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PHYSICS AND MEASUREMENT
A. Standards of Length, Mass, and Time
Basic and derived quantities
The laws of physics are expressed as mathematical relationships between
physical quantities, and this relation known as formula. Quantity in physic is
defined as everything which can be measured and its magnitude can be stated
using number. Therefore, physics quantity has a meaning if it has two main
components, value or magnitude and unit. As example, the distance from
Mataram Mall to !"AM is #$ km. %istance is quantity &length quantity',
because we can measure it and can state it using number, (#$) is the
magnitude of distance and (km) is the unit of distance, so we can conclude
that, distance has a meaning as a quantity. *or more details, see this chart.
Distance of Mall-Unram = 10 km
+n physics quantities can be distinguished into basic and derived quantities.
,asic quantity is quantity with defined unit. The unit of this quantity has
been determined in advance, and it is used as standard of another quantity.
%erived Quantity is quantity with unit derided from basic quantity.
%erived quantity is expressed as combinations of a small number of basic
quantities. -o the unit of this quantity will be composed from the unit of
basic quantities.
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unit
.alue &mangnitude'
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2
,asic and derived quantity is given in table # and table /
Ta!e ". #asi$ %&antit'
No. #asi$ %&antit' Unit
#. 0ength Meter &m'
/. Mass 1ilogram &kg'
2. Time -econd &s'
3. 4lectric 5urrent Ampere &A'
6. Temperature 1elvin &1'
7. Amount of -ubstance Mol &mol'
8. 0uminous +ntensity 5andela &cd'
Ta!e (. Deri)ed %&antit'
No. Deri)ed %&antit' *orm&!a Unit
#. %ensity
volume
mass kg9m
2
/. .elocity
time
nt displaceme m9s
2. Acceleration
time
velocity m9s
/
3. *orce on accelerati mass. kg m9s
/
: !ewton &!'
6. ;ork
nt displaceme force.
kg m
/
9s
/
: <oule &='
7. >ower
time
work kg m
2
9s
/
: watt &;'
Most of quantities in physics are derived quantities, in that they can be
expressed as combinations of a small number of basic quantities, as given in
ta!e (. +n mechanics, the three basic quantities are length, mass, and time. All
other quantities in mechanics can be expressed in terms of these three. As
example, velocity obtained by dividing distance &length' by time quantity.
Thus, its unit will be length unit divided by time unit.
SI standard
+n measuring quantity we need unit for comparing one measurement to
another, so we can get fixed value from the measuring. A standard must be
defined to report the results of a measurement to someone who wishes to
reproduce this measurement. +n #?7$, an international committee established a set
of standards for the fundamental quantities, it is called the -+ &-yst@me
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+nternational', and its units of length, mass, and time are the meter, kilogram, and
second, respectively. Ather -+ standards established by the committee are those
for temperature &the kelvin', electric current &the ampere', luminous intensity &the
candela', and the amount of substance &the mole', see ta!e ".
Standard of Length
0ength is distance in a space. +n A.%. ##/$ the king of 4ngland decreed
that the standard of length in his country would be named the yard and would be
precisely equal to the distance from the tip of his nose to the end of his
outstretched arm. -imilarly, the original standard for the foot adopted by the
*rench was the length of the royal foot of 1ing 0ouis B+..
This standard prevailed until #8??, when the legal standard of length in
*rance became the meter, defined as the distance between two lines on a specific
platinumCiridium bar stored under controlled conditions in *rance, so the distance
from the equator to the !orth >ole along one particular longitudinal line that
passes through >aris is one tenDmillionth meters. This standard was abandoned for
several reasons, a principal one being that the limited accuracy with which the
separation between the lines on the bar can be determined does not meet the
current requirements of science and technology.
+n the #?7$, the meter was defined as # 76$ 872,82 wavelengths of
orangeDred light emitted from a kryptonDE7 lamp. Fowever, in Actober #?E2, the
meter &m' was redefined as the distance traveled by light in vacuum during a time
of #9/?? 8?/ 36E second.
Standard of Mass
Most of people often equate mass with weight. +n physics, mass and
weight have different definition. Mass related to the amount of substance which is
contained an ob<ect, and weight is a force, are done by the earth on an ob<ect.
Therefore, the mass is constant, does not depend on the location of ob<ects and the
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gravitation of that location, and while the weight always change, depending on the
gravitation of location of ob<ects.
The -+ unit of mass, the kilogram &kg', is defined as the mass of a specific
platinumCiridium alloy cylinder kept at the +nternational ,ureau of ;eights and
Measures at -@vres, *rance. This mass standard was established in #EE8 and has
not been changed since that time because platinumCiridium is an unusually stable
alloy. A duplicate of the -@vres cylinder is kept at the !ational +nstitute of
-tandards and Technology &!+-T' in Gaithersburg, Maryland
Standard of Time
,efore #?7$, the standard of time was defined in terms of the mean solar
day for the year #?$$. &A solar day is the time interval between successive
appearances of the -un at the highest point it reaches in the sky each day.' The
second was defined as

