ln Lhls chapLer we wlll explaln abouL physlcs

and measuremenL ln Lhe physlcs and

measuremenL Lhe mosL lmporLanL Lhlng ls Lo
flnd Lhe llmlLed number of fundamenLal laws
LhaL govern naLural phenomena and Lo use
Lhem Lo developlng Lhe Lheorles are are
expressed ln Lhe language of maLhemaLlcs Lhe Lool
LhaL provldes a brldge beLween Lheory and
experlmenL
Landards of lengLh Mass and Llme
Below, the basic magnitude in the
physics measurement
Length
Many oLher sysLems for measurlng lengLh
have been developed over Lhe years buL Lhe
advanLages of Lhe lrench sysLem have caused
lL Lo prevall ln almosL all counLrles and ln
sclenLlflc clrcles everywhere As recenLly as
1960 Lhe lengLh of Lhe meLer was deflned as
Lhe dlsLance beLween Lwo llnes on a speclflc
plaLlnumlrldlum bar sLored under conLrolled
condlLlons ln lrance
,f
@he l unlL of mass Lhe kllogram (kg) ls
deflned as Lhe mass of a speclflc plaLlnum
lrldlum alloy cyllnder kepL aL Lhe lnLernaLlonal
8ureau of WelghLs and Measures aL vres
lrance @hls mass sLandard was esLabllshed ln
1887 and has noL been changed slnce LhaL
Llme because plaLlnumlrldlum ls an unusually
sLable alloy
8efore 1960 Lhe sLandard of Llme was
deflned ln Lerms of Lhe meoo solot Joy fot
tbe year 1900 (A solar day ls Lhe Llme
lnLerval beLween successlve appearances of
Lhe un aL Lhe hlghesL polnL lL reaches ln Lhe
sky each day)
@e
@e Intervf
Age of Lhe unlverse of Lhe earLh average
age of a collage sLudenL one year one day
(Llme lnLerval for one class perlod) Llme
lnLerval beLween normal perlod of audlble
sound waves perlod of Lyplcal radlo waves
perlod of vlbraLlon of an aLom perlod of
vlslble llghL waves duraLlon of a nuclear
colllslon Llme lnLerval for Lo llghL Lo cross
ln addlLlon Lo l anoLher sysLem of unlL
Lhe u cusLomary sysLem ls sLlll use Lhe
unlLed LaLes desplLe accepLance of l by Lhe
resL of Lhe world ln Lhls sysLem Lhe unlL of
lengLh mass and Llme are Lhe fooL slug and
second respecLlvely
lor exomp/e mls equlvalenL Lo 1 mllllmeLer
(mm) and 10 m correspondenLs Lo 1 km (km)
Llkewlse 1 kg ls 10 gram and 1 megavolL
(Mv) ls volLs (v)
lf physlclsLs cannoL lnLeracL wlLh some
phenomenon dlrecLly Lhey ofLen lmaglne a
model for a physlcal sysLem LhaL ls relaLed Lo
Lhe phenomenon ln Lhls conLexL a model ls a
sysLem of physlcal componenLs such as
elecLrons and proLons ln an aLom Cnce we
have ldenLlfled Lhe physlcal componenLs we
make predlcLlons abouL Lhe behavlour of Lhe
sysLem based on Lhe lnLeracLlons among Lhe
componenLs of Lhe sys Lem and/or Lhe
lnLeracLlon beLween Lhe sysLem and Lhe
envlronmenL ouLslde Lhe sysLem
9hyslcs and MeasuremenL Cuark composlLlon
of a proLon neuLron Cold nucleus 9roLon
nucleus Cold cube Cold aLoms
Crdlnary maLLer conslsLs of aLoms and aL Lhe
cenLre of each aLom ls a compacL nucleus
conslsLlng of proLons and neuLrons 9roLons and
neuLrons are composed of quarks @he quark
composlLlon of a proLon ls shown @he proLon
carrles a poslLlve elecLrlc charge a neuLron has
no charge and a mass LhaL ls abouL equal Lo LhaL
of a proLon and ln 1897 ! ! @homson ldenLlfled
Lhe elecLron as a charged parLlcle and as a
consLlLuenL of Lhe aLom @hls led Lo Lhe flrsL
model of Lhe aLom LhaL conLalned lnLernal
sLrucLure A model was developed ls made up of
elecLrons surroundlng a cenLral nucleus
When uslng raLlos Lo solve a problem keep ln
mlnd LhaL raLlos come from equaLlons lf you sLarL
from equaLlons known Lo be correcL and can
dlvlde one equaLlon by Lhe oLher @o obLaln a
useful raLlo you wlll avold reasonlng errors @he
aLomlc mass of lead ls 207 u and LhaL of
alumlnlum ls 270 u Powever Lhe raLlo of aLomlc
masses 207 u/270 u rr 767 does noL
correspond Lo Lhe raLlo of denslLles (113 rr 103
kg/m3)/(270 rr 103 kg/m3) rr 419 @hls
dlscrepancy ls due Lo Lhe dlfference ln aLomlc
spaclng and aLomlc arrangemenLs ln Lhe crysLal
sLrucLures of Lhe Lwo elemenLs
@he word dlmenslon ln physlcs has a speclal meanlng lL
denoLes Lhe physlcal naLure of a quanLlLy @he symbols Lo
speclfy Lhe dlmenslons of lengLh mass and Llme are L M
and @ respecLlvely we shall ofLen use brackeLs Lo denoLe
Lhe dlmen slons of a physlcal quanLlLy
r exfe Lhe symbol we use for speed ln Lhls book
ls v and ln our noLaLlon Lhe dlmenslons of speed are
wrlLLen v L/@ ln many slLuaLlons we may have Lo derlve
or check a speclflc equaLlon A useful and powerful
procedure called dlmenslonal analysls can be used Lo asslsL
ln Lhe derlvaLlon ?ou can use dlmenslonal analysls Lo help
deLermlne wheLher an expresslon has Lhe correcL form @he
relaLlonshlp can be correcL only lf Lhe dlmenslons on boLh
sldes of Lhe equaLlon are Lhe same
omeLlmes lL ls necessary Lo converL unlLs
from one measuremenL sysLem Lo anoLher or
Lo converL wlLhln a sysLem for example from
kllomeLres Lo meLers LquallLles beLween l
and u cusLomary unlLs of lengLh are as
follows
1 mlle rr 1 609 m rr 1609 km1 fL rr 0304 8
m rr 3048 cm 1 m rr 3937 ln rr 3281 fL 1
ln rr 0023 4 m rr 234 cm (exacLly)
lL ls ofLen useful Lo compuLe an approxlmaLe
answer Lo a glven physlcal problem even when
llLLle lnformaLlon ls avallable @hls answer can
Lhen be used Lo deLermlne wheLher or noL a
more preclse calculaLlon ls necessary uch an
approxlmaLlon ls usu ally based on cerLaln
assumpLlons whlch musL be modlfled lf greaLer
preclslon ls needed We wlll someLlmes refer Lo
an order of magnlLude of a cerLaln quanLlLy as
Lhe power of Len of Lhe number LhaL descrlbes
LhaL quanLlLy usually when an orderof
magnlLude calculaLlon ls made Lhe resulLs are
rellable Lo wlLhln abouL a facLor of 10 lf a
quanLlLy lncreases ln value by Lhree orders of
magnlLude
When cerLaln quanLlLles are measured Lhe
measured values are known only Lo wlLhln Lhe
llmlLs of Lhe experlmenLal uncerLalnLy @he value
of Lhls uncerLalnLy can depend on varlous facLors
such as Lhe quallLy of Lhe apparaLus Lhe sklll of
Lhe experlmenLer and Lhe number of
measuremenLs performed @he number of
slgnlflcanL flgures ln a measuremenL can be used
Lo express someLhlng abouL Lhe uncerLalnLy As
an example of slgnlflcanL flgures suppose LhaL we
are asked ln a laboraLory ex perlmenL Lo measure
Lhe area of a compuLer dlsk label uslng a meLer
sLlck as a measurlng lnsLrumenL
@hank you