Chapter 1 Introduction to Physics Physics is the study of natural phenomena and the Fields of physics: 1.

Force and motion: investigates the action of properties of matter. force and motion. Physical quantities are the physical characteristics that 2. Heat: studies the influence of heat on the can be measured. different types of matter. Base quantities are quantities that cannot be defined in 3. Light: explains the different phenomena due to light. terms of other base quantities.
Base quantity Length Mass Time Electric current Temperature Quantity symbol m t I T SI unit metre kilogram second ampere kelvin Symbol m kg s A K 4. Waves: understands the properties of different types of waves and their uses. 5. Electricity and electromagnetism: investigates the interactions of electric and magnetic fields. 6. Electronics: studies the use of electronic devices in various fields. 7. Nuclear physics: study of nuclear structure and their applications.

Derived quantity is a quantity that is derived by Prefixes is a number of the form 10n (where n is an multiplication or division or both of base quantities. integer) placed in front of a unit of measurement and acts as its multiplications factor.
Volume Acceleration Force Prefix Tetra Giga Mega Kilo Deci Density Electric charge Power Symbol T G M k d Energy Velocity Momentum Multiplications factor 1012 109 106 103 10-1

The magnitude of a physical quantity can be expressed in standard form or scientific notation, that is in power of 10: A x 10n, where 1 A < 10 and n is an integer.
Prefix Centi Milli Micro Nano Pico Symbol c m n p Multiplications factor 10-2 10-3 10-6 10-9 10-12

Scalar vector are quantities that have magnitude but no Vector quantities are quantities that have both direction. magnitude and direction.
Length Area Distance Work Temperature Time Volume Speed Energy Density Displacement Velocity Force Accelecartion Momentum

Accuracy of a measurement is how close the value of the measurement to the actual value. Sensitivity of an instrument is its ability to detect a small change in the quantity to be measured. An error is the difference between the actual magnitude of a physical quantity and the value obtained in the measurement.

Consistency in measurements refers to how little deviation there is among the measurements made when a quantity is measured several times.

Types of errors in measurement: a. Systematic error is an error that is either too high or too low from the actual value. Due to: zero error; incorrectly calibrated scale; A parallax error is the error in reading a measurement wrong assumption; repeating errors because the eye is in the wrong position. b. A random error has non constant size of error that is sometimes too high or too low. Zero error is the error when measurements do not start Due to: parallax error; changes in from exactly zero. surroundings Scientific method
observing phenomena identifying problem identifying the variables forming hypothesis planning investigation carrying out the investigation observing and collecting data analysing and interpreting data making conclusion

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