
various scales are simply related to each other by powers of 10, which is the reason that it
has been almost universally adopted in the fields of Physical Science and Engineering. 08

Examples:
10 m = 1 decameter (Dm)
10 Dm = 1 hectometer (Hm)
10 Hm = 1 kilometer (km)
Likewise:
10 millimeters (mm) = 1 centimeter (cm)
10 cm = 1 decimeter (dm)
10 dm = 1 m

Note that using capitalized and lowercase characters is important in metric

abbreviations.
More on units of measurement in a moment, but first we need to explore
Scientific Notation.

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Scientific Notation
Scientists do not like writing a huge number of zeros when they are dealing with very large or very small
numbers, as it wastes space and time. Hence, they employ a shorthand called Scientific Notation.

The basis for Scientific Notation is re-expressing multiples of ten in terms of powers of ten using the
following notation:

10n ,

where n is an integer indicating how many multiples of ten were required to produce a given number.
Examples:

10 = 101
100 = 1010 = 102
1,000 = 101010 = 103

10,000 = 10101010 = 104

100,000 = 1010101010 = 105
1,000,000 = 101010101010 = 106

Another way of determining the integer value is to realize that it is number of zeros between the 1
and the decimal place. Hence,

1,000,000,000 = 109
123 456 789
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Continuing with this, the number 1 would be expressed in powers of ten as

1 = 100 ,
since there are no factors of ten needed to express 1. According to mathematicians, any number
raised to the zeroth power is 1 by definition.
Now what if one wishes to describe smaller members using Scientific Notation? In this case, one
must split a number into factors of 1/10 and a minus sign is placed in front of the exponent.

Examples:

0.1 = 1 = (10)-1 = 10-1 ,

10

0.001 =

1 = 1 = 10-3 ,
1,000 103

0.01 = 1 = 1 = 10-2 ,
100 102

0.0001 =

1 = 1 = 10-4 .
10,000 104

Additionally, one can determine the value of the power by counting the number of zeros to the
right of the decimal point, plus the leading zero to the left, i.e.

0.00001 = 105
1 2345
The negative sign indicates that the number 1 is to the right of the decimal point.

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Metric System Prefixes

As noted previously, the various units in the Metric System are interrelated by powers of ten, which
dovetails nicely with Scientific Notation. Indeed, this structure of the SI is so important that a set of
prefixes have been developed for use with units in the Metric System (Note: these prefixes are never
to be used with the English System of Units).

10n
100
101
102
103
106
109
1012
1015
1018
1021
1024

Number

Prefix

Symbol

One

None

Ten

deca, deka

da, D

Hundred

hecto

h, H

Thousand

kilo

k, K

Million

mega

Billion

giga

Trillion

tera

Quadrillion

peta

Quintillion

exa

Sextillion

zetta

Septillion

yotta

10n
10-1
10-2
10-3
10-6
10-9
10-12
10-15
10-18
10-21
10-24

Number

Prefix

Symbol

Tenth

deci

Hundredth

centi

Thousandth

milli

Millionth

micro

Billionth

nano

Trillionth

pico

Quadrillionth

femto

Quintillionth

atto

Sextillionth

zepto

Septillionth

yocto

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General Scientific Notation

Now we wish to express any number in terms of Scientific Notation in the form

m10n ,
where m is the decimal number remaining after the original number is divided by 10n. This number is
usually restricted to

1.0 m 9.9999...
Examples:

3,142.5 = 3.1425103

0.0125 = 1.2510-2
Here, count the number of places that the decimal point was moved in order to determine the value of
the power and note the direction in which the move occurred to account for the sign of the exponent
(right negative, left positive):

0.000581= 5.8110-4
1234 right negative

7,936,540.01 = 7.93654001106
654 321
left positive
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English Units
The English (or British) System of Units is an amalgamation of many different units, which is why the
relations between the various units denoting a given physical quantity appear to be arbitrary.
Examples:

12 inches (in.) = 1 foot (ft)

3 ft = 1 yard (yd)
5,280 ft = 1 mile (mi.)

