Physics-I ( PHY1101)

Lecture 1

Prepared By:
Dr. Khush Bakhat Shamraiz
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AIM

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Physics Lecture 1 || Overview

1. Introduction to Classical
Mechanics
The Nature of Physics

Solving Physics Problems

Main Areas of Physics

2. Space and Time

Standards of Length, Mass and Time

Dimensional Analysis

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 Physics:
The most basic of all sciences!
• Physics: The “Parent” of all sciences!

• Physics = The study of the behavior and of

the structure of matter and energy and of
the interaction between matter and
energy.

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 Physics: General Discussion
• The Goal of Physics (& all of science): To quantitatively
and qualitatively describe the “world around us”.
• Physics IS NOT merely a collection of facts & formulas!

• Physics IS a creative activity!

• Physics Observation Explanation.

• Requires IMAGINATION!!
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 Physics & Its Relation to Other Fields
• The foundation for and is connected to ALL
branches of science and engineering.
• Also useful in everyday life and in MANY professions
– Chemistry
– Life Sciences (Medicine also!!)
– Architecture
– Engineering
– Various technological fields

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 The Nature of Science
• Physics is an EXPERIMENTAL science!
• Experiments & Observations:
– Important first steps toward scientific theory.
– It requires imagination to tell what is important
• Theories:
– Created to explain experiments & observations. Will also
make predictions
• Experiments & Observations:
– Will tell if predictions are accurate.
• No theory can be absolutely verified
– But a theory CAN be proven false!!!
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 Classical Mechanics
Concerned with the motion of objects that are
large relative to atoms and move at speeds
much slower than the speed of light

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 Mechanics

• The science of HOW objects move (behave)

under given forces.

• (Usually) Does not deal with the sources of

forces. Answers the question: “Given the
forces, how do objects move”?

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 “Classical” Mechanics
The mechanics in this course is limited to macroscopic objects
moving at speeds v much, much smaller than the speed of light
c = 3  108 m/s. As long as v << c, our discussion will be valid.

So, we will work

exclusively in the
gray region in the
figure.

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 FYI: The Structure of Physics
SUMMARY: THE STRUCTURE OF PHYSICS
Low Speed High Speed
v << c v<~c
Large size Classical Mechanics Special Relativity
>> atomic size (Newton, Hamilton, (Einstein)
Lagrange)
Small size Quantum Mechanics Relativistic Quantum
< ~ atomic size (Schrodinger, Mechanics
Heisenberg) (Dirac)

Atomic Physics Quantum Field Theory

(Feynman, Schwinger)
Molecular
Physics Quantum Electrodynamics
(Photons, Weak Nuclear Force)
Solid State
Physics Quantum Chromodynamics
(Gluons, Quarks, Leptons
Nuclear & Particle Physics Strong Nuclear Force) 11
 Measurement & Uncertainty.
Significant Figures
No measurement is exact; there is always some uncertainty
due to limited instrument accuracy and difficulty reading
results.

The photograph to the left

illustrates this – it would be
difficult to measure the width of
this 2  4 to better than a
millimeter.

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 Measurement & Uncertainty
• Physics is an EXPERIMENTAL science!
– Finds relations between physical quantities.
– Expresses those relations in the language of
mathematics. (LAWS & THEORIES)
• Experiments are NEVER 100% accurate.
– Always have uncertainty in final result.
• Experimental error.
– Common to state this precision (when known).

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• Consider a simple measurement of the width of a
board. Find 23.2 cm.

• However, measurement is only accurate to 0.1 cm

(estimated).

 Write width as (23.2  0.1) cm

 0.1 cm  Experimental uncertainty
• Percent Uncertainty:
 (0.1/23.2)  100   0.4%

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Significant figures (“sig figs”):
Significant Figures
The number of significant figures is the number of reliably known
digits in a number. It is usually possible to tell the number of
significant figures by the way the number is written:
23.21 cm has 4 significant figures
0.062 cm has 2 significant figures (initial zeroes don’t count)
80 km is ambiguous: it could have 1 or 2 significant figures.
If it has 3, it should be written 80.0 km.

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 Calculations Involving Several Numbers
When multiplying or dividing numbers:
The number of sig figs in the result  the same
number of sig figs as the number used in the
calculation with the fewest sig figs.
When adding or subtracting numbers:
The answer is no more accurate than the least
accurate number used in the calculation.

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• Example:
(Not to scale!)
– Area of board, dimensions 11.3 cm  6.8 cm
– Area = (11.3)  (6.8) = 76.84 cm2
11.3 has 3 sig figs , 6.8 has 2 sig figs
 76.84 has too many sig figs!
– Proper number of sig figs in answer = 2
 Round off 76.84 & keep only 2 sig figs
 Reliable answer for area = 77 cm2

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 Powers of 10
(Scientific Notation)
• Common to express very large or very small numbers using
power of 10 notation.
• Examples:
39,600 = 3.96  104
(moved decimal 4 places to left)

0.0021 = 2.1  10-3

(moved decimal 3 places to right)

PLEASE USE SCIENTIFIC NOTATION!!

