General Physics 1
General Physics 1
Calculations
MEASURING UNITS
What is the sum of 20.5, 200.5, 9.756 and
9.00009?
Significant Figures
Different measurement devices have different
levels of uncertainty due to their limitation of their
measurement capabilities. In science, we
compensate with the different accuracies by noting
significant figures (sig. fig. or s.f.) of the
measurement values and their calculations.
Significant figures in the measurement reading
consist of all known/certain digit plus one
If our final answer should be 239.5, what rule/s
uncertain/estimated digit (Ilao et. al., 2016).
regarding significant figures can we infer from
Rules in Evaluating Significant Figures. the calculation?
1.All nonzero digits are ALWAYS significant. 1. Rule for Addition and Subtraction
Examples: 274 - 3 sig. fig. Calculations: Round the calculated answer so
25.632 - 5 sig. fig. that it contains the same number of decimal
places as the measurement with the least
2. All zeros between significant digits (captive) number of decimal places (LNDP)
are ALWAYS significant.
Example: 1.008 has 4 significant figures What is the area of the rectangle with 14 units width
and 25.056 length?
3. Leading zeroes before all the nonzero digits Solution: 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 = 𝑙 × 𝑤
DO NOT count as significant figures. 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 = 14 𝑢 × 25.056 𝑢
Example: 0.0025 mL has 2 s.f. 𝐴𝑟𝑒𝑎 = 350.784 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠 ≈ 350 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑠 (2
4. All FINAL/TRAILING zeros to the right of the sig fig)
decimal ARE significant. What rule can we infer from the calculation?
Example: 105.0020 has 7 s.f. 100 has 1 s.f.
5.All zeros that act as place holders are NOT 2. Rule for Multiplication and Division
significant. Example: 320 (place holder: ones Calculations: Round the calculated answer so
place) 0.025 (place holder: ones, tenths place) that it contains the same number of significant
figure as the measurement with the least number
of significant figures (LNSF).
Note: In considering significant figures always
round up numbers after calculations, not in
between calculations.
Measurement
-Is the assignment of a numerical value to an
object’s physical property such as Length, Volume,
2. Add “ x 10n” where n will represent how many
Density and etc. - In measurement, we also need to
time you move the decimal places until you reach a
assign units to the numerical quantity to convey the
number with single digit on the left. Take note that
relative magnitude of the property.
the value of n will be positive if you move the
decimal point to the left, while value of n will be
negative if you move the decimal to the right.
(see figure 5 for comparison) What is unit of measure?
- Unit of measure is a standardized amount of
3. In converting back from scientific notation to various physical quantities.
decimal notation/number, you need to reverse back - SI System (System international) is international
the movement of decimal places (see figure 6). system of measure.
Physical Quantities
All measurable quantities are called physical
quantities, and there are two types of physical
quantities which are:
Derived Physical Quantities Derived units are Another example is if we convert 15 centigrams to
those which depend on the fundamental units or decagram the answer would be 0.015 decagrams
which can be expressed in terms of the
fundamental units.
English System
In English system, they are using different base
The S.I unit for derived quantities are combinations units than the metric system, here are some
of two or more fundamental quantities examples of the most commonly used:
Notice that the formula for speed consists of
fundamental
quantities like Distance and Time which proved that
speed is a derived quantity base on definition.
System of Measurement
Used in the process of associating numbers with
physical quantities and phenomena.
Metric System - The metric system uses the
fundamental quantities Length, Mass and Volume,
here are some examples of prefixes to understand
it.
While the Metric System simply moves the decimal
point to convert between its measurements'
prefixes, the English System requires a conversion
ratio (or unit factor) to move between
In the metric system, each basic type of measurements.
measurement (length, mass, volume) has one
THE BOOK LOUNGE PH | 3
into inches and note that we need to convert also
the time to minute and in 1min there are 60
seconds. The answer is 59,055.12 in/min
c.)
Examples:
THE BOOK LOUNGE PH | 5
So, using our scale, the representation of vector C 8.) Measure the length of vector 𝑅⃗ and
is 4.35 cm. Next is to measure a 55° from the west calculate the actual measurement using the
going to the north. We have, scale in Step 1.