To understand why this is the case, we must briefly delve into the history of a few of the popularly used
units in this system. In the Greco-Roman Era, if one wanted to measure the boundaries of a property,
one would hire a pacer to pace out the perimeter.
During this time period, a stride was a unit
of measure equal to the distance from one
heel to the other after a pacer took one step
forward. Likewise, a pace was the distance
covered by a pacer in two steps, and, thus, a
pace was equal to two strides. The Roman
Legions defined a Milia Passuum as 1,000
paces, the origin of our mile.
1 stride

1 pace = 2 strides

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The inch was originally a carpenters measurement, defined as the distance between
the tip of the thumb and the end joint. Obviously, this is only an approximate
quantity, since the size of everyones thumb is different. However, such bio-metric
scales were commonly used in ancient times before evolving into the standard
measurements used in the English System today.
Often, the egos of monarchs defined
the sizes of many of these scales: The
various lengths used for commerce
within a kingdom were set by measurements taken from the
kings body. The yard was the distance from his nose to the
tip of his extended finger. Likewise, a fathom was his arm
span and a foot was determined by the length of his foot.
Wooden rods cut to these lengths would be distributed
throughout the kingdom as standard references. However,
these sizes would change when a new monarch was
crowned, which led to confusion and fraud. Eventually,
these distances were systematically defined.

The amalgamative nature of this system forced the sizes

of the distances to mutually adjust to each other so that a
larger unit would be divisible by a whole number of each
smaller unit. Thus, this is why 1 ft is longer than most
individuals feet, and this is the source of the seemingly
arbitrary numbers relating each unit to the others.

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Temporal Units
As mentioned before, the one set of units that are the same in both the English and Metric Systems are
those used to measure the passage of time. The reason for this is that the units of second, minute,
hour, et cetera are much older than either system, and they were so well established that no one saw a
need to create a new set of units to replace them despite the fact that they are not based on units of ten.

It was the Sumerians who developed the sexagesimal (base-sixty) counting system, which was later
adopted by the Babylonians and then the Assyrians. The Sumerian day and night were each divided
into three watches. Each watch was two Sumerian hours long, so a Sumerian day and night had
twelve hours (the ancient Greeks later doubled this, giving us the modern relation). Each hour was
divided into 60 minutes, and each minute was divided into 60 seconds. The day ended (and a new day
began) at sundown, as in the ancient Hindu and later Semitic calendars. The year had nominally 360
days, and so the heavens were divided into 360. Hence, this is the origin of our daily timekeeping and
the measurement of angles.

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Beginning with the smallest unit of time, the second, the typical units used to measure time are:

1 minute (min.) = 60 seconds (sec.)

1 hour (hr.) = 60 min.
1 standard day (day) = 24 hr.
1 standard year (yr.) = 365 standard days
The designations standard day and standard year are important in the field of Astronomy because
the length of a day and the duration of a year can be different depending on whether they are based on
the apparent movement of the stars or the perceived motion of our Sun across the sky. However, the
standard day and standard year are just the usual lengths of time that have been used by civilizations
for centuries, so in our case, we will simply refer to these as day and year.
Longer periods of time can be expressed in terms of

1 century = 100 yr.

and

1 millennium = 1,000 yr. ,

but these are mainly confined to Geology. Typically, scientists use Scientific Notation when speaking
of long durations measured in years, and they utilize either Scientific Notation or the Metric prefixes
when referring to fractions of a second (e.g. 1 millisecond, 1 nanosecond, et cetera).

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Angular Units
As mentioned before, the Sumerians used a sexagesimal (base-sixty)
counting system, so the relations between the various units used to
measure the passage of time often contain the number sixty. This
also occurs in the case of angular measurements. Since the product
660 = 360 is close to the number of standard days in a standard year
(i.e. 365 standard days), the Sumerians chose this to be equal to the
number of degrees in a full circle, 360, where the unit of degree is
indicated by a small circle written as a superscript following the
numerical value.
The Babylonians sought to subdivide the degree into smaller units following a similar line of logic as
had been employed with the units of time:

1 = 60 arcminutes (arcmin.)
1 arcmin. = 60 arcseconds (arcsec.)
The ancients could conceptualize about subdividing one degree into these very small angles, but owing
to technical limitations due to the lack of precision instruments to measure such tiny angles, it would
be thousands of years before it could be done in practice.

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