Applied Science Department (ASD) Centre for Foundation Studies and Extension Education (FOSEE)

PPH 0095 Mechanics Foundation in Engineering

ONLINE NOTES

Chapter 1 Physical Quantities

FOSEE , MULTIMEDIA UNIVERSITY (436821-T) MELAKA CAMPUS, JALAN AYER KEROH LAMA, 75450 MELAKA, MALAYSIA. Tel 606 252 3594 Fax 606 231 8799 URL: http://fosee.mmu.edu.my/~asd/

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Contents 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Introduction to SI Units. Basic Quantities Derived Quantities Conversion of Units Scalar and Vector Quantity Factor of ten Simplification (Standard Prefixes) Dimension: Homogeneity of Physical Equations. Error and Accuracy and Significant Figures. Vectors. 1.8.1 Component of a vector. 1.8.2 Vector addition and Subtraction. 1.8.2.1 Graphical Methods. 1.8.2.2 Component Methods. 1.8.3 Dot Product and Cross Product.

Mind Map

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OBJECTIVES
Upon completion of this chapter, you should be able to: 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) list the base quantities and their SI units. use common standard prefixes explain the advantage of and apply dimensional analysis and unit analysis. determine the number of significant figures in a numerical value and report the proper number of significant figures after performing simple calculation. distinguish between scalars and vectors. Add and subtract vectors graphically and by the component method. determine the dot and cross products of given vectors.

1.0

INTRODUCTION TO SI UNITS
A physical property that can be measured is called a physical quantity. The most commonly encountered physical quantities are length, mass, time, current, temperature, light intensity and amount of substance. These seven quantities are known as the base quantities. Other physical quantities is described by a numeral value and a combination of these quantities. A physical quantity is described by a numerical value and a unit. A unit is the standard size for a physical quantity. Different units can be used to describe the same quantity. For example, the height of a person can be expressed in feet and inches, or in meters and centimeters. The units of a certain quantity can be converted from one system of measurement to another. Such conversion are sometimes necessary. It is, however, most practical to work consistently within the same system of units.

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1.1

BASIC QUANTITIES
The international system of units commonly used in science an engineering is the Systeme International dUnites, or SI in short. The SI system of units defines the base units for seven base quantities as given in Table 1. Various derived units for different derived quantities are obtained from these base quantities.

QUANTITY

SI UNITS

SYMBOL

Length

meter

Mass

kilogram

kg

Time

second

Electric current

ampere

Temperature

kelvin

Light Intensity

candela

cd

Amount of Substance

Mole

mol

Table 1

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1.2

DERIVED QUANTITIES
Derived quantities are quantities that are not base quantities. The units for these derived quantities are known as derived units. These units are formed from the base units using the known links between the physical quantities involved. A list of the more common derived quantities and their units is given in Table 2.

QUANTITY

SYMBOL A

ABBREVIATION -

IN TERMS OF BASE UNITS m2 m3 ms ms kg.m

1

Area V Volume v Speed or velocity a Acceleration Density Force Energy & Work Power Pressure Electric Charge Frequency Electric Resistance Capacitance F E or W P p C f R C Newton (N) Joule (J) Watt (W) Pascal (Pa) Coulomb (C) Hertz (Hz) Ohm () Farad (F) Table 2 kg ms kg.m 2 s kg.m 2 s
2
3

kg/(m.s 2 ) A.s s
2
1

( kg.m /(A 2 .s 3 ) A 2 s 4 kg
1

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1.3

CONVERSION of UNITS
Any quantity we measure, such as a length, a speed, or an electric current, consists of a number and a unit. Often we are given a quantity in one set of units, but we want it expressed in another set of units. For example, suppose we measure that a table is 20.5 inches wide, and we want to express this in centimeters. We must use a conversion factor. In any conversion, if the units do not combine algebraically to give the desired result, the conversion has not been carried out properly. cm km , m2 mm
2

, kg/m 3

g / cm 3

1.4

SCALAR and VECTOR QUANTITY

A scalar quantity is a physical quantity that is represented by magnitude together with the relevant units. It can be positive, negative or zero. Example: Length, mass, speed an time. A vector quantity is a physical quantity that is represented by both magnitude and direction together with the relevant units. Example:: Velocity, acceleration, and force.

