INTRODUCTION TEACHING TO PHYSICS, UNITS & DIMENSIONS NOTES

Syllabus in IIT JEE : Units and dimensions, dimensional analysis;

What is Physics ?
Physics is the study of nature and its laws. Feynman has given a wonderful description of what is "understanding the nature". Suppose we do not know the rules of chess but are allowed to watch the moves of the players. If we watch the game for a long time, we may make out some of the rules. With the knowledge of these rules we may try to understand why a player played a particular move. However, this may be a very difficult task. Even if we know all the rules of chess, it is not so simple to understand all the complications of a game in a given situation and predict the correct move.Knowing the basic rules is, however, the minimum requirement if any progress is to be made. One may guess at a wrong rule by partially watching the game. The experienced player may make use of a rule for the first time and the observer of the game may get surprised. Because of the new move some of the rules guessed at may prove to be wrong and the observer will frame new rules. Physics goes the same way. The nature around us is like a big chess game played by Nature. The events in the nature are like the moves of the great game. We are allowed to watch the events of nature and guess at the basic rules according to which the events take place. We may come across new events which do not follow the rules guessed earlier and we may have to declare the old rules inapplicable or wrong and discover new rules.

UNITS AND DIMENSIONS

Physical quantities : All quantities that can be measured are called physical quantities. eg. time, length, mass, force, work done, etc. In physics we study about physical quantities and their inter relationship. Measurement : Measurement is the comparison of a quantity with a standard of the same physical quantity. Different countries & states followed different standards. This created confusion. A body named General Conference of Weights and Measure defined the standards of physical quantities and called them the UNITS. Unit : All physical quantities are measured w.r.t. standard magnitude of the same physical quantity and these standards are called UNITS. eg. second, meter, kilogram, etc. So the four basic properties of units are: 1. They must be well defined. 2. They should be easily available and reproducible. 3. They should be invariable e.g. step as a unit of length is not invariable. 4. They should be accepted to all. After the problem of units was solved, another problem arose and that was that people started discovering more and more physical quantities and it was difficult to assign a new unit to all different physical quantities . So a set of Fundamental Quantities was defined Set of Fundamental Quantities A set of physical quanties which are completely independent of each other and all other physical quantities can be expressed in terms of these physical quantities is called Set

Derived Units
The units which can be expressed in terms of these fundamental units, are called Derived Units (velocity, acceleration etc.).

System of Units
A complete set of units, both fundamental and derived for all kind of physical quantities, is called a system of units, e.g. CGS system, FPS system, MKS system, SI etc. Units of some physical quantities in different systems Physical Quantity Fundamental Length Mass Time Force System MKS m kg s newton N

CGS (Gaussian) cm g s dyne

FPS ft lb s pound

Derived

Dimensional Equation
An equation obtained by equating a physical quantity with its dimensional formula is called the Dimensional Equation of the physical quantity e.g. dimensional equations of volume and force are, [V] = [M0L3T0] and [F] = [MLT-2] respectively.

Principle of Homogeneity
It states that dimension of each term on both sides of an equation must be the same i.e. if the dimensions of each term on both sides are same, the equation is dimensionally correct otherwise not. A dimensionally correct equation may or may not be physically correct. The word 'homogeneity' means 'The quality of being uniform throughout, in composition or structure'. Applications of dimensional analysis : (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) To find the unit of given physical quantity in a given system of units. To find dimensions of physical constants or coefficients like G, h. To convert a physical quantity from one system to the other. As a research tool to derive new relations. To check the correctness of a given physical relation by using principle of homogeneity.

Table 3 : SI Base Quantities and Units Base Quantity Length

SI Units
Name metre Symbol m Definition The metre is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second (1983) The kilogram is equal to the mass of the international prototype of the kilogram (a platinum-iridium alloy cylinder) kept at International Bureau of Weights and Measures, at Sevres, near Paris, France. (1889) The second is the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium-133 atom (1967) The ampere is that constant current which, if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length, of negligible circular crosssection, and placed 1 metre apart in vacuum, would produce between these conductors a force equal to 2 x 10-7 newton per metre of length. (1948)