9.) With the help of a protractor, measure the
acute angle formed from the horizontal line of
the resultant vector, and identify its direction
using the cardinal directions.
Examples:
Find the resultant of the following vectors by using
the polygon method.
A =10 km, 25 south of east
B = 4.5 km, north
C = 7 km, 70 north of west
Graphical Method
One method in solving a resultant vector is using
the graphical method or also called polygon
method. This method draws the vectors connected
to each other. Then, the resultant vector is drawn to
close it to form a polygon structure. b.)
A = 5 N, 15 south of west
Steps in Polygon method B = 8.5 N, 45 north of west
1.) Choose a convenient scale for the graphical C = 7 N, 40 north of east
representation of the vectors. D = 9.3 N, east
2.) Draw a cartesian axes that represents the
cardinal directions. Solution:
3.) Draw the first vector starting from the origin.
4.) At the tip of the first vector, draw another
cartesian axes that will represent the cardinal
N stands for Newton. It is the unit used for force. It
directions for the second vector.
will be discussed in the next course materials.
5.) The second vector will be drawn starting from
the tip of the first.
6.) Then, connect all the rest of the vectors head-
to-tail.
7.) Once all vectors are connected, draw the
resultant vector 𝑅⃗ such as the tail of the first
vector will be the tail of the resultant vector, and
the head of the last vector will be the head of
the
resultant vector.
Examples:
Find the resultant of the following vectors by using
the
component method.
a.)
A =10 km, 25 south of east
B = 4.5 km, north
To determine the sign of each component, make C = 7 km, 70 north of west
sure consider the direction of the resultant vector. Note that we already solve the following problems
using the polygon method. We will show that we
Solutions: b.)
a.) We can use a table to organize the solution to A = 5 N, 15 south of west
our problem B = 8.5 N, 45 north of west
C = 7 N, 40 north of east
D = 9.3 N, east Using a table, we have
Solve for the magnitude. Lastly, solve for the angle and direction of the
resultant vector.
Since both components are
positive, the resultant vector is
given by
Lastly, solve for the angle and direction of the
resultant vector.
theorem.
So, the net displacement would be 104.30m.
acceleration:
Remember that
negative or positive
signs indicate it’s
direction.
We moved the initial velocity so we can get the final
velocity. Final Velocity is 40 m/s.
Free-fall motion
The negative sign means it is falling on negative
A free-falling object is an object that is falling under
direction or falling down like in negative y-axis.
the sole influence of gravity. Any object that is
Height of the building is 78.4m.
being acted upon only by the force of gravity is said
to be in a state of free fall. These are the formulas A rock is thrown downward at an initial speed
that may be useful in free-fall motion. of 10 m/s from the top of a cliff. What is the final
speed and velocity of the rock 5 seconds later?
• Second Law of Motion: Law of Acceleration • Tension (T) – force that the string exerts on an
object to which it is attached.
• Third Law of Motion: Law of Interaction
• Normal Force (n) – it is a force perpendicular to
the surface of contact.
Newton’s First Law of Motion: LAW OF INERTIA • Frictional Force (f) – resistance to the motion
because of the interactions between the body and
An object at rest stays at rest and an object in
the surface.
motion stays in motion with the same speed and in
the same direction unless acted upon by an A force that can act through empty space, are
unbalanced force. called non-contact forces. Examples are
gravitational force and electromagnetic force.
THE BOOK LOUNGE PH | 13
Force is a vector quantity, and it is expressed in Newton’s Second Law of Motion: LAW OF
newtons (N). One newton is equal to 1 kg ∙ m/s^ ACCELERATION
The acceleration of an object is directly
proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in
the same direction as the net force, and inversely
proportional to the mass of the object.
Let us say that acceleration is denoted by a, and
An object in which all forces acting on it are
the mass is denoted by m. Also, we know that
balanced is in equilibrium, a condition necessary to
forces may come from different sources, in different
make an object stay at rest or move at a constant
directions around the object, so we say that it can
speed in one direction. When a body in in
be written as ∑ F.
equilibrium, the vector sum of the forces acting on it
is equal to zero. The components of the resultant Following the second law of motion, we have the
force are also equal to zero. It means that a zero following relations.
resultant force is equivalent to no force at all. This
is the first condition of equilibrium.