1.5

FACTOR of TEN SIMPLIFICATION (STANDARD PREFIXES)

Standard prefixes are used to designate common multiples in powers of ten. This makes calculation easier. The most common prefixes are listed in Table 3.

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FACTOR

PREFIX

SYMBOL

FACTOR

PREFIX

SYMBOL

10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

deci centi milli micro nano pico femto atto

d c m

10 1 10 2 10 3 10 6

deka hecto kilo mega giga tera peta exa

da h k M G T P E

n p f a

10 9 10 12 10 15 10 18

12

15

18

Table 3 Example: 1.2 x 10 2.9 x 10

12

F = 1.2 pF Hz = 2.9 Hz

1.6

DIMENSIONS : HOMOGENEITY of PHYSICAL EQUATIONS.

The dimensions of a physical quantity are a combination of the basic physical quantities, raised to the appropriate powers, which are used to define the physical quantity. Many physical quantities can be expressed in terms of a combination of fundamental dimensions such as length,( L ), time, ( T ) and mass, ( M ). The dimension of a physical quantity refer to the type of quantity in questions, regardless of the units used in the measurements. In other words, dimensions are not units. Dimension of a physical quantity is an algebraic combination of L, T and M from which the quantity is found.

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Area can be measure in various units such as square metres, square feet, acres and hectares. However, regardless of the units used, area is always length multiplied by length. The dimensions on area are therefore the square of length, usually stated as L 2 Symbol for dimension of a physical quantity is quantity

QUANTITY Mass Length Time Density Velocity Acceleration Force Work/ Power Energy Power

DIMENSION mass length time mass / length length / time velocity / time mass force acceleration distance
3

SYMBOL M L T ML LT LT MLT ML 2 T ML 2 T
3

work / time Table 4

There is no dimension for, Numerical value Ratio between the same quantity Example: specific density = density of substance / density of water = ML 3 / ML 3 = 1

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Angle has no dimension because it is a comparison between two position of length measurement. B

C tan = BC /AC = L/L = 1 = tan 1 1 Known constant Example: ln, lg and But, there are some constant has a dimension. Example: Modulus Young Gravitational acceleration Uses of Dimensions a) To determine the dimensions and units of a quantity.

Example 1: Given equation, ( p + a / V 2 ) ( V - b ) = nRt, where : p = pressure, V = volume Determine the dimension and units for constant a and b. Solution: Quantity of a / V 2 must be the same with quantity of p , pressure p =ML 1 T 2 a / V2 = p = ML 1 T

= ML 1 T 2 V 2 = ML 1 T 2 (L 3 ) = ML 5 T 2
2

Unit of a is kgm 5 s

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Constant for b must be the same with quantity volume, V b = V = L3 Unit of b is m 3

b)

Check whether an equation is dimensionally correct, i.e.. if an equation has the same dimension ( unit ) on both sides. (Homogeneity of equations). This is useful for checking the correctness of an equation. Note : Dimensionally correct does not necessarily mean the equation is correct.

Example 2: An object move linearly with initial velocity, u and constant acceleration, a to a final velocity, v in a time, t. The final velocity is given by equation : v = u + at. Show that the equation is dimensionally correct Solution: v = u + at The dimensions of v, u and a: v = LT 1 u = LT 1 at = a t =LT

T= LT

Dimension analysis: Dimension of left side is LT 1 Dimension of right side is = LT 1 + LT 1 = 2 LT 1 So the dimension of the left side is equal to the dimension of the right side and the equation is dimensionally correct. c) Derive an equation.