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 Powers of 10
(Scientific Notation)
PLEASE USE SCIENTIFIC NOTATION!!
• For example:
• For large numbers, like 39,600, I want to see 3.96
 104 & NOT 39,600!!
• For small numbers, like 0.0021, I want to see 2.1
 10-3 & NOT 0.0021!!
• On the exams, you will lose points if you don’t do this!!

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 Accuracy vs. Precision
• Accuracy is how close a measurement comes
to the accepted (true) value.
• Precision is the repeatability of the
measurement using the same instrument &
getting the same result!
It is possible to be accurate without being
precise and to be precise without being
accurate!

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 Units, Standards, SI System
• All measured physical quantities have units.
• Units are VITAL in physics!!
• In this course (and in most of the modern world) we will
use (almost) exclusively the SI system of units.
SI = “Systéme International” (French)
More commonly called the “MKS system” (meter-
kilogram-second) or more simply, “the metric
system”

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 SI or MKS System
• Defined in terms of standards for length, mass, and time.
• Length unit: Meter (m) (kilometer = km = 1000 m)
– Standard Meter.
Newest definition in terms of speed of light  Length of path traveled by
light in vacuum in (1/299,792,458) of a second!
• Time unit: Second (s)
– Standard Second.
Newest definition  time required for 9,192,631,770 oscillations of
radiation emitted by cesium atoms!
• Mass unit: Kilogram (kg)
– Standard Kilogram
Mass of a specific platinum-iridium alloy cylinder kept at Intl Bureau of
Weights & Measures in France
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 Larger & Smaller Units are
Defined from SI standards by
Powers of 10 & Greek Prefixes
These are the standard SI prefixes for
indicating powers of 10. Many (k, c, m, → __
μ) are familiar; Others (Y, Z, E, h, da, a,
z, y) are rarely used. → __
→ __
→ __

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Typical Lengths (approx.)

→→→

→→→

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Typical Times (approx.)

→→→

→→→

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Typical Masses (approx.)

→→→

→→→

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Units, Standards, and the SI System
We will work (almost)
exclusively in the
SI System,
where the basic units
are kilograms, meters, &
seconds.

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 Other Systems of Units
• CGS (centimeter-gram-second) system
– Centimeter = 0.01 meter
– Gram = 0.001 kilogram
• British (Engineering) System
(foot-pound-second; or
US Customary system)
– “Everyday life” system of units
– Only used by USA & some third
world countries. Rest of world
(including Britain!) uses SI system.
We will not use the British System!
– Conversions exist between the
British & SI systems. We will not use them in this course!
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 Basic & Derived Quantities
• Basic Quantity  Must be defined in terms of a
standard (meter, kilogram, second).

• Derived Quantity  Defined in terms of

combinations of basic quantities
– Unit of speed (v = distance/time) = meter/second = m/s
– Unit of density (ρ = m/V) = kg/m3

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 Units and Equations
• In dealing with equations, remember that the units
must be the same on both sides of an equation
(otherwise, it is not an equation)!
• Example: You go 90 km/hr for 40 minutes. How
far did you go?
– Equation from Ch. 2: x = vt, v = 90 km/hr, t = 40 min.
To use this equation, first convert t to hours:
t = (⅔)hr so,x = (90 km/hr)  [(⅔)hr] = 60 km
The hour unit (hr) has (literally) cancelled out in the
numerator & denominator!
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 Converting Units
• As in the example, units in the numerator & the denominator
can cancel out (as in algebra)
• Illustration: Convert 80 km/hr to m/s
Conversions: 1 km = 1000 m; 1hr = 3600 s

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 Converting Units
• As in the example, units in the numerator & the denominator
can cancel out (as in algebra)
• Illustration: Convert 80 km/hr to m/s
Conversions: 1 km = 1000 m; 1hr = 3600 s
 80 km/hr =
(80 km/hr) (1000 m/km) (1hr/3600 s)
(Cancel units!)
80 km/hr  22 m/s (22.222…m/s)
• Useful conversions:
1 m/s  3.6 km/hr; 1 km/hr  (1/3.6) m/s 32
 Order of Magnitude; Rapid Estimating
• Sometimes, we are interested in only an approximate
value for a quantity. We are interested in obtaining
rough or order of magnitude estimates.

• Order of magnitude estimates: Made by rounding

off all numbers in a calculation to 1 sig fig, along
with power of 10.
– Can be accurate to within a factor of 10 (often better)

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 Example: V = πr d
2

Estimate how much water there

is in a particular lake, which is
roughly circular, about 1 km
across, & you guess it has an
average depth of about 10 m.

• Example: Estimate!

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 Thickness of a page.

Estimate the thickness of

a page of your textbook.
Hint: You don’t need one
of these!

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The End.

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