/3
#
7$
#
7$
#
of a mean solar day. The rotation of the
4arth is now known to very slightly with times, therefore this motion is not a good
one to use for defining a time standard.
+n #?78, the second was redefined to take advantage of the high precision
attainable in a device known as an atomic clock, which uses the characteristic
frequency of the cesiumD#22 atom as the (reference clock.) The second &s' is now
defined as ? #?/ 72# 88$ times the period of vibration of radiation from the
cesium atom.
Table 2 show the newest standard of basic quantity based on -+.
Ta!e +. Standard of Basic Quantity based on SI
No. #asi$ %&antit' Unit Definition
#. 0ength Meter &m' # meter is distance traveled by light in
vacuum during a time of #9/?? 8?/ 36E
second &s'
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/. Mass 1ilogram &kg' # kilogram is the mass of a specific platinumD
iridium alloy cylinder kept at the +nternational
,ureau of ;eights and Measures at -erves,
*rance
2. Time -econd &s' # sekon is ? #?/ 72# 88$ times the period of
vibration of radiation from the cesiumD#22
atom
3. 4lectric 5urrent Ampere &A' # ampere is fixed current flows in each of /
paralell invinitive line conductor separated at
# meter in vacum giving interaction force of
/x#$
D8
!ewton for each meter the conductor
6. Temperature 1elvin &1' #9/82,#7 times the temperature of
thermodinamics triple point of water
7. Amount of
-ubstance
Mol &mol' # mol is the amount of substance consisted of
element as many as the amount of atom of
carbon in $,$#/ kg of carbonD#/
8. 0uminous
+ntensity
5andela &cd' # candela is the intensity of light from a
source radiating monochromatic radiation in
63$x#$
#/
FH with intensity of #97E2 watt per
steradian
#. Densit' and Atomi$ Mass
Density
The density

&Greek letter rho' of any substance is defined as its mass

per unit volume. The density is specific quantity of each substance. +t gives us
information about the kind of substance. A same substance has same density,
although they difference in siHe and mass. The density of # gram iron is equal to
density of # kilogram iron. Atherwise, two different substance, certainly have
different density.
5onsider some substance has mass m and volume ,, from the definition
of density above we haveI
V
m
=
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where, m is mass of substance &kg' and V is volume of substance &m
2
', thus the
unit of density &based on -+' is kg/m
3
.
*or example, aluminum has a density of /,8$ g9cm
2
. Therefore, a piece of
aluminum of volume #$,$ cm
2
has a mass of /8,$ gram. A list of densities for
various substances is given in Table 3
Ta!e -.
No. S&stan$e Densit'

."/
+
0g1m
+
2
#. >latinum /#,36
/. Gold #?,2
2. ranium #E,8
3. 5opper E,?/
6. +ron 8,E7
7. Aluminum /,8$
8. Magnesium #,86
E. ;ater #,$$
Density in our life
a !u"marine
;hen floating, the total density of submarine smaller than sea water
and when drowned, the total density of submarine is greater than sea water. The
submarine has ballast tanks that contain water and air. The tank is located
between the inner hull and the outside hull. The tank can enlarge or reduce the
total density of submarine. ;hen sea water is pumped into the ballast tank, the
density of the submarines is greater than sea water and, smaller than sea water
when sea water is pumped out.
An the submarine there is a tool, that is air compressor. +ts function is to
compress the air. ;hen floating, the submarine body is filled with the air so the
total density of submarine smaller than the density of sea water and make it
floats. Then, if the submarine sinks, the air is expelled and sea water is entered, so
the total density of submarine is greater than sea water. And if the submarine
floats again, the sea water is removed and replaced with air from the compressor.
" #as $alloons
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Gas balloon contains helium gas. Felium gas has a smaller density than
air, so the hot air balloon can rise up.
c %naly&ing '"(ects )loating* )loat* and !ink
,y comparing the density of liquids and ob<ects are dipped into it,
you can find the floating ob<ects, float or sink. +f the density of ob<ect is smaller
than the density of liquid, the ob<ects will float in the surface of liquid, if the
ob<ect has a same density with liquid, the ob<ects will float in the liquid and if the
density of ob<ect is greater than the density of liquid, the ob<ects will sink in the
bottom of liquid.
Atomic Mass
An atom consists of protons, neutrons and electrons. >rotons and neutrons
are located in the nucleus and the electrons move around the atomic nucleus.
Atomic mass expresses the mass of particles inside atom, they are the mass of
protons, mass of electrons and mass of neutrons. The mass of electron is very
small if we compare it with the mass of proton and neutron, so the mass of
electron is negligible.
The numbers of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom of an
element are related to the atomic mass of the element, which is defined as the
mass of a single atom of the element measured in atomic mass units. Atomic mass
unit &in 4nglishI a unified atomic mass unit, the universal mass unit, atomic mass
unit', often called daltons or %a &also known as am&, symbolI &', is a unit used to
measure the mass of an atom, not the density of atoms, and not too heavy type.
nit is defined equal to # 9 #/ the mass of one atom of carbonD#/.
)rom t+e formula of mole
a
,
,
n =
and
M
m
n =
* we +ave
M
m
,
,
a
=
-,=1 atom of car"on.
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,a
M
m =
!o* t+e mass of one atom of car"on -m
o
. is
,a
M
m =
* w+ere
M=1/ kg/mol
,
a
=%vogadro0s num"er
=1*0//10
/1
atom/kmol
2+us* t+e mass of 1 atomic mass unit is
a
a
o
,
u
,
M
u
m u
#/
#/
#
#
#/
#
#
#/
#
#
=
=
=
a
,
u
#
# =
-in kilogram.
1 u 3 1*11043556 7 10-
/6
kg
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