Example 3: When a sphere moves through a liquid at steady speed, the drag force is thought to depend on the viscosity of the liquid the speed v of the sphere the radius r of the sphere. Assuming that F = k a vb rc, where k, a, b and c are dimensionless constants, determine the values of a, b and c. Then express the formula in its simplest form. The dimension of are M L-1T-1
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Solution: F = MLT 2 k a vb rc = (ML-1T-1)a x (LT-1)b x (L)c MLT-2 = ML-1T-1)a x (LT-1)b x (L)c = Ma L-a+b+c T-a-b Equating the indices of each dimension gives, M: 1=a a=1 T: -2 = -a b b=2a = 2-1 = 1 L: 1 = -a + b + c c=1+ab =1+11=1 So , a = 1, b = 1, c = 1. Hence , F = k v r

1.7

ERRORS and ACCURACY and SIGNIFICANT FIGURES. 1.7.1 ERRORS and ACCURACY
The measured thickness of a book is 2.4 cm using an ordinary ruler. It is wrong to state the result as 2.40 cm because the measurement is reliable up to the nearest centimeter only. Given the limitations of the ordinary ruler, it is not possible to determine whether the actual thickness is 2.40 cm, 2.37 cm or 2.45 cm. If vernier calipers are used, the result will be 2.43 cm. Vernier calipers can measure lengths reliably to the nearest 0.01 cm. The difference between these two measurement is in their uncertainty. The measurements obtained using vernier calipers have smaller uncertainties. Therefore, a more accurate reading for the thickness can be obtained. The uncertainty is also called the error, because it points out the maximum difference that is likely to exist between the measured value and the actual value. So, when it is said that there is an error or uncertainty in a measurement, this does not mean there is a mistake or that the measurement value cannot be confirmed. The accuracy of a measured value, that is how close the measurement is to the actual value, is indicated by writing the number, the symbol and a second number which indicates the uncertainty of the measurement. If the diameter of a copper wire is measured as 0.50 0.01 mm, this means that the actual value is unlikely to be less than 0.49 mm or greater than 0.51 mm. The value 0.01 mm represents the absolute error of the measurement. Accuracy can also be expressed in terms of the maximum likely fractional error or percentage error. A resistor labeled 12 10% probably has a true resistance value differing from 12 by no more than 10% of 12 , that is about 1 . The resistance is probably between 11 and 13 .

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For the diameter of the copper wire mentioned earlier, the fractional error is (0.01 mm) / ( 0.50 mm ) , or about 0.02. The percentage error is 0.02 x 100% = 2.00% % Uncertainty = Uncertainty of a quantity x 100 % Central Value Example 4: Width of a page of paper = 21.6 0.1 cm Length of a page of paper = 27.9 0.1 cm % Uncertainty ( width ) = 0.1/21.6 x 100% = 0.5% %Uncertainty ( length ) = 0.1/27.9 x 100% = 0.4 % Area, A = ( 21.6 x 27.9 ) cm 2 = 603 cm 2 The total area uncertainty = 0.9 % This means an uncertainty of ( 0.009 ) ( 603 cm 2 ) = 5 cm 2 The area of the paper is ( 603 5 ) cm 2 RULER: Uncertainty of 1 mm ( 0.1 cm ) Example: (45.0 0.1) cm VERNIER CALIPERS : Uncertainty of 0.01cm Example: ( 8.16 0.01 ) cm MICROMETER SCREW GAUGE: Uncertainty of 0.01mm Example: ( 8.20 0.01 ) mm Parallax Error: Position of an object had been altered because of observers eye. Effect: Accuracy decrease, Error increase.

1.7.2 SIGNIFICANT FIGURES.

In many cases, the error or uncertainty of a measurement or number is not stated explicitly. Instead, the uncertainty is indicated by the number of meaningful digits, or significant figures, in the measured value. The number of digits known with certainty in the number is called the number of significant figures. Thus, there are four significant figures in the number 45.83 cm and two in the number 0.029 cm. Addition /subtraction process: When numbers are added/subtracted, the number of decimal places in the result should equal the smallest number of decimal places of any term (or quantity) in the summation/subtraction. Example 5: 23.1 +45 +0.68 +100 = 169 (result with zero decimal place) 23.5 + 0.567 + 0.85 = 24.9 (result with one decimal place)

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Multiplication /division process: In multiplying/dividing two or more quantities, the number of significant figures in the final result should be the same as the number of significant figures of any term (or quantity) having the lowest number of significant figures. Example 6: 0.424 x 3.4 = 1.4416 = 1.4 (result rounded down two significant figures) 13.90 0.580 = 23.9655 = 24.0 (result rounded up to three significant figures)

1. Zeros at the beginning of a number are not significant. They merely locate the decimal point. 0.254 m 3 s.f 2. Zeros within a number are significant. 104.6 m 4 s.f 3. Zeros at the end of a number after the decimal point are significant. 2705.0 .5 s.f

1.8

VECTORS

IMPORTANT TERMS
SCALAR QUANTITY: A quantity which can be described by a single number VECTOR QUANTITY : A quantity which can be adequately described by a number (magnitude) and a direction. VECTOR COMPONENT : Two perpendicular vectors which added together produce the original vector. THE RESULTANT or sum of a number of vectors of a particular type ( force vector, for example ) is that single vector that would have the same effect as all the original vectors taken together. A SCALAR QUANTITY A scalar quantity, or scalar, is one that has nothing to do with spatial direction. Many physical concepts such as length, time temperature, mass, density, charge and volume are scalars; each has a scale or size but no associated direction. The number of students in a class, the quantity of sugar in a jar, and the cost of a house are familiar scalar quantities. Scalars are specified by ordinary number and add and subtract in the usual way. Two candies in one box plus seven in another will give total nine candies.

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A VECTOR QUANTITY Vector quantities have magnitude and direction. Physical quantities that have both numerical and directional properties are represented by vectors. Examples of vector quantities are force, momentum, velocity, displacement and acceleration. In printed material, vectors are often represented by boldface type, such as F. When written by hand, the designation F is commonly used. The magnitude of vector a is written as a or a. Two vectors a and b are equal only if: a = b direction of a = direction of b When a vector P is multiplied by a scalar k, the result is a vector kP with magnitude kP. If k = 0 , the result is a zero vector 0

1.8.1 COMPONENTS of a VECTORS

A component of a vector is its effective value in a given direction. For example, the x-component of a displacement is the displacement parallel to the x-axis caused by the given displacement. A vector in three dimensions may be considered as the resultant of its component vectors resolved along any three mutually perpendicular directions. Similarly, a vector in two dimensions may be resolved into two component vectors acting along any two mutually perpendicular directions.
y

Ry

Rx Figure 1

Figure 1 shows the vector R and its x and y vector components R x and R y , which have magnitudes
R x = R Cos

and

R y = R Sin

or equivalently R x = R Cos and R y = R Sin

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Angle,

) Rx Conversely, if Rx and Ry are given, Pythagoras theorem is used to find R. Ry 2 2 R= R x R y and = tan-1( ) Rx

= tan-1 (

Ry

1.8.2 VECTOR ADDITION and SUBTRACTION . 1.8.2.1 GRAPHICAL METHOD a) ADDING VECTORS
Two vectors can be added by arranging them such that the tail of the second vector is at the head of the first vector. The sum of these vectors is another vector which extends from the tail of the first vector to the head of the second vector. It is called the resultant vector. Triangle Method. Draw vector A with its magnitude represented by a convenient scale. Draw vector B to the same scale , its tail start from tip of A Resultant vector , R = A + B drawn from the tail of A to the tip of B ( Figure 2)

R B A Start
Figure 2 Parallelogram Method. For adding two vectors: the resultant of two vectors acting at any angle may be represented by the diagonal of a parallelogram. The two vectors are drawn as the sides of the parallelogram and the resultant is its diagonal, as shown in Figure 3. The direction of the resultant is away from the origin of the two vectors.

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ta esul R

nt

R B
Figure 3 Polygon Method. This method for finding the resultant R of several vectors ( A , B and C ) consists in beginning at any convenient point and drawing ( to scale and in the proper directions ) each vector arrow in turn. They may be taken in any order of succession : A + B + C = C + B + A = R . The tail end of each arrow is positioned at the tip end of the preceding one, as shown in Figure 4.

End

B
Res
The resultant is represented by an arrow with its tail end at the starting point and its tip end at the tip of the last vector added. If R is the resultant, R = R is the size or magnitude of the resultant.
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ulta nt

A Start
Figure 4

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b)

SUBTRACTING VECTORS
To subtract a vector B from A , reverse the direction of B and add individually to vector A , that is , A - B = A + (- B )

Figure 5 R = A + ( B) = A B

1.8.2.2

COMPONENTS METHODS.

Each vector is resolved into its x-, y-, and z- components, with negatively directed components taken as negative. The scalar x-component R x of the resultant R is the algebraic sum of all the scalar x-components. The scalar y- and z- components of the resultant are found in a similar way. With the components known, the magnitude of the resultant is given by R =
2 Rx 2 Ry

Rz2

In two dimension, the angle of the resultant with the x-axis can be found from the Ry relation tan = . Rx Example: The three forces shown in Figure 6 act on an object at point O. Calculate the resultant force.

Figure 6
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Solution: Sum of components along Ox Rx = 19 + 15cos 60 16cos 45 = 15.19 N Sum of components along Oy Ry = 0 + 15sin 60 + 16 sin 45 = 24.30 N Magnitude of resultant forc, R = [(15.19)2 + 24.30)2]1/2 = 28.66 N Direction of resultant force is given by = tan 1 (24.30/15.19) = 57.99

1.8.3 DOT PRODUCT and CROSS PRODUCT

1.8.3.1 UNIT VECTOR A unit vector is a dimension vector having a magnitude of one. Units vectors are used in describing direction in place. The symbols i, j, k are usually used for unit vectors in the positive x, y and z respectively. ( Figure 7 )

k i x

Figure 7

A vector a in a three dimensional coordinate system can be written as: a = ax i + ay j + azk

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Suppose,

a = ax i + ay j + azk b = bx i + by j + bzk r=a+b =( a x i + a y j + a z k ) + (b x i + b y j + b z k ) = (a x + b x ) i + (a y + b y ) j + (a z + b z ) k

1.8.3.2

DOT PRODUCT

Dot product of two vectors a.b yield a scalar. ( Figure 8 ) a.b = ab cos

b
Figure 8 Since i, j and k are all one unit in length and they are all mutually perpendicular, we have, i) ii) i i=j j=k k=1 i j=j i=i k=k i=j k=k j=0 [cos 0o = 1] [cos 90o = 0]

For example, if r1 = ai + bj + ck and r2 = di + ej + fk, then, r1 r2 = (ai + bj + ck) (di + ej + fk) = ad + be + cf

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1.8.3.3 CROSS PRODUCT Cross product of two vectors A.B yield another vector C, where C = A x B ( Figure 9 ) A B = (|A| |B| sin )

Figure 9 Note: A B= B A

Vector Product of Parallel Vectors A B If A and B are parallel vectors, |A B| = |A| |B| sin 0o = 0

In the case of unit vectors i, j and k, i i = j j = k k = 0, (the zero vector).

Vector Product of Perpendicular Vectors In the case of unit vectors i, j and k, which are perpendicular to each other, sin 90o = 1. Thus, i j k j=k k=i i=j and and and j k i i= j= k= k i j

If a

a = x1i + y1j + z1k and b = x2i + y2j + z2k, b = (x1i + y1j + z1k) = x1x2 (i (x2i + y2j + z2k) j) + x1z2 (i k) + y1x2 (j i) + y1y2 (j j)

i) + x1y2 (i

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+ y1z2 (j

k) + z1x2 (k

i) + z1y2 (k

j) + z1z2 (k

k)

= x1y2 k x1z2 j y1x2 k + y1z2 i + z1x2 j z1y2 i = (y1z2 z1y2) i + (z1x2 x1z2) j + (x1y2 y1x2) k i x1 j k y1 z1

This expression is the expansion of the determinant i x1

x2
j y1

y2
k z1

z2

Therefore (x1i + y1j + z1k)

(x2i + y2j + z2k) =

x2

y2

z2

END OF CHAPTER 1.

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