LESSON Units and Physical

1 Quantities
WEEK
1

KNOWLEDGE
ENRICHMENT

A. LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
 Solve measurement problems involving conversion of units
 Express measurements in scientific notation

B. INTRODUCTION
“Measurement is the first step that leads to control and eventually to improvement. If you
can't measure something, you can't understand it. If you can't understand it, you can't
control it. If you can't control it, you can't improve it.”, H. James Harrington.
Good day CSTCians! For this module, we will be discussing Physical Quantities, Units and
Measurement. The contents of this module are specialized for Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students. The lectures are explained comprehensively
and concisely for the students to have an easy grasp of the topics, with the Most Essential
Learning Competencies under DepEd as key points.
For this school year, adversities may arise. In the midst of this pandemic, the students'
comprehension and resourcefulness is being boosted into a greater level. To our learners,
please take this subject as a stepping stone towards your dream of becoming a skilled and
kind-hearted professional. Enjoy CSTCians!

C. LESSON PROPER
UNITS
Humans, as rational beings, acquire innate curiosity in which we tend to make
observations and ask basic questions. As we keep an eye on our surroundings,
questions that may arise are: How tall is that building? How much mass does a
typical baby elephant have? How far does a delivery truck travel? To have these
questions answered, various instruments are utilized to make measurements. This
may involve the use of a meter stick, weighing scale, stopwatch, etc.

Every property of a matter is measurable and quantifiable. Measurement of a property

can be carried out with suitable instrument. However, to quantify the measured result, a
“magnitude” along with its “unit” is required to present. The 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
meters (for sprinters) or kilometers (for long distance runners). Without standardized
units, it would be extremely difficult for scientists to express and compare measured
values in a meaningful way.

There two types of units are differentiated in the tabulation:

Fundamental Units Derived Units
Fundamental units are all those units Derived units are all those units which
which are independent of any other unit are obtained by multiplying and/or
(including themselves) dividing one or more fundamental units
Fundamental units cannot be further Derived units can be reduced to its
reduced to elementary level; in fact, elementary level, which are composed
these are elementary units of fundamental units.
Fundamental units cannot be expressed Derived units can be expressed in terms
in terms of derived units. of fundamental units.
Only seven fundamental units exist in There exist a large number of derived
Metric System or SI system. units in Metric System.
Examples of few derived units along
Examples of seven fundamental units,
with corresponding physical properties
their abbreviation and corresponding
are:
physical properties are as follows:
 Velocity (m/s)
 Length (Meter, m)
 Acceleration (m/s2)
 Mass (Kilogram, kg)
 Momentum (kg-m/s)
 Time (Second, s)
 Force (N)
 Temperature (Kelvin, K)
 Density (kg/m3)
 Amount of substance (Mole, mol)
 Heat (J)
 Electric current (Ampere, A)
 Energy (J)
 Luminous intensity (Candela, cd)
 Power (W), etc.

2 MAJOR SYSTEMS OF UNITS

There two main systems of measurement in the world are described as follows:
S.I. Units English Units
 a.k.a. metric system (m, kg)
 a.k.a. customary or imperial system
 is the standard system agreed upon by
(ft, lb)
scientists and mathematicians.
 were historically used in nations once
 derived from French words: Systeme
ruled by British Empire
International
7 FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICAL QUANTITIES

Quantity SI Unit Symbol Description

 defined as 1/10,000,000 of the
1. Length Meter M distance from the equator to the North
Pole
 defined to be the mass of a platinum-
iridium cylinder kept with the old
2. Mass kilogram Kg meter standard at the International
Bureau of Weights and Measures at
France.
 defined as 1/86,400 of a mean solar
3. Time Second s day, or the average period of rotation of
the Earth on its axis relative to the sun
4. Electric Ampere A  Ampere was named after Andre-Marie
 Ampere (1775-1836), a French
Mathematician and physicist and
considered as the father of
electrodynamics.
Current  The International System of units
defines Ampere in terms of other base
units by measuring the electromagnetic
force between electrical conductors
carrying electric current
 Kelvin was named after physicist
William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, who
was the first to call for an absolute
temperature scale
 The Kelvin scale is based on absolute
5. Temperature Kelvin K
zero which is the point at which all
thermal energy has been removed from
all atoms or molecules in a system.
 This temperature, 0 K, is equal to
−273.15 °C and −459.67 °F.
 is the unit of measurement for amount
of substance, specifically of large
quantities of very small entities such as
6. Amount of atoms, molecules, or other specified
Mole mol
Substance particles.
 A mole of a substance or a mole of
particles is defined as
23
exactly 6.02214076×10 particles
 is the base unit for measuring light as
7. Luminous perceived by the human visual system
candela Cd
Intensity and is the only SI base unit based on
human perception

METRIC PREFIXES
The metric system is convenient for scientific and engineering calculations because
the units are categorized by factors of 10. Another advantage is that a unit can be
used over extremely large range of values by using an approximate metric prefix.
For example, distances in meters are suitable in construction, while distances in
kilometers are appropriate for air travel, and the tiny measure of nanometers
are convenient in optical design. With a standard metric system, there is no need
to invent new units for particular applications.

To further understand the use of metric prefixes, refer to the table:

UNIT CONVERSION
 involves changing a value expressed in one type of unit to another type of unit.
This is done by multiplying the original quantity by its corresponding
conversion factor/s, which are ratios relating equal quantities of different
units.

Type of
Unit Equivalent Conversion Factor
Quantity
Length 1 ft or 12 in
1 foot 12 inches
12 in 1 ft
1 inch 2.54 centimeters 1 in or 2.54 cm
2.54 cm 1 in
 1 km or 1000 m
1 kilometer 1000 meters
1000 m 1 km
1 m or 100 cm
100 centimeters
100 cm 1m
1 m or 1000 mm
1 meter 1000 millimeters
1000 mm 1m
1 m or 3.28 ft
3.28 feet
3.28 ft 1m
1 mi or 5,280 ft
5,280 feet
5,280 ft 1 mi
1 mile
1 mi or 1.609 km
1.609 kilometers
1.609 km 1 mi
1 yd or 3 ft
1 yard 3 feet
3 ft 1 yd
1 kg or 2.2 lb
1 kilogram 2.2 pounds
2.2 lb 1 kg
454 grams of 0.454 1 lb or 454 g
Mass 1 pound
kg 454 g 1 lb
1 t or 2,000 lb
1 ton 2,000 pounds
2,000 lb 1 t
1 hr or 3,600 s
Time 1 hour 3,600 seconds
3,600 s 1 hr
1 m3 or 1,000 L
Volume 1 cubic meter 1,000 Liters
1,000 L 1 m3