Introduction, Units, Physical Quantities and Vectors

Introduction:
Physics is the science of matter and its motion, as well as space and time. It uses concepts
such as energy, force, mass, and charge. Physics is an experimental science, creating
theories that are tested against observations. Broadly, it is the general scientific analysis
of nature, with a goal of understanding how the universe behaves.
Physics is an empirical study. Also physics is inherently a science of measurement.

Physical system:
Everything that can be analyzed by the physical law is a physical system. There are
numbers of physical systems. We will study here mechanical system.

Physical Systems

Mechanical Thermal Optical Electrical

Figure 1: Some common physical systems

Measurement:
Measurement is the process of estimating the magnitude of some attribute of an object,
such as its length or weight, relative to some standard (unit of measurement), such as a
meter or a kilogram.

Physical quantity:
Any number or sets of number used for a quantitative description of a physical
phenomenon is called a physical quantity.

Unit:
A unit of measurement is a standardized quantity of a physical property, used as a factor
to express occurring quantities of that property.
For example, suppose a rod is 30m long, i.e. it is 30 times long as an object whose length
has been defined to be one meter. Such a standard is called a unit of the quantity.
There are different systems of unit in the world.
1. MKS System:
Unit of length− meter
Unit of mass− kilogram
Unit of time− second

2. CGS system:
Unit of length− centimeter
Unit of mass− gram
Unit of time− second

3. FPS system:
Unit of length− foot
Unit of mass− pound
Unit of time− second
Unit consistency:
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Amrita Khan/Lecturer, SECS
PHY 101/Chapter-1
Relations among physical quantities are often expressed by equations in which the
quantities are represented by algebraic symbols, only if they have the same units. An
equation must always be dimensionally consistent; this means that two terms may be
added or equated only if they have the same units.
Suppose, if a body moving with constant speed v travels a distance s in time t, these
quantities are related by the equations s = vt.
If s is measured in meters, then the product must also have units of meters. Thus an
equation must always be dimensionally consistent.

Physical quantities are often divided into fundamental quantities and derived
quantities.

Fundamental quantities:
Quantities are organized in a dimensional system built upon base quantities, each of
which is regarded as having its own dimension. Fundamental quantities are not defined in
terms of other quantities. For example, mass, length, time, etc.

According to the international System of Quantities (ISQ) the fundamental quantities and
their dimensions are listed in the following table:

ISQ fundamentals quantities

Symbol for Symbol for SI fundamental
Name
quantity dimension unit
Length l L meter
Time t T second
Mass m M kilogram
Electric current I I ampere
Thermodynamic
T  Kelvin
temperature
Amount of substance n N mole
Luminous intensity Iv J candela

Derived quantities:
Derived quantities are those whose defining operations are based on other physical
quantities. For example, velocity, acceleration, volume, etc.

Scalar and Vector quantities:

The physical quantities that can be completely specified by a number and unit, i.e. they
have magnitudes only are called scalar quantities. For example, mass, length, time, etc.
The physical quantities that have both magnitude and direction are called vectors. For
example, displacement, force, acceleration, etc.
Graphically a vector is represented by an arrow (→) defining the direction, the magnitude
of the vector being indicated by the length of the arrow.
 
A vector quantity is expressed by A or A or A and the magnitude is represented as A or
A.
P1 P2
Figure 2: Showing a vector A
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Amrita Khan/Lecturer, SECS
PHY 101/Chapter-1
We consider a vector quantity called displacement vector. Suppose an object moves from
a point P1 to another point P2, then we represented as shown in the above figure.

If the magnitude of the vector is A then we can write the vector as A . 
Vector Addition: B
Suppose an object undergoes a displacement vector A, then 
changes its direction and undergoes another displacement B. The A   
total effect of these two vectors is C which can be found by the tail C  A B
to head method, i.e. if we join the starting point to the ending point Figure 3
and the line we find gives the sum of the two vectors. This method of vector addition is
also known as triangle method.

Components of vector:
A single vector can be split up in two components of vector. The components will be at
right angle to each other.
If Ax and Ay are two components of vector A, then from the definition of trigonometric
functions 
Ax Ay
Cos   
A A
 Ax  ACos
and
A  
Sin  y Ax
A Figure 4: Components of vector
 Ay  ASin
From Pythagoras,
Ay
A2  Ax  Ay and tan  
2 2

Ax
Unit vector:
A unit vector is a vector having a magnitude of unity, with no units. Its only purpose is to
describe a direction in space. Y
In the rectangular coordinate system:
Unit vector i shows a direction in +ve X direction
Unit vector j shows a direction in +ve Y direction ĵ
Unit vector k shows a direction in +ve Z direction
X
If we have a vector C in three dimensional space, then iˆ
   
C  iˆCx  ˆjCy  kˆCz kˆ
Z
Cx, Cy, Cz are the components of vector C. Figure 5: Unit vectors

Product of vectors:
There are two types of vector multiplication. They are Scalar or dot product and vector or
cross product.
a) Scalar or dot product:
In this case the result of the multiplication of two vectors is a scalar quantity. Suppose A
and B are two vectors drawn from a common point and the angle between them is . The
scalar product of these two vectors is given by

A.B  A B Cos

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Amrita Khan/Lecturer, SECS
PHY 101/Chapter-1
        
If A  iˆAx  ˆjAy  kˆAz and B  iˆBx  ˆjBy  kˆBz then
   iˆ.iˆ  ˆj. ˆj  kˆ.kˆ  1.1Cos (0)  1 
A.B.  Ax Bx  Ay By  Az Bz  
ˆ ˆ ˆ ˆ
& iˆ. ˆj  iˆ.k  ˆj.iˆ.  ˆj.k  k .iˆ  k . ˆj  1.1Cos (90)  0
b) Vector or cross product:
In this case the result of the multiplication of two vectors is a vector quantity. The vector
product of two vectors A and B is denoted by A  B, which is another vector with a
direction perpendicular to plane of A and B.
    
If C  A  B , then the magnitude of C is B
  
C  nˆ A B Sin ,
where n̂ is a unit vector indicating the direction 
 
and angle between them. A C
   
If A  iˆAx  ˆjAy  kˆAz
   
and B  iˆBx  ˆjBy  kˆBz , then Figure 6: vector product
  
   
  
A  B  iˆAx  ˆjAy  kˆAz  iˆBx  ˆjBy  kˆBz 
 iˆ  iˆ Ax Bx   iˆ  ˆj Ax By   iˆ  kˆ Ax Bz   ˆj  iˆAy Bx   ˆj  ˆj Ay By   ˆj  kˆAy Bz 
 kˆ  iˆ Az Bx   kˆ  ˆj Az By   kˆ  kˆ Az Bz 
But
iˆ  iˆ  ˆj  ˆj  kˆ  kˆ  1.1Sin(0)  0
& iˆ  ˆj  kˆ, ˆj  iˆ  kˆ, ˆj  kˆ  iˆ, kˆ  ˆj  iˆ, kˆ  iˆ  ˆj, iˆ  kˆ   ˆj
 
Therefore A  B  iˆAy Bz  Az By   ˆj  Ax Bz  Az Bx   kˆAx By  Ay Bx 
Thus we can write the vector product of two vectors in terms of Matrix.

Problems for practice: Exercise 1- 15, 1- 19, 1- 20, 1- 25, 1- 30, 1- 31, 1- 35, 1-36,
1- 37, 1-38 etc. from University Physics by Sears Zemansky (6th Edition)

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Amrita Khan/Lecturer, SECS
PHY 101/Chapter-1