21/4/2019 Taller de Autoaprendizaje No 1a

Taller de Autoaprendizaje No 1a
Due: 11:59pm on Sunday, April 21, 2019
You will receive no credit for items you complete after the assignment is due. Grading Policy

Dimensions of Physical Quantities

Learning Goal:

To introduce the idea of physical dimensions and to learn how to find them.

Physical quantities are generally not purely numerical: They have a particular dimension or combination of dimensions
associated with them. Thus, your height is not 74, but rather 74 inches, often expressed as 6 feet 2 inches. Although feet and
inches are different units they have the same dimension--length.

Part A
In classical mechanics there are three base dimensions. Length is one of them. What are the other two?

Hint 1. MKS system

The current system of units is called the International System (abbreviated SI from the French Système
International). In the past this system was called the mks system for its base units: meter, kilogram, and second.
What are the dimensions of these quantities?

ANSWER:

acceleration and mass

acceleration and time

acceleration and charge

mass and time

mass and charge

time and charge

Correct

There are three dimensions used in mechanics: length ( ), mass ( ), and time ( ). A combination of these three dimensions
suffices to express any physical quantity, because when a new physical quantity is needed (e.g., velocity), it always obeys an
equation that permits it to be expressed in terms of the units used for these three dimensions. One then derives a unit to
measure the new physical quantity from that equation, and often its unit is given a special name. Such new dimensions are
called derived dimensions and the units they are measured in are called derived units.

For example, area has derived dimensions . (Note that "dimensions of variable " is symbolized as .) You can find these
dimensions by looking at the formula for the area of a square , where is the length of a side of the square. Clearly . Plugging this
into the equation gives .

Part B
Find the dimensions of volume.
Express your answer as powers of length ( ), mass ( ), and time ( ).
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Hint 1. Equation for volume

You have likely learned many formulas for the volume of various shapes in geometry. Any of these equations will give
you the dimensions for volume. You can find the dimensions most easily from the volume of a cube , where is the
length of the edge of the cube.

ANSWER:

Correct

Part C
Find the dimensions of speed.

Express your answer as powers of length ( ), mass ( ), and time ( ).

Hint 1. Equation for speed

Speed is defined in terms of distance and time as

.
Therefore, .

Hint 2. Familiar units for speed

You are probably accustomed to hearing speeds in miles per hour (or possibly kilometers per hour). Think about the
dimensions for miles and hours. If you divide the dimensions for miles by the dimensions for hours, you will have the
dimensions for speed.

ANSWER:

Correct

The dimensions of a quantity are not changed by addition or subtraction of another quantity with the same dimensions. This
means that , which comes from subtracting two speeds, has the same dimensions as speed.

It does not make physical sense to add or subtract two quanitites that have different dimensions, like length plus time. You can
add quantities that have different units, like miles per hour and kilometers per hour, as long as you convert both quantities to the
same set of units before you actually compute the sum. You can use this rule to check your answers to any physics problem you
work. If the answer involves the sum or difference of two quantities with different dimensions, then it must be incorrect.

This rule also ensures that the dimensions of any physical quantity will never involve sums or differences of the base
dimensions. (As in the preceeding example, is not a valid dimension for a physical quantitiy.) A valid dimension will only involve
the product or ratio of powers of the base dimensions (e.g. ).

Part D

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Find the dimensions of acceleration.

Express your answer as powers of length ( ), mass ( ), and time ( ).

Hint 1. Equation for acceleration

In physics, acceleration is defined as the change in velocity in a certain time. This is shown by the equation . The is a
symbol that means "the change in."

ANSWER:

Correct

± PSS 1.2 Unit Conversions

Learning Goal:
To practice Problem-Solving Strategy 1.2 Unit Conversions.
A gallon of water in the United States weighs about 8.33 . In other words, the density of water is 8.33 . What is the density of
water in ? What is the density of water in ?

Problem-Solving Strategy: Unit conversions

IDENTIFY the relevant concepts:

In most cases, you're best off using the fundamental SI units (meters, kilograms, seconds) within a problem. If you need the
answer to be in a different set of units, wait until the end of the problem to make the conversion.

SET UP the problem and EXECUTE the solution as follows:

Units are multiplied and divided just like ordinary algebraic symbols. This gives us an easy way to convert a quantity from one
set of units to another. The key idea is to express the same physical quantity in two different units and form an equality. For
example, since the ratio equals 1.

EVALUATE your answer:

If you do your units conversion correctly, unwanted units will cancel. Finally, check whether your answer is reasonable. If you
have converted to a smaller unit, for example, the number representing the quantity should be larger.

IDENTIFY the relevant concepts

The physical property of density is given by mass/volume. The SI unit for mass is the kilogram () and for volume it is the cubic
meter (). Therefore, density should be given in units of .

