Applied Physics

Course description
Course code:
Credit hrs:
Semester:

BS101
3+0
Fall-2009

Evaluation
Quizzes:
Assignments:
One Hour Test:
ESE:

10%
10%
30%
50%

Text Books

Text Book: Fundamental of Physics

By Halliday, Resnick & Walker (7th
Edition)

Text Books
Text Book: Fundamental of Physics
By Halliday, Resnick & Walker (7th
Edition)
Reference
Note: Book: University Physics by Sears &
Zemansky
You are encouraged to help each other in your
homework/ assignments but you must turn in your
own work. If you are found to be cheating, you will fail
at least the assignment/test and perhaps the entire
class.
You are advised to do the assignment themselves.
Copying of assignment is highly discouraged and
taken as cheating case and will be forwarded for
disciplinary action.

Introduction to Applied Physics

Physics:
Branch of science traditionally defined as the study
of matter, energy, and the relation between them; it
was called natural philosophy until the late 19th cent. and
is still known by this name.
The aim of physics is the construction of a unified
theoretical scheme in mathematical terms whose
structure and behavior duplicates that of the whole
natural world in the most comprehensive manner
possible.
The most basic parts of physics are mechanics and
field theory. Mechanics is concerned with the motion of
particles or bodies under the action of given forces. The
physics of fields is concerned with the origin, nature, and
properties of gravitational, electromagnetic, nuclear, and

The study of electricity and magnetism also came into

its own during the 18th and 19th cents. C. A. Coulomb
had discovered the inverse-square laws of
electrostatics and magnetostatics in the late 18th cent.
Applied Physics: is an interdisciplinary area that
combines basic physics with engineering applications.

Physical quantity:
A physical quantity is either a quantity within
physics that can be measured such as length, mass,
time , force etc.. Or that we use to express the laws of
physics or it is the result of measurement and usually
expressed as the product of a numerical value and a
physical unit.

Standard quantities

Basic elements of substances and motion.

All things in classical mechanics can be
expressed in terms of the fundamental
quantities:
Length L
Mass
M
Time T

Some examples of more complicated quantities:

Speed has the quantity of L / T (i.e. meter per
sec)
Acceleration has the quantity of L/T2
Force has the quantity of ML / T2

Units

SI (Systme International) Units:

British Units:

mks: L = meters (m), M = kilograms (kg), T =

seconds (s)

L = inches, feet, miles, M = slugs (pounds), T =

seconds

We will use mostly SI units, but you may run across

some problems using British units. You should know
how to convert back & forth.

Length (L)
Distance
Length (m)
Radius of Visible Universe 1 x 1026
To Andromeda Galaxy
2 x 1022
To nearest star
4 x 1016
Earth to Sun
1.5 x 1011
Radius of Earth
6.4 x 106
Sears Tower
4.5 x 102
Football Field
1 x 102
Tall person
2 x 100
Thickness of paper
1 x 10-4
Wavelength of blue light
4 x 10-7
Diameter of hydrogen atom 1 x 10-10
Diameter of proton
1 x 10-15

Time (T)
Interval
(s)
Age of Universe
Age of Grand Canyon
Avg age of college student
108
One year
107
One hour
Light travel from Earth to Moon
One cycle of guitar A string
One cycle of FM radio wave
One cycle of visible light

Time
5 x 1017
3 x 1014
6.3 x
3.2 x
3.6 x 103
1.3 x 100
2 x 10-3
6 x 10-8
1 x 10-15
-24

Mass (M)
Object

Visible universe
Milky Way galaxy
Sun
Earth
Boeing 747
Car
Student
Dust particle
Bacterium
Proton
Electron
Neutrino

Mass (kg)

~ 1052

7 x 1041
2 x 1030
6 x 1024
4 x 105
1 x 103
7 x 101
1 x 10-9
1 x 10-15
2 x 10-27
9 x 10-31
<1 x 10-36

Dimensional Analysis

This is a very important tool to check your work

Example
When working a problem you get the answer for
distance d = v t 2 ( velocity x time2 )
Quantity on left side = L
Quantity on right side = L / T x T2 = L x T

Left units and right units dont match, so answer is

nonsense

Dimensional Analysis

The force (F) to keep an object

moving in a circle can be described in
terms of:

velocity (v, dimension L / T) of the object

mass (m, dimension M)
radius of the circle (R, dimension L)

Which of the following formulas

for
F
2
2
v
mv

could
be correct
?m
(a)
(b) F
(c)
F = mvR
F
R

Note: Force has dimensions of ML/T2

Useful Conversion factors:

1
1
1
1

inch= 2.54 cm
m = 3.28 ft
mile= 5280 ft
mile
= 1.61 km

Example: Convert miles per hour to

meters per second:
mi 1 mi 5280 ft 1 m
1 hr
m 1m
1

0.447
hr
hr
mi
3.28 ft 3600 s
s 2 s

Agenda for the next lecture

Position, Displacement
Velocity (Average and Instantaneous),
Speed
Acceleration