Physics I course – Winter

2022
Dr. Yehia Eissa
Lecturer of Physics, Faculty of Engineering
German International University (GIU)

1
Learning outcomes

Objective: Topics:

The major objectives of this course 1. Physics and measurement

are for students to learn the 2. Motion in one dimension
fundamental principles of classical 3. Vectors
mechanics, to develop solid and 4. Motion in two dimensions
systematic problem solving skills, and 5. The laws of motion
to lay the foundations for further 6. Energy and energy transfer
studies in physics, physical sciences, 7. Potential energy
and engineering. 8. Linear momentum and collisions
9. Rotation of a rigid object about a
fixed axis
10. Angular momentum
11. Static equilibrium and elasticity
12. Fluid mechanics
13. Introduction to oscillatory motion

2
References

3
Course information

Lecturer & TA availability Grading

• Dr. Yehia Eissa • Assignments: 10%
• Office: S1.209
• Office hours: Sundays 5th slot, or by • Quizzes: 15%
appointment
• Email: [email protected] • Midterm Exam: 25%
• Final Exam: 50%
• Miss Nour Elgalad, Miss Aisha
Mamdouh, Miss Amany Shaker and
Miss Rawda Hafez Contact hours
• Office: S1.210 • Credit points: 5 ECTS
• Emails: • Lectures:
• [email protected] • Weekly lectures
• [email protected] • Bi-weekly lectures
• [email protected]
• [email protected] • Tutorials:
• Once per week, check your schedule

4
https://cms.giu-uni.de – Content Management
System

5
Chapter 1: Physics and
Measurement

6
Outline

i. To introduce the standards of length, mass and time.

ii. To review the principles for applying the SI system of units.

iii. To introduce dimensional analysis.

iv. To practice conversion of units.

v. Concept of estimates and order-of-magnitude calculations.

vi. Significant figures.

7
Mechanics

• Studying the motion of objects

that are large relative to atoms
and move at speeds much lower
than the speed of light.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_physics

8
Standards of fundamental quantities

•Standardized systems
• Agreed upon by some authority, usually a governmental body

•Measurements taken by different people in different places must yield

the same result.

•SI – Systéme International

• Agreed to in 1960 by an international committee
• Main system used in this text

9
Fundamental quantities and their units

Quantity SI Unit
Length meter

Mass kilogram

Time second

Temperature Kelvin

Electric Current Ampere

Luminous Intensity Candela

Amount of Substance mole

10
Quantities used in mechanics

•In mechanics, three fundamental quantities are used:

• Length
• Mass
• Time

•All other quantities in mechanics can be expressed in terms of the

three fundamental quantities.

11
Fundamental quantities in mechanics

• Length – in the year 1983 the meter • What is a light-year?

(m) was defined as the distance
traveled by light in vacuum during a
time of 1/299792458 s.

• Previous standards:
• 1120 AD the King of England
defined the yard from the tip of his https://lightyear.one/
nose to an outstretched arm;
• The foot was defined as the size of
the foot of King Louis XIV
• 1 m was defined as 1/10000000 of
the distance of the longitudinal line
heading from the equator to the
north pole, passing through Paris.

12
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzz_Lightyear
Fundamental quantities in mechanics

• Mass – kilogram (kg) is defined as • What is the mass of water in a

the mass of a specific platinum- 1 m * 1 m * 1 m cube?
iridium alloy cylinder kept at the
International Bureau of Weights and • Hint: ρ = m/V, where ρ denotes
Measures at Sèvres, France (that is the density, m the mass and V
until 2019!). the volume.

13
Fundamental quantities in mechanics

• Time – second (s) is now • A year is a leap year if its value

defined as 9192631770 times the is an integer multiple of 4
period of vibration of radiation (except for years evenly
from the cesium atom. divisible by 100, which are not
leap years unless evenly
divisible by 400).
• Developed at the National
Institute of Standards and
Technology Laboratories in
Boulder, CO. It will neither lose
nor gain a second in 20 million
years.

• Was the year 1900 a leap year?

14
Prefixes

•Prefixes correspond to powers of 10.

•Each prefix has a specific name.

•Each prefix has a specific abbreviation.

•The prefixes can be used with any basic units.

•They are multipliers of the basic unit.

•Examples:
• 1 mm = 10-3 m
• 1 mg = 10-3 g

15
Prefixes

16
Try to use the prefixes which are multiples of 3

17
Basic Quantities and Their Dimension

•Dimension has a specific meaning – it denotes the physical nature of a

quantity.

•Dimensions are often denoted with square brackets.

• Length [L]
• Mass [M]
• Time [T]

18
Dimensional Analysis

•Technique to check the correctness of an equation or to assist in

deriving an equation.

•Dimensions (length, mass, time, combinations) can be treated as

algebraic quantities.
• Add, subtract, multiply, divide

•Both sides of equation must have the same dimensions.

•Any relationship can be correct only if the dimensions on both sides of

the equation are the same.

