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Physical Quantities and Units

Objective Questions
1. What are the dimensions of power?
A ML2T 1
B MLT 2
C ML2T 2
D ML2T 3
2. Which of the following is not equivalent to the unit for energy?
A Kilowatt-hour (kWh)
B Newton metre (N m)
C Watt per second (W s1)
D Pressure cubic metre (Pa m3)
3. The figure shows two forces of 300 N and 400 N acting on a point P.
400 N

20

300 N

The magnitude of the resultant force at P is

A 437 N
B 676 N
C 690 N
D 700 N
4. Which of the following experimental techniques reduces the systematic error of the quantity
being investigated?
A Adjusting a voltmeter to eliminate its zero error before measuring a voltage.
B Timing a large number of oscillations to find the period of a simple pendulum.
C Measuring the external diameter of a test tube repeatedly and calculating the average.
D Plotting a series of force and extension readings for a spring on a graph, and using it to
determine the force constant.
5. Errors in measurement may be either systematic or random.
Which of the following involves random error?
A Stopping a digital stopwatch at the end of a race.
B Using the value of g as 10 N kg1 when calculating the weight of a mass.
C Not allowing for zero error on a moving-coil ammeter.
D Not subtracting the background count rate when determining the count rate of a radioactive
source.

Structured Question
1. The resistive force (drag) acting on a vehicle moving in still air is given by
F = Dv2
where D is the drag coefficient, is the density of air and v is the velocity of the vehicle.
(a) (i) Write down the dimensions of F, and v.
(ii) Determine the dimensions of D.
(b) The value of D in SI units is 0.2 for a car. At a particular moment, a car that was moving
with uniform velocity used 4.0 kW of power to overcome the resistance (drag) of the air.
At what velocity was the car moving if the density of air in SI units is 1.3?
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QB AA STPM Phys V1 C1 4th.indd 1

3/7/2008 4:56:11 PM

Essay Question
1. (a) For a fluid flowing through a tube as shown in the figure, the pressure difference at points
and is due to two factors:
The change in the height of a fluid.
Its speed (due to a change in cross-sectional area).
v2

1
v1
y1

y2

It can be demonstrated that the pressures are related by

1
1 v2 + gy
p1 + v21 + gy1 = p2 +
2
2
2 2
In general,

1
p + v2 + gy = constant
2

This is known as Bernoullis equation. Perform a check to confirm that it is dimensionally

consistent.
(b) Even though the proportionality constants in some relations are dimensionless, many other
constants found in equations have dimensions. Consider the cases below.
(i) The minimum velocity needed for an object to escape from the Earth is given by
2GM
v =
R
where M is the mass of the Earth and R is its radius.
Determine the dimensions of the universal gravitational constant G. What is the unit
for G in terms of kilogram, metre and second?
(ii) The ideal gas equation pV = nRT relates the pressure p, volume V and absolute
temperature T for n moles of an ideal gas. Determine the dimensions of the gas
constant R.

QB AA STPM Phys V1 C1 4th.indd 2

3/7/2008 4:56:12 PM