Physics

> contributes to the

technological infrastructure and
provides trained personnel
> is the natural science of matter, needed to take advantage of
involving the study of matter, its scientific advances and
fundamental constituents, its discoveries.
motion and behavior through > is an important element in the
space and time, and the related education of chemists, engineers
entities of energy and force. and computer scientists, as well
> is a science that deals with as practitioners of the other
matter and energy and their physical and biomedical
interactions and the physical sciences.
processes and phenomena of a
particular system. Why is Physics important in
> explores how and why the STEM strand?
universe works, from subatomic
to universe scales. It is the basic Physics provides the foundation
science that underlies all the for understanding the
natural sciences. The behaviors fundamental laws of how the
of matter and energy govern natural world works such as
applied situations in everyday gravity, electromagnetism,
life like wind energy, X-rays and forces, quantum physics and
MRI, Lake Superior, and nuclear physics. By
satellites. understanding these laws,
> The word physics is thought to students can gain insights into
come from the Greek word many other fields, such as
phusis, meaning nature. astronomy, engineering,
> The study of nature later came chemistry, and biology.
to be called natural philosophy.
From ancient times through the
Renaissance, natural philosophy
encompassed many fields,
Measurement
including astronomy, biology, >> the act of finding the size of a
chemistry, mathematics, and physical quantity such as height,
medicine. length, width, time, mass,
volume, density, force, speed

Fundamental
and acceleration and many more.
>> Values of an object are made
by quantifying into specific
units. Measurements act as
labels which make those values Quantities
more useful in terms of details.
>> Accurate measurement and
They are those basic
observation is important to the
quantities that are independent
development of any scientific
of other quantities i.e. they are
investigation. The traditional
not usually derived from other
way of measurement does not
physical quantities.
give an accurate value so
scientists all over the world
come up with a standard
measurement we call it the
International System of Units
(SI).

Physical Quantities
and Units
Physics is an experimental
science. Physicist perform
experiments to test hypotheses.
Conclusions in experiments are
LENGTH
derived from measurements.
•This is another fundamental
Measurement is simply a quantity with dimension 'L'.
comparison with a standard. It is • Defined as the measure of
necessary to establish a system distance or the measurement
of standards and a system of of distance between two
units to express the standards.
points or the end points of
the objects. Derived
•The S.l. unit of length is
metre (m).
• Length can also be
Quantities
measured in kilometre (km),
centimetre (cm), inches Derived quantities are
(inch), feet (ft), etc. physical quantities whose
dimensions and units are
usually derived from the
MASS
fundamental quantities.
•This is a fundamental
E.g., Area, moment, energy,
quantity with dimension 'M',
torque, pressure etc.
•Defined as the amount of
matter contained in a body.
•The S.I. unit of mass is
kilogramme (kg).
• Mass can also be measured
in gramme (s), tonne (t), etc

TIME
•Time is a fundamental
quantity with dimension 'T'.
•Defined as measured or
measurable period
•The S.I. unit of time is
second (s).
AREA
•Time can also be measured
•AREA = Length x breadth
in minutes and hours.
•Unit is m2
VOLUME
•Volume = length x breadth x
Conversion of
height
•Unit of volume = m3 Units
DENSITY There are still countries that
continue to use the British
(English) system of units (e.g.
the United States). However, the
conversion between the British
system of units and SI units have

System of been defined as shown on Table

1.2 below.

Measurement
Since 1960 the system of units
used is the metric system which
is officially known as the NOTE: The unit seconds (s) is
"International System" or SI exactly the same in both systems
units (abbreviation for its French of measurements (SI and
term, Systeme Internationale) British units).
To make sure that people
around the world understands
the same thing when referring to
a measurement, standards have
been defined for measurements
of length, time and mass.
Scientific Notation Measurement
Scientific notation is also called Uncertainties
the "power of ten notation".
This allows one to write only
the significant figures multiplied In physics, error does not
to 10 with the appropriate power. mean mistake. It means
As a shorthand notation, we uncertainty in physical
therefore use only one digit measurements. Thus, error
before the decimal point with the
analysis is the study of
rest of the significant figures
written after the decimal point. uncertainty in physical
measurements. If you were to
count the number of desks in
your classroom, you would
obtain an exact value. But if
you were to measure the
length of your room using a
tape measure, your
measurement would be an
approximation.
Measurements can never
be exact because they are
subject to some amount of
error. Experimental error,
itself, is measured by its
accuracy and precision. Error
is a measure of the accuracy
of a measurement to the
accepted or true value.
Accuracy is how close a
measurement is to the value. If the set of
accepted or true value while measurements is close to the
precision measures how true value or accepted value,
close two or more it has a high accuracy.
measurements agree with the Accuracy refers to the
accepted or true value. closeness of a measured
value to a standard or known

Precision and value.

The consistency
Accuracy (precision) of measurements
can be numerically described
One way to have reliable using variance. This
measurement is by repeating measures how far or close
the measurement several the measurements are from
times. A reliable the mean (average). Variance
measurement will give the (σ2) is defined as the average
same results under the same of the squared difference of
conditions. The the measurements (x) from
measurement is then precise, the mean (Ẍ). The formula to
or it has a high precision. find the variance is
Thus, a set of measurements
is precise when it is
consistent. This means that
the values are closed to each
other.
Another way of testing Standard deviation (𝝈) is the
the reliability of a square root of the variance.
measurement is by
comparing it with a standard
 A standard deviation close
to zero indicates that the
data are close to the mean
and high standard deviation
indicates that the
measurements are spread
out over a wide range of
values.
“Measurement uncertainty is
The Standard Error of defined as a “parameter,
the Mean (SEM) can be associated with the result of a
measurement that characterizes
estimated by dividing the
the dispersion of the values that
standard deviation with the could reasonably be attributed to
square root of the the measurand”.
number of measurements
done. For Example:
A measurement of 5.07 g ± 0.02
g means that the experimenter is
confident that the actual value
for the quantity being measured
lies between 5.05 g and 5.09 g.

Graphing and Linear

Fitting of Data
A graph is a diagram showing
the relation between variable
quantities, typically of two
variables, each measured along
one of a pair of axes at right
angles. It shows a quantity independent variable (time, s),
changes with other variables. the slope (m) is the gradient of
the line which can be found by
An example is the experiment on choosing two points on the line
the stretching of a spring when and finding the change in the
weight is added. In this y-axis, Δy, and the change in
experiment, the following can be x-axis, Δx, between the two
observed. points. The name of the notation
● When weight is added to Δ is called “delta”, meaning a
a spring hanging from change between two quantities.
the ceiling, the spring
stretches.
● How much it stretches
depends on how much
weight is added.

Any variable can be plotted

on the x-axis and y-axis but it is
usual to plot the independent
variable (the one that is
controlled) on the x-axis and the
dependent variable (the one that
is not controlled) on the y- axis.
The variables in a straight line
graph are described as being
directly proportional to each
other. In this kind of
relationship, doubling the value
of x has the effect of doubling
the value of y, tripling the value
of x triples the y, and so on.

If the graph is a straight line,

In this graph, y is the dependent then it is possible to find the
variable (distance, m), x is the gradient and intercept from the
graph. In the graph above the y- In the graph above the
intercept is + 16, while the y-intercept is 10, while the
gradient (= rise/ run) is 1.7 (that gradient (30/20). The equation
is 34/20). for this straight line is therefore
d = 1.5t + 10.
The equation for the straight line
is therefore, d = 1.7t + 16 Line fitting is the process of
constructing a straight line that
Thus, any distance d has the best fit to a series of data
corresponding to a time t beyond points.
the data tabulated in the above A linear model describes the
example table can be calculated relationship between a
using this formula. continuous response variable and
the explanatory variables using a
Example 2: linear function.
Suppose an experiment is

GLOSSARY OF TERMS
conducted whereby the distance
of a motorist is noted at a regular
time interval. When the data are
(DEFINITION OF TERMS)
plotted on a set of axes, a ‘line of
best fit’ can be drawn through
the points plotted. It is possible Base units – is the set of seven
for the ‘line of best fit’ to miss metric units which the
all the given points. International System of Units
were built upon.
Line of best fit is a straight line Derived units – a combination of
that best represents the data on a two or more base units
scatter plot. This line may pass Dimensional analysis – is the
through some of the points, none technique of converting between
of the points, or all of the points. units
Variance – is defined as the
average of the squared difference
of the measurements from the
mean.
Standard deviation - is the
square root of the variance
Graph - is the pictorial These are:
representation of the relationship ➔ Length is measured in a
between variables unit called meter.
Instruments used to
measure length include
SUMMARY/GENERALIZATION: the ruler/tape measure,
the micrometer and the
Measurement is defined as vernier caliper.
the act of finding the size of a ➔ Mass is a measure of the
physical quantity. An example of amount of material in a
measurement means the use of a body. Mass measures in
ruler to determine the length of a grams or kilograms. It
piece of paper. * There is an can be measured using a
international system of units beam balance or
called the SI system (Systeme weighing scale.
International d’unites) which is ➔ Time is usually measured
most commonly used around the in seconds using a
world and by scientists. stopwatch.
➔ Current is measured
Measurable features or using an ammeter. The
properties of objects are often unit used is ampere.
called physical quantities. All ➔ Temperature is measured
physical quantities should be using a thermometer and
quoted with their numerical the unit used is Kelvin
value (magnitude) and their unit. ➔ Luminous intensity has a
unit of candela.
Fundamental quantities (or ➔ Amount of matter is
base quantities) are those which measured using the unit
are used to define all other mole.
quantities (derived quantities). In
this system seven units are Derived units can be divided into
defined for the fundamental or two groups:
basic quantities.
1. Those that have a special
name and symbol such as Watt
(W) , Hertz (Hz), Joule (J), magnitude is the power of 10
Newton (N). closest to the number.

2. Those that do not have special Significant figures are those

symbols and names such as digits in a number that are
those units of volume, density, known with certainty plus the
velocity and force. first digit that is uncertain
Graphs have two axes. The
A multiple of a unit in the horizontal or x –axis is the
international system is formed independent variable or cause.
by adding a prefix to the name of The effect of that cause is plotted
that unit. The prefixes change on the vertical or y-axis.
the magnitude of the unit by Because the effect is dependent
orders of ten like, for example, on the cause, the y- axis is the
the prefix milli is added to a dependent variable. The
standard unit meter. We call it equation for the straight line
millimeters graph always takes the general
form of y= mx + b, where x and
Every physical quantity can y are the variables, m the
be expressed in terms of its basic gradient of the line, and c is the
dimensions of mass, length, intercept on the vertical axis.
time, etc. Dimensions of a The graph of data is a straight
quantity are placed in square line through the origin, then the
brackets [ ], i.e. [M] for mass, variables are in direct proportion
[L] length, and [T] for time. All to each other.
measurements include errors or
uncertainties, either systematic
or random.

Powers of 10 are called

‘scientific notation’ which has a
general formula of M x 10𝑛,
where M is a number between 1
and 10 and n is the positive or
negative exponent. The order of