GRADE 12

Asian Development Foundation College

Tacloban City
S.Y. 2020-2021

GENERAL PHYSICS 1

MODULE 1
UNITS, PHYSICAL QUANTITIES,
MEASUREMENT, GRAPHICAL PRESENTATION,
AND LINEAR FITTING OF DATA

The following are some reminders in using this module:

1. Read the Instruction carefully before doing each task.

2. Observe honesty and Integrity In doing the tasks.

3. Finish the task at hand before proceeding to the next.

4. Return this module to your teacher once you are through with it.

5. If you encounter any difficulty in answering the tasks in this module, do not hesitate
to consult your teacher. Always bear in mind that you are not alone. .

We hope that through this material, you will experience meaningful learning and gain
deep understanding of the relevant competencies.

You can do it!

Prepared by:
Ms. Erica F. Hamtig
 LESSON 1: PHYSICAL QUANTITIES AND CONVERSION OF UNITS

INTRODUCTION
The range of objects and phenomena studied in physics is immense. From the incredibly short
lifetime of a nucleus to the age of the Earth, from the tiny sizes of sub-nuclear particles to the vast
distance to the edges of the known universe, from the force exerted by a jumping flea to the force
between Earth and the Sun, there are enough factors of 10 to challenge the imagination of even the
most experienced scientist. Giving numerical values for physical quantities and equations for
physical principles allows us to understand nature much more deeply than does qualitative
description alone. To comprehend these vast ranges, we must also have accepted units in which to
express them. And we shall find that (even in the potentially mundane discussion of meters,
kilograms, and seconds) a profound simplicity of nature appears—all physical quantities can be
expressed as combinations of only four fundamental physical quantities: length, mass, time, and
electric current.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:
a. Describe physical quantities and enumerate the different units of measurement;
b. Solve measurement problems involving conversion of units
CONTENT
We define a physical quantity either by specifying how it is measured or by stating how it is
calculated from other measurements. For example, we define distance and time by specifying
methods for measuring them, whereas we define average speed by stating that it is calculated as
distance traveled divided by time of travel.
Measurements of physical quantities are expressed in terms of units, which are
standardized values. For example, the length of a race, which is a physical quantity, can be
expressed in units of meters (2000 m) or kilometers (2 km). Without standardized units, it would be
extremely difficult for scientists to express and compare measured values in a meaningful way.
There are two major systems of units used in the world: SI units (also known as the metric
system) and English units (also known as the customary or imperial system). English units
were historically used in nations once ruled by the British Empire and are still widely used in the
United States. Some adopted units of the English system were originally based on parts of the
human body, presumably because you always had these referents with you. The inch, for example,
used the end joint of the thumb for a referent. A foot, naturally, was the length of a foot, and a yard
was the distance from the tip of the nose to the end of the fingers on an arm held straight out. A
cubit was the distance from the end of an elbow to the fingertip, and a fathom was the distance
between the fingertips of two arms held straight out. As you can imagine, there were problems with
these early units because everyone had different-sized body parts. Beginning in the 1300s, the sizes
of the various units were gradually standardized by English kings. Virtually, every other country in
the world now uses SI units as the standard; the metric system is also the standard system agreed
upon by scientists and mathematicians. The acronym “SI” is derived from the French Système
International.
The metric system was established by the French Academy of Sciences in 1791. The academy
created a measurement system that was based on invariable referents in nature, not human body
parts. These referents have been redefined over time to make the standard units more reproducible.
The International System of Units, abbreviated SI, is a modernized version of the metric system.
Today, the SI system has seven base units that define standards for the properties of length,
mass, time, electric current, temperature, amount of substance, and light intensity (Table 1.1).
All units other than the seven basic ones are derived units. Area, volume, and speed, for example,
are all expressed with derived units.