Mass

kilogram

kg

Time

second

Electric Current

ampere

Thermodynamic Temperature Amount of Substance

kelvin

The kelvin, is the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of water. (1967) The mole is the amount of substance of a system, which contains as many elementary entities as there are atoms in 0.012 kilogram of carbon-12. (1971) The candela is the luminous intensity, in a given direction, of a source that emits monochromatic radiation of frequency 540 x 1012 hertz and that has a radiant intensity in that direction of 1/683 watt per steradian. (1979)

mole

mol

Luminous Intensity

candela

cd

Characteristics of base units or standards: (a) Well defined (b) Invariability (c) Accessibility

(d) Convenience in use

Conventions for writing a unit of a physical quantity

(a) (b) Even if a unit is named after a person the unit is not written with capital initial letter for e.g. for unit of force we write 'newton' and not 'Newton'. For a unit named after a person the symbol is a capital letter whereas symbols of other units are not written in capital letters for e.g. we write 'J' and not 'j' for Joule while 'm' for 'metre' not 'M'. The symbols or units are not expressed in plural form as '50 m' not '50 ms'. Not more than one solidus ( / ) is used, e.g. 'm/s2' not 'm/s/s'. Fullstops are not written after the abbreviations and units e.g. 'cm' is right but 'c.m.' is wrong.

(c) (d) (e)

Dimensions and Dimensional Formulae

Dimensions of a physical quantity are the powers to which the fundamental quantities must be raised to represent the given physical quantity. The expression which shows how and which of the base quantities represent the dimensions of the physical quantity is called the Dimensional Formula of the given physical quantity e.g. dimensional formula for volume is [M0L3T0] and that of velocity is [M0LT-1]. Table 4 : Dimensional formula and SIunits of some physical quantities S.No.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

Physical quantity
Velocity = displacement/time Acceleration = velocity/time Force = mass x acceleration Work = F s cos q Kinetic energy = (1/2) mv Potential energy = mgh Torque = F r sin q Power = work/time Momentum = mass x velocity Impulse = F Dt Angle = arc/radius Strain = DL/L or DV/V Stress = restoring force /area Modulus of elasticity = stress/strain
2

Dimensional Formula
[L]/[T] [LT ]/[T] [M] [LT-2]
-1

SI unit
m/s m/s 2 kg / ms2 newton N

[M LT ] [M LT ] [MLT-2]
2 -2 [ML T ]
0 -2

-1

[M] [LT ] [M] [LT-2][L] [MLT-2] [L]

[MLT-2] [L]
-1 2

kg m2/s2 joule J

N-m [ML T ] [MLT-1]

2 -3

[ML T ] /[T] [M] [LT-1] [MLT ] [T] [L]/ [L]

-2

-2

kg m /s J/s watt W kg m/s or N-s radian rad

15. 16. 17.

Pressure = force /area Frequency = 1/time period Angular velocity =

angular displacement time

[L] /[L] [MLT-2]/[L2] [ML-1T-2] [MLT-2]/[L2] 1/[T] 1/[T]

[M0L0T0] Dimensionless

No units

[ML-1T-2]

N/m 2 N/m2 or pascal Pa hertz Hz

[M L T ]

0 0

-1

rad/s

18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

Moment of Inertia I = Smr2 Angular Momentum = Iw Surface Tension = force /length Spring constant, K = F/x Surface energy = energy/area

[M] [L2] [ML2] [T-1] [MLT-2]/ [L] [MLT-2]/ [L] [ML2T-2

[ML2T0] [ML2T-1]

kg m2 kg m2/s or J-s

]/ [L ]
2

[ML0T-2]

N/m J/m2

23.

Intensity =

energy area x time

[ ML2T -2 ] [ L ] [T ]
2

J
[ML0T-3]

W m2

m s

Limitations of Theory of Dimensions : (a) (b) (c) (d) If dimensions are given, the physical quantity may not be unique as many physical quantities have same dimensions. Numerical constants having no dimensions, cannot be deduced by method of dimensions. The method of dimensions cannot be used to derive relations other than product of power functions. The method of dimensions cannot be applied to derive formula if in mechanics a physical quantity depends on more than three physical quantities as then there may be less number (=3) of equations than the unknowns (>3). Even if a physical quantity depends on three physical quantities out of which, two have same dimensions, the formula cannot be derived by theory of dimensions.

(e)