19
Dimensional Analysis, example

•Given the equation: x = ½ at 2

•Check dimensions on each side:
L
L  T2  L
T 2

•The T2 cancel, leaving L for the dimensions of each side.

• The equation is dimensionally correct.
• There are no dimensions for the constant.

20
Dimensional Analysis to Determine a Power
Law
•Determine powers in a proportionality
• Example: find the exponents in the expression
x  amt n
• You must have lengths on both sides.
• Acceleration has dimensions of L/T2
• Time has dimensions of T.
• Analysis gives

x  a mt n
m
 L n
 2  T  LT
1 0

T 
2 m  n
m
LT  LT 1 0

∴m = 1 and n = 2, which brings us to: x  at 2

21
Conversion of units

• Many times we need to convert • In a vacuum, the speed of light

units from one measurement is 299798458 m s−1, what is the
system to another, e.g., miles to equivalent speed in km h−1?
km, feet to cm or m, etc.
• In meters, what is the length of
• Always include the units in your one light-year?
calculations to avoid errors.

• Units can be treated as algebraic

quantities that can cancel each
other out.

22
Conversion

•Always include units for every quantity, you can carry the units
through the entire calculation.
• Will help detect possible errors

•Multiply original value by a ratio equal to one.

•Example:
15.0 in  ? cm
 2.54 cm 
15.0 in    38.1cm
 1in 
• Note the value inside the parentheses is equal to 1, since 1 inch is defined as
2.54 cm.

23
Conversion of units

• In a vacuum, the speed of light is 299798458 m s−1, what is the

equivalent speed in km h−1?

• In meters, what is the length of one light-year?

24
Order of Magnitude

•Approximation based on a number of assumptions

• May need to modify assumptions if more precise results are needed

•The order of magnitude is the power of 10 that applies.

•e.g.:
•0.0086: ~10−2
•0.0021: ~10−3
•720: ~103

25
Significant figures

• A significant figure in a measurement •A significant figure is one that is

is a reliably known digit, other than a reliably known.
zero used to locate the decimal point,
e.g.:
• 0.03: 1 significant figure •Zeros may or may not be
• 0.0075: 2 significant figures significant.
• 1500 g: ? • Those used to position the decimal
• 1.5 x 103 g: 2 significant figures point are not significant.
• 1.50 x 103 g: 3 significant figures • To remove ambiguity, use
• 2.3 x 10−4 g: 2 significant figures
scientific notation.
• 2.30 x 10−4 g: 3 significant figures
•In a measurement, the significant
figures include the first estimated
digit.

26
Significant figures

Addition/subtraction Multiplication/division
• When numbers are added or • In the answer, claim only the
subtracted, the number of decimal number of significant figures of
places in the result should equal the
smallest number of decimal places of
the measured quantity having
any term in the sum, e.g.: the lowest number of significant
figures.
• 123 + 5.35 = 128
• 1.0001 + 0.0003 = 1.0004 • The length and width of a room
are measured to be 12.71 m and
• 23.2 + 5.174 = 28.4
3.46 m, respectively. Find the
area of the room.

27
Operations With Significant Figures –
Summary
•The rule for addition and subtraction are different than the rule for
multiplication and division.

•For adding and subtracting, the number of decimal places is the

important consideration.

•For multiplying and dividing, the number of significant figures is the

important consideration.

28
Numerical calculations

i. Must have dimensional “homogeneity.” Dimensions must be

the same on both sides of the equal sign, (e.g., distance =
speed x time.)

ii. Use an appropriate number of significant figures (3 for

answer).

iii. Be consistent when rounding off.

i. greater than 5, round up (3528  3530)
ii. smaller than 5, round down (0.03521  0.0352)
iii. equal to 5, if digit preceding 5 is odd then yes, if even then no...

29
Summary

i. The three fundamental physical quantities of mechanics are

length, mass and time
ii. Always take care when using units, always use the SI units in
your calculations, convert your units as needed
iii. Always check your computations, do they make sense?

30
Exercises

Express the following

quantities using the prefixes
given in the table on the right:
i. 3 x 10−4 m
ii. 5 x 10−5 s
iii. 72 x 102 g

31
Exercises

Express the following

quantities using the prefixes
given in the table on the right:
i. 3 x 10−4 m: 0.3 mm
ii. 5 x 10−5 s: 50 µs
iii. 72 x 102 g: 7.2 kg

32
Exercises

Assume that the period of an • Left hand side: L0M0T1

oscillation of a simple gravity • Right hand side: LaMb(LT−2)c
pendulum t depends on the
length of its rod l, mass of the
bob m and the acceleration ∴b = 0
due to gravity g, according to:
a+c=0
1 = −2c
t = k la mb gc
a = 1/2
Using dimensional analysis,
find the values of a, b, c ∴t = k l0.5 m0 g−0.5 = k
l
g

In fact, the time period of

oscillation does not depend on the
mass.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendulum
33
Exercises
• What are the dimensions of the quantity presented by m*a*t, