International

Education

College Physics
Introduction and Chapter 1 – Physics and
Measurements
 Information

Textbook: College Physics, 11th edition, Raymond A. Serway and Chris

Vuille

Teacher Name: Liang Chen (Associate Professor)

Office room: 1025 in the Main Building C
Office time: 14:00-16:00 Wednesday (you can also leave me message
on WeChat)

Score: Final exam, 70%; Exercise and attendance, 30%

(the exam will be closed-book with no notes allowed)

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Physics

01
Fundamental Science
02
Principles of the Universe
Found. of mechanics, electrical
engineering, chemistry, material From subatom to galaxy
science, biology, …

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Foundation of other
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Has simplicity of
physical sciences fundamental concepts
Quantum physics, condensed matter,
Thinking like a physicist
nuclear physics, …

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Physics: Divided into six major areas

1. Classical Mechanics
2. Relativity
3. Thermodynamics
4. Electromagnetism
5. Optics
6. Quantum Mechanics

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 Classical Physics

Mechanics and electromagnetism are basic to all other branches of classical and
modern physics.
1. Classical physics
 Developed before 1900
First part of text deals with Classical Mechanics
Also called Newtonian Mechanics or Mechanics
2. Modern physics
From about 1900 to the present

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 Objectives of Physics

1. To find the limited number of fundamental laws that govern natural

phenomena

2. To use these laws to develop theories that can predict the results of future
experiments

3. Express the laws in the language of mathematics

 Mathematics provides the bridge between theory and experiment.

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 Theory and Experiments

Should complement each other

When a discrepancy occurs, theory may be modified or new theories formulated.

 A theory may apply to limited conditions.

Example: Newtonian Mechanics is confined to objects traveling slowly with
respect to the speed of light.

 Try to develop a more general theory

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Classical Physics Overview

Classical physics includes principles in many branches

developed before 1900.

Mechanics

 Major developments by Newton, and continuing through the

18th century Thermodynamics, optics and electromagnetism
 Developed in the latter part of the 19th century
 Apparatus for controlled experiments became available

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Modern Physics

Began near the end of the 19th century

Phenomena that could not be explained by classical physics

Includes theories of relativity and quantum mechanics

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Special Relativity

Correctly describes motion of objects moving near the speed of

light

Modifies the traditional concepts of space, time, and energy

Shows the speed of light is the upper limit for the speed of an
object

Shows mass and energy are related

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Quantum Mechanics

Formulated to describe physical phenomena at the atomic level

Led to the development of many practical devices, e.g.,

Microelectromechanical Systems, quantum dot, photodetector,
STM (Scanning Tunneling Microscope), …

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Measurements

Used to describe natural phenomena

Each measurement is associated with a physical quantity
Need defined standards
Characteristics of standards for measurements
 Readily accessible
 Possess some property that can be measured reliably
 Must yield the same results when used by anyone anywhere
 Cannot change with time

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 Standards of Fundamental Quantities

Standardized systems
 Agreed upon by some authority, usually a governmental body

SI – Systéme International
 Agreed to in 1960 by an international committee
 Main system used in this text

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Fundamental Quantities and Their Units

Quantity SI Unit
Length meter
Mass kilogram
Time second
Temperature Kelvin
Electric Current Ampere
Luminous Intensity Candela
Amount of Substance mole

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 Quantities Used in Mechanics

In mechanics, three fundamental quantities are used:

 Length
 Mass
 Time

All other quantities in mechanics can be expressed in terms of

the three fundamental quantities.

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Length

Length is the distance between two points in space.

Units
 SI – meter, m

Defined in terms of a meter – the distance traveled by light in a

vacuum during a given time
See Table 1.1 (page 2) for some examples of lengths.

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Mass

Units

 SI – kilogram, kg

Defined in terms of a kilogram, based on a specific cylinder

kept at the International Bureau of Standards

See Table 1.2 (page 2) for masses of various objects.

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Standard Kilogram

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Times

Units
 seconds, s

Defined in terms of the oscillation of radiation from a cesium

atom

See Table 1.3 (page 2) for some approximate time intervals.

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Reasonableness of Results

When solving a problem, you need to check your answer to see

if it seems reasonable.

Reviewing the tables of approximate values for length, mass,

and time will help you test for reasonableness.

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Number Notation

When writing out numbers with many digits, spacing in groups

of three will be used.

 No commas
 Standard international notation

Examples:
 25 100
 5.123 456 789 12

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 US Customary System

Still used in the US, but text will use SI

Quantity Unit(US) Unit(China)

Length(meter) foot 尺
Mass(kilogram) slug 斤
Time(second) second 秒

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Prefixes

Prefixes correspond to powers of 10.

Each prefix has a specific name.
Each prefix has a specific abbreviation.
The prefixes can be used with any basic units.
They are multipliers of the basic unit.

Examples:
 1 mm = 10-3 m
 1 mg = 10-3 g

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Prefixes (continue)

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Fundamental and Derived Units

Derived quantities can be expressed as a mathematical

combination of fundamental quantities.

Examples:
 Area
A product of two lengths
 Speed
A ratio of a length to a time interval
 Density
A ratio of mass to volume

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Model Building

A model is a system of physical components.

 Useful when you cannot interact directly with the
phenomenon
 Identifies the physical components
 Makes predictions about the behavior of the system
 The predictions will be based on interactions among the
components and/or
 Based on the interactions between the components and
the environment

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 Models of Matter

Some Greeks thought matter is made

of atoms.
 No additional structure

JJ Thomson (1897) found electrons and

showed atoms had structure.

Rutherford (1911) determined a

central nucleus surrounded by
electrons.

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Models of Matter (continue)

Nucleus has structure, containing protons and neutrons

 Number of protons gives atomic number
 Number of protons and neutrons gives mass number

Protons and neutrons are made up of quarks.

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Models of Matter (final)

Quarks
 Six varieties
 Up, down, strange, charmed, bottom, top
 Fractional electric charges
 +2⁄3 of a proton
 Up, charmed, top
 1⁄3 of a proton
 Down, strange, bottom

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Modeling Technique

An important problem-solving technique is to build a model for

a problem.

 Identify a system of physical components for the problem

 Make predictions of the behavior of the system based on the
interactions among the components and/or the components
and the environment

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Basic Quantities and Their Dimension

Dimension has a specific meaning – it denotes the physical

nature of a quantity. Dimensions are often denoted with square
brackets.
 Length [L]
 Mass [M]
 Time [T]

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Dimensions and Units

Each dimension can have many actual units.

Table 1.5 for the dimensions and units of some derived
quantities

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 Dimensional Analysis
Technique to check the correctness of an equation or to assist
in deriving an equation
Dimensions (length, mass, time, combinations) can be treated
as algebraic quantities.
 Add, subtract, multiply, divide
Both sides of equation must have the same dimensions.
Any relationship can be correct only if the dimensions on both
sides of the equation are the same.
Cannot give numerical factors: this is its limitation

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Dimensional Analysis, example

Given the equation:

Check dimensions on each side:

The T2’s cancel, leaving L for the dimensions of each side.

 The equation is dimensionally correct.

 There are no dimensions for the constant.

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Dimensional Analysis to Determine a Power Law

Determine powers in a proportionality

 Example: find the exponents in the expression

 You must have lengths on both sides.

 Acceleration has dimensions of L/T2
 Time has dimensions of T.
 Analysis gives

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 Symbols
The symbol used in an equation is not necessarily the symbol
used for its dimension.
Some quantities have one symbol used consistently.
 For example, time is t virtually all the time.
Some quantities have many symbols used, depending upon the
specific situation.
 For example, lengths may be x, y, z, r, d, h, etc.
The dimensions will be given with a capitalized, non-italic
letter.
The algebraic symbol will be italicized.
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Conversion of Units

When units are not consistent, you may need to convert to

appropriate ones.
See Appendix A (the end of the textbook) for an extensive list
of conversion factors.
Units can be treated like algebraic quantities that can cancel
each other out.

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 Conversion

Always include units for every quantity, you can carry the units
through the entire calculation.
 Will help detect possible errors

Multiply original value by a ratio equal to one.

Example:

 Note the value inside the parentheses is equal to 1, since 1 inch is

defined as 2.54 cm.

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Order of Magnitude

Approximation based on a number of assumptions

 May need to modify assumptions if more precise results are
needed
The order of magnitude is the power of 10 that applies.

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 Order of Magnitude – Process

Estimate a number and express it in scientific notation.

 The multiplier of the power of 10 needs to be between 1 and 10.

Compare the multiplier to 3.162 ( )

 If the remainder is less than 3.162, the order of magnitude is the
power of 10 in the scientific notation.
 If the remainder is greater than 3.162, the order of magnitude is
one more than the power of 10 in the scientific notation.

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 Using Order of Magnitude

Estimating too high for one number is often canceled by estimating

too low for another number.
 The resulting order of magnitude is generally reliable within about a
factor of 10.
Working the problem allows you to drop digits, make reasonable
approximations and simplify approximations.
With practice, your results will become better and better.

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 Uncertainty in Measurements

There is uncertainty in every measurement – this uncertainty carries

over through the calculations.
 May be due to the apparatus/instrument, the experimenter, and/or
the number of measurements made
 Need a technique to account for this uncertainty

We will use rules for significant figures to approximate the uncertainty

in results of calculations.

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 Significant Figures

A significant figure is one that is reliably known. Zeros may or may not
be significant.
 Those used to position the decimal point are not significant.
 To remove ambiguity, use scientific notation.

In a measurement, the significant figures include the first estimated

digit.

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 Significant Figures, examples
0.0075 m has 2 significant figures
 The leading zeros are placeholders only.
 Write the value in scientific notation to show more clearly:
7.5 x 10-3 m for 2 significant figures
10.0 m has 3 significant figures
 The decimal point gives information about the reliability of the
measurement.
1500 m is ambiguous
 Use 1.5 x 103 m for 2 significant figures
 Use 1.50 x 103 m for 3 significant figures
 Use 1.500 x 103 m for 4 significant figures
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 Operations with Significant Figures – Multiplying
or Dividing

When multiplying or dividing several quantities, the number of

significant figures in the final answer is the same as the number of
significant figures in the quantity having the smallest number of
significant figures.
Example: 25.57 m x 2.45 m = 62.6 m2
 The 2.45 m limits your result to 3 significant figures.

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 Operations with Significant Figures – Adding or
Subtracting

When adding or subtracting, the number of decimal places in the

result should equal the smallest number of decimal places in any term
in the sum or difference.
Example: 135 cm + 3.25 cm = 138 cm
 The 135 cm limits your answer to the units decimal value.

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 Operations With Significant Figures – Summary

The rule for addition and subtraction are different than the rule for
multiplication and division.
For adding and subtracting, the number of decimal places is the
important consideration.
For multiplying and dividing, the number of significant figures is the
important consideration.

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 Significant Figures in the Text

Most of the numerical examples and end-of-chapter problems will

yield answers having three significant figures.
When estimating a calculation, typically work with one significant
figure.

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 Rounding
Last retained digit is increased by 1 if the last digit dropped is greater
than 5.
Last retained digit remains as it is if the last digit dropped is less than
5.
If the last digit dropped is equal to 5, the retained digit should be
rounded to the nearest even number.
Saving rounding until the final result will help eliminate accumulation
of errors.
It is useful to perform the solution in algebraic form and wait until the
end to enter numerical values.
 This saves keystrokes as well as minimizes rounding.

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