CH 1 PHYSICAL WORLD AND MEASUREMENT

#)Physics is that branch of science which deals with yhe atudy of nature
phenomena. The study of physics has been divided broadly into
optics,Mechanics,heat, sound, properties of
matter,electricity,magnetism,atomic physics,nuclear physics,electronics etc.

#)Basic forces in nature are of four types: Gravitational forces; Electromagnetic

forces; Weak forces and Nuclear forces. Unification of different forces /
domains in nature is a basic quest in Physics.

#)Conservation Laws that we come across in classical physics are :Laws of

conservation of linear momentum ; energy ; angular momentum and charge.

I (b) SYSTEMS OF UNITS

#) THE SI Units of measurement of seven physical quantities are called

fundamental units. They are : metre (m) for length ; kilogram (kg) for mass ;
second (s) for time : ampere (A) for electric current ; kelvin (K) for temperature
, candela (cd) for luminous intensity and mole (mol) for amount of substance.

#) The SI units of measurement of two more quantities are called

supplementary units. They are : radian (rad) for plane angle and steradian (sr)
for solid angle.

#) One metre = 1,650,763.73 wavelengths in vacuum,of radiation

corresponding to orange red light of Krypton-86.

#)One second = 9,192,631,770 periods of a particular radiation from Cesium-

133 atom.

#)The magnitudes of quantities , we deal with in Physics ,vary from very small
(micro ) to very large ( macro ). To express such small/large magnitudes , we
use some metric prefixes.

The most commonly used metric prefixes are deci ( 10-1), centi (10-2 ) ,milli ( 10-
3
), micro (10-6 ), kilo (103) and mega (106).

#) The symbol of unit combined with prefix is considered as the new symbol of
the unit, which can be raised to any power(positive and negative ) without any
bracket. For example,km2 means (103 m)2 =106 m2.
#)Some of the Non SI units in common use are

a) For length/distance

1. Astronomical unit. = 1AU =1.496 * 1011 m

2. Light year = 1ly =9.46 * 1015

3. Parallactic second. = 1 par sec = 3.084* 1016 m =3.26 ly.

4. Micron or micrometer = 1 m = 10-6 m

5. Nanometer. = 1 nm = 10-9 m

6. Angstrom unit. = 1 = 10-10 m

b) For mass

1. Pound. = 1 lb= 0.4536 kg

2. Slug. = 1 slug =14.59 kg

3. Quintal. = 1 q = 100 kg

4. Metric tonne. = 1 t = 1000 kg

5. Atomic mass unit. = 1 amu = 1u= 1.66 * 10-27 kg

C) For time

1. Year, 1 yr = 365.25 days = 3.156 * 107 s

2. Shake. 1 shake= 10-8 s

1 (c) MEASUREMENT OF LENGTH,MASS AND TIME

#)Order of magnitude of a quantity gives us a value nearest to the actual value

of the quantity,in terms of suitable powers of 10.

#) The distance to be measured vary from radius of proton (10-15 m ) to size of

universe (1026 m). Direct methods for the measurement of length involve the
use of (I) a metre scale for distances from 10-3 m to 102 m (ii) a vernier callipers
for distances upto 10-4 m (iii) a screw gauge and a spherometer for distances
upto 10-5 m.
Indirect methods for large distances are Echo method, LASER method,RADAR
method, SONAR method , Triangulation method, Parallex
method,Spectroscopic method etc. For small distances, Avogadro's method and
Rutherford method are used.

#) The masses to be measured vary from mass of electron ( 10-30 kg ) to mass of

Universe (1055 kg ).An inettial balance is used for measuring inertial mass of a
body, and a physical balance is used for measuring gravitational mass of a
body. For measuring weight of a body, we use a spring balance.

Different indirect methods are employed for measuring different ranges of

masses.

#) The time intervals of events vary from time taken by light to cross a distance
of nuclear size (10-22 sec) to age of universe (1017 sec).

#) Any phenomenon that repeats itself serves as a clock. Some of the clocks
developed are electric oscillators, electronics oscillators, solar clock, quartz
crystal clock ; atomic clock. Decay of elementary particles using photographic
emulsions have led to measurement of time intervals ranging from 10-16 s to 10-
24
s.

Radioactive during technique has been used for measuring long time intervals
of the order of 1017 sec.

1(d) DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS

#) In mechanics ,dimensions are given in terms of powers of mass (M) ,length

(L) and time (T). In heat and thermodynamics, power of K ( Kelvin for
temperature) comes in addition to powers of M, L and T . In electricity and
magnetism , dimensions are given in terms of M, L ,T and A (ampere for
current).

#) Note that constants e.g., 1/2 ,e,trigonometrical functions like sin cot ,cos cot
etc. Have no units and no dimensions.

#) Quantities having same dimensions can be added or subtracted from each

other , I.e., length can be added to length only; area can be subtracted from
area only and so in. Thus quantities of different dimensions cannot be added or
subtracted.
#) More than one physical quantity may have the same dimensions. Thus a
physical quantity cannot be uniquely defined from its dimensions only.

#)The three main uses of dimensional analysis are:

a) Conversion of one system of units into another for which we use

b) checking the correctness of a given physical relation.

c) derivation of formulae.

#)Note that mere dimensional correctness of a relation does not ensure its
physical correctness. For example, work and torque have the same dimensions,
but the two are not physically same.

1 (E) ERRORS OF MEASUREMENT

#) Difference between measured value and true value of a quantity represents

error of measurement. The errors are communicated in different mathematical
operations.

#)Significant Figures

In the measured value of a physical quantity, the digits about the correctness of
which we are sure plus the last digit which is doubtful, are called the significant
figures.

#) In any mathematical operations involving addition,subtraction , decimal

places in the result will correspond to lowest number of decimal places in any
of the numbers involved.

#) In a mathematical operation like multiplication and division, number of

significant figures in the product or in the quotient will correspond to the
smallest number of significant figures in any of the numbers involved.

#) Problems with accuracy are due to errors. The precision describes the
limitations of the measuring instrument.