SET UP the problem and EXECUTE the solution as follows

Part A
Calculate the density of water in .
Express your answer in kilograms per cubic meter using three significant figures.

Hint 1. Find the conversion factor between pounds and kilograms

Which of the following expressions is the correct conversion factor needed when converting pounds into kilograms?

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ANSWER:

Correct
When you convert pounds into kilograms, you need to multiply by a conversion factor that has pounds in
the denominator and equals 1. For example, you can start from the equality
and derive the conversion factor

Hint 2. Find the conversion factor between gallons and cubic meters

Which of the following expressions is the correct conversion factor needed when converting gallons into cubic
meters?

ANSWER:

Correct
When you convert gallons into cubic meters, you need to multiply by a conversion factor that has gallons in
the denominator and equals 1. For example, you can start from the equality
and derive the conversion factor

ANSWER:

8.33 = 1000

Correct
If you were to complete the conversion and find the equivalent density in of 8.33 , you would write

Part B
Now, convert the density of water to .
Express your answer in grams per cubic centimeter using three significant figures.

Hint 1. Find the conversion factor between cubic meters and cubic centimeters
Which of the following is the correct relationship between cubic meters and cubic centimeters?

ANSWER:

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ANSWER:

1000 = 1.00

Correct
If you had 1 of water (about the size of a sugar cube), it would have a mass of 1 .

EVALUATE your answer

Part C
The same physical quantity, such as density, can be reported using different units. Above, you found that water has a
density of . Because the density of water must be the same regardless of what units you use to measure it, you can
conclude that an object whose density is 1 must be less dense than water. In other words, 1 is less than 1 .

If you had three different objects with densities of 1 , 1 , and 1 , which object would be the most dense?

Rank the given densities from most to least dense. To rank items as equivalent, overlap them.

Hint 1. How to approach the problem

If all these densities were given in the same units, you could easily compare the objects to identify the most dense
and least dense. Since the units given are all different, convert all the densities to a common set of units, such as ,
before making your comparison.

ANSWER:

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Reset Help

Most dense Least dense

Correct
These three densities are readily compared if they are converted to the SI unit of density, :

Converting Units: The Magic of 1

Learning Goal:

To learn how to change units of physical quantities.

Quantities with physical dimensions like length or time must be measured with respect to a unit, a standard for quantities with
this dimension. For example, length can be measured in units of meters or feet, time in seconds or years, and velocity in meters
per second.

When solving problems in physics, it is necessary to use a consistent system of units such as the International System
(abbreviated SI, for the French Système International) or the more cumbersome English system. In the SI system, which is the
preferred system in physics, mass is measured in kilograms, time in seconds, and length in meters. The necessity of using
consistent units in a problem often forces you to convert some units from the given system into the system that you want to use
for the problem.

The key to unit conversion is to multiply (or divide) by a ratio of different units that equals one. This works because multiplying
any quantity by one doesn't change it. To illustrate with length, if you know that , you can write

.
To convert inches to centimeters, you can multiply the number of inches times this fraction (since it equals one), cancel the inch
unit in the denominator with the inch unit in the given length, and come up with a value for the length in centimeters. To convert
centimeters to inches, you can divide by this ratio and cancel the centimeters.

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For all parts, notice that the units are already written after the answer box; don't try to write them in your answer also.

Part A
How many centimeters are there in a length 15.5 ?

Express your answer in centimeters to three significant figures.

ANSWER:

39.4

Correct

Sometimes you will need to change units twice to get the final unit that you want. Suppose that you know how to convert from
centimeters to inches and from inches to feet. By doing both, in order, you can convert from centimeters to feet.

Part B
Suppose that a particular artillery piece has a range = 9500 . Find its range in miles. Use the facts that and .

Express your answer in miles to three significant figures.

Hint 1. Convert yards to feet

The first step in this problem is to convert from yards to feet, because you know how to then convert feet into miles.
Convert 9500 into feet. Use

.
Express your answer in feet to three significant figures.

ANSWER:

2.85×104

ANSWER:

9500 = 5.40

Correct

Often speed is given in miles per hour (), but in physics you will almost always work in SI units. Therefore, you must convert to
meters per second ().

Part C
What is the speed of a car going in SI units? Notice that you will need to change from miles to meters and from hours to
seconds. You can do each conversion separately. Use the facts that and .

Express your answer in meters per second to four significant figures.

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Hint 1. Convert miles to meters

In converting into meters per second, you will need to multiply by

.
When you do this, the miles will cancel to leave you with a value in meters per hour. You can then finish the
conversion. What is in meters per hour?

Express your answer in meters per hour to four significant figures.

ANSWER:

= 1609

Hint 2. Convert hours to seconds

Which of the following would you multiply by to convert it into meters per second ()?

ANSWER:

ANSWER:

= 0.4469

Correct
Notice that by equating the two values for , you get . It might be valuable to remember this, as you may frequently
need to convert from miles per hour into more useful SI units. By remembering this relationship in the future, you
can reduce this task to a single conversion.

± A Trip to Europe

Learning Goal:

To understand how to use unit conversion to solve problems.

Unit conversion is not limited to physics problems but is part of our everyday life, correct use of conversion factors is essential to
working through problems of practical importance.
For example, unit conversion could be used in problems involving currency exchange. Say you want to calculate how many
euros you get if you exchange 3600 (), given the exchange rate , that is, 1 to 1.20 . Begin by writing down the starting value,
3600 . This can also be written as a fraction:

.
Next, convert dollars to euros. This conversion involves multiplying by a simple conversion factor derived from the exchange
rate:

.
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Note that the "dollar" unit, , should appear on the bottom of this conversion factor, since appears on the top of the starting value.

Finally, since dollars are divided by dollars, the units can be canceled and the final result is

Currency exchange is only one example of many practical situations where unit conversion may help you to work through
problems. Remember that unit conversion involves multiplying a given value by a conversion factor, resulting in a value in the
new units. The conversion factor can be the ratio of any two quantities, as long as the ratio is equal to one.

You and your friends are organizing a trip to Europe. Your plan is to rent a car and drive through the major European capitals. By
consulting a map you estimate that you will cover a total distance of 5000 . Consider the euro-dollar exchange rate given in the
introduction and use unit conversion to work through these simple problems.

Part A
You select a rental package that includes a car with an average consumption of 6.00 of fuel per 100 . Considering that in
Europe the average fuel cost is 1.063 , how much (in US dollars) will you spend in fuel on your trip?
Express your answer numerically in US dollars to three significant figures.

Hint 1. How to approach the problem

Begin with writing the total distance in kilometers. Then multiply this by the consumption rate [in ] of your rental car to
calculate how many liters of fuel are needed. Then compute the total cost of fuel (in euros) by multiplying your
expression by the average fuel cost. Finally, convert the total cost of fuel to dollars.

Hint 2. Find the unit factor to express the cost of fuel in euros
Which of these unit factors can be used to calculate the cost of fuel in euros?

Hint 1. Conversion factor

When calculating the total cost of fuel in euros, you divide kilometers by kilometers (and cancel out the
kilometer units) and multiply the resulting value in liters by a conversion factor that has the liter unit at the
bottom, so that again you can cancel out units.

ANSWER:

Hint 3. Find the unit factor to convert euros to dollars

Which of these unit factors can be used to convert the total cost of fuel to dollars?

Hint 1. Conversion factor

Since you are converting the cost of fuel from euros to dollars, you need to multiply by a conversion factor
that has the euro unit, , on the bottom, so that you can cancel out units.

ANSWER:

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Hint 4. Canceling units

You can avoid many mistakes in unit conversion problems if you are careful to cancel units.

ANSWER:

Cost of fuel = 383

Correct

Part B
How many gallons of fuel would the rental car consume per mile?
Express your answer numerically in gallons per mile to three significant figures.

Hint 1. How to approach the problem

Begin with writing the consumption rate in liters per kilometer. Then multiply this by the unit factor needed to convert
kilometers to miles. Finally convert liters to gallons. Be sure to cancel units so that your answer is dimensionally
consistent.

Hint 2. Find the unit factor to convert kilometers to miles

Which of these unit factors can be used to convert kilometers to miles?

Hint 1. Conversion factor

Since you are converting the car's fuel consumption per kilometer to the car's fuel consumption per mile you
need to multiply by a conversion factor that has the kilometer unit on the top, so that you can cancel out units.

ANSWER:

Hint 3. Find the unit factor to convert liters to gallons

Which of these unit factors can be used to convert liters to gallons?

Hint 1. Conversion factor

Since you are converting the car's consumption in liters to gallons, you need to multiply by a conversion factor
that has the liter unit at the bottom, so that you can cancel out units.
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ANSWER:

ANSWER:

2.55×10−2

Correct

Part C
What is the average cost, in dollars per gallon, of fuel in Europe?

Express your answer numerically in dollars per gallon to three significant figures.

Hint 1. How to approach the problem

Begin with writing the cost of fuel in euros per liter. Then multiply this by the unit factor needed to convert euros to
dollars. Finally convert liters to gallons. Be sure to cancel units, to make sure that your answer is dimensionally
consistent.

Hint 2. Find the unit factor to convert euros to dollars

Which of these unit factors can be used to convert the price of fuel from euros to dollars?
ANSWER:

Hint 3. Find the unit factor to convert liters to gallons

Which of these unit factors can be used to convert the price of fuel per liter to a price per gallon?

ANSWER:

ANSWER:

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4.83

Correct

± Moving at the Speed of Light

Part A
How many nanoseconds does it take light to travel a distance of 6.10 in vacuum?

Express your answer numerically in nanoseconds.

Hint 1. How to approach the problem

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