STANDARD UNITS FOR THE METRIC SYSTEM

If you consider all the properties of all the objects and events in your surroundings, the number
seems overwhelming. Yet, close inspection of how properties are measured reveals that some
properties are combinations of other properties. Volume, for example, is described by the three
length measurements of length, width, and height. Area, on the other hand, is described by just the
two length measurements of length and width. Length, however, cannot be defined in simpler terms
of any other property. There are four properties that cannot be described in simpler terms, and all
other properties are combinations of these four. For this reason, they are called the fundamental
properties. A fundamental property cannot be defined in simpler terms other than to describe how
it is measured. These four fundamental properties are (1) length, (2) mass, (3) time, and (4) charge.
Used individually or in combinations, these four properties will describe or measure what you
observe in nature.
LENGTH
The standard unit for length in the metric system is the meter (the symbol or abbreviation is m).
The meter is defined as the distance that light travels in a vacuum during a certain time period,
1/299,792,458 second. The important thing to remember, however, is that the meter is the metric
standard unit for length. A meter is slightly longer than a yard, 39.3 inches. It is approximately the
distance from your left shoulder to the tip of your right hand when your arm is held straight out. Many
doorknobs are about 1 meter above the floor. Think about these distances when you are trying to
visualize a meter length.
MASS
The standard unit for mass in the metric system is the kilogram (kg). The kilogram is defined
as the mass of a certain metal cylinder kept by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures
in France. This is the only standard unit that is still defined in terms of an object. The property of
mass is sometimes confused with the property of weight since they are directly proportional to each
other at a given location on the surface of Earth. They are, however, two completely different
properties and are measured with different units. All objects tend to maintain their state of rest or
straight-line motion, and this property is called “inertia.” The mass of an object is a measure of the
inertia of an object. The weight of the object is a measure of the force of gravity on it. Remember
that weight and mass are not the same property.
TIME
The standard unit for time is the second (s). The second was originally defined as 1/86,400 of
a solar day (1/60 × 1/60 × 1/24). Earth’s spin was found not to be as constant as thought, so this old
definition of one second had to be revised. Adopted in 1967, the new definition is based on a high-
precision device known as an atomic clock. An atomic clock has a referent for a second that is
provided by the characteristic vibrations of the cesium-133 atom. The atomic clock that was built at
the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado, will neither gain nor lose
a second in 20 million years.
METRIC PREFIXES
The metric system uses prefixes to represent larger or smaller amounts by factors of 10. Some
of the more commonly used prefixes, their abbreviations, and their meanings are listed in Table 1.2.
Suppose you wish to measure something smaller than the standard unit of length, the meter. The
meter is subdivided into 10 equal-sized subunits called decimeters. The prefix deci- has a meaning
of “one-tenth of,” and it takes 10 decimeters (dm) to equal the length of 1 meter. For even smaller
measurements, each decimeter is divided into 10 equal-sized subunits called centimeters. It takes
10 centimeters (cm) to equal 1 decimeter and 100 centimeters to equal 1 meter.

When the metric system was established in 1791, the standard unit of mass was defined in terms
of the mass of a certain volume of water. One cubic decimeter (1 d𝑚3 ) of pure water at 4°C was
defined to have a mass of 1 kilogram (kg). This definition was convenient because it created a
relationship between length, mass, and volume. Aa volume of 1,000 c𝑚3 of water has a mass of 1
kg. Since 1 kg is 1,000 g, 1 c𝑚3 of water has a mass of 1 g.
 The volume of 1,000 c𝑚3 also defines a metric unit that is commonly used to measure liquid
volume, the liter (L). For smaller amounts of liquid volume, the milliliter (mL) is used. The relationship
between liquid volume, volume, and mass of water is therefore
1.0 L ⇒ 1.0 d𝑚3 and has a mass of 1.0 kg
or, for smaller amounts,
1.0 mL ⇒ 1.0 c𝑚3 and has a mass of 1.0 g

UNIT CONVERSION AND DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS

It is often necessary to convert from one type of unit to another. For example, if you are reading
a European cookbook, some quantities may be expressed in units of liters and you need to convert
them to cups. Or, perhaps you are reading walking directions from one location to another and you
are interested in how many miles you will be walking. In this case, you will need to convert units of
feet to miles.
Let us consider a simple example of how to convert units. Let us say that we want to convert
80 meters (m) to kilometers (km).
The first thing to do is to list the units that you have and the units that you want to convert to. In
this case, we have units in meters and we want to convert to kilometers.
Next, we need to determine a conversion factor relating meters to kilometers. A conversion
factor is a ratio expressing how many of one unit are equal to another unit. For example, there are
12 inches in 1 foot, 100 centimeters in 1 meter, 60 seconds in 1 minute, and so on. In this case, we
know that there are 1,000 meters in 1 kilometer.
Now we can set up our unit conversion. We will write the units that we have and then multiply
them by the conversion factor so that the units cancel out, as shown:
80 m = ______ km
𝑘𝑚
80 m x 𝑚
1 𝑘𝑚
80 m x = 0.080 km
1000 𝑚

Note that the unwanted m unit cancels, leaving only the desired km unit. You can use this method
to convert between any types of unit.
Another example:
𝑔
A student determines that the density of a certain material is 4.46 c𝑚3. What would be the density of
𝑔
this material in L.

Well, in order to solve this problem you must remember that 1000 c𝑚3 = 1 L. Then follow the same
steps as the previous problem.
𝑔 𝑔
4.46 = ____
c𝑚3 L

4.46 𝑔 c𝑚3
x
c𝑚3 L
 4.46 𝑔 1000 c𝑚3 4460 𝑔 𝑔
x = or 4460
c𝑚3 1 L L L

Here are some examples of conversion factors:

Units of Length
1 kilometers (km) = 1000 1 meters (m) = 100 1 foot (ft) = 12 inches (in)
meters (m) centimeters (cm) = 1000
millimeters (mm)
1 yard (yd) = 3 feet (ft) 1 mile (mi) = 5280 feet (ft) 1 meter (m) = 3.28 feet (ft)
= 1.6 kilometers (km) 1 meter (m) = 1.0936 yard
(yd)
1 yard (yd) = 0.9146 meter 1 centimeter = 0.3937 inch 1 inch = 2.54 centimeters
(m) (in) (cm)
1 yard = 91.46 centimeters
(cm)

Units of Volume
1 liter (L) = 1000 milliliters 1 milliliter (mL) = 1 c𝑚3 1 cubic meter (𝑚3 ) = 1000
1 liter (L) = 1000 cubic 1 cubic inch (𝑖𝑛3 ) = 16.4 Liters (L)
centimeters (c𝑚3 ) cubic centimeters (c𝑚3 )
1 liter (L) = 1.0567 quart
(qt)
Units of Mass
1 kilogram (kg) = 1000 1 gram (g) = 1000 1 metric ton = 1,000,000
grams (g) milligrams (mg) grams (g)
1 kilogram (kg) = 2.205 1 gram (g) = 0.035 ounce 1 metric ton = 2205
pounds (lb) (oz) pounds (lb)
1 pound (lb) = 0.454 kg
1 pound (lb) = 16 ounce
(oz)
LEARNING ACTIVITY # 1
A. Do the following conversions:
1. How many seconds are there in (a) one hour and forty minutes and (b) one day?

2. The mass of a citrus can be as small as 5 x 10−6 kg. What is its mass in (a) grams and (b)
milligrams?

3. How many millimeters is there in (a) 1 centimeter, (b) 1 meters, and (c) 1 kilometers?

4. The distance of the sun is approximately 93,000,000 miles. Express this in kilometers.

5. The thickness of an oil film on water is about 0.0005 cm. Express this in (a) meters, and (b)
inch.

6. How many centimeters are there in (a) 1 foot, (b) 2 meters, and (c) inches?

7. How many liters are there in 62 milliliters of liquid water?

8. A Florence flask has a capacity of 2.5 x 102 ml. (a) What part of a liter is this? (b) How many
grams of water will the flask hold?

9. In a 1220 feet apartment, how many meters are there?

10. How many meters are there in 550 yards?

REFERENCES:
Physical Quantities and Units. Retrieved October 3, 2020 from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/physics/chapter/1-
2-physical-quantities-and-units/.
Tillery, Bill W. Physical science / Bill W. Tillery. — 9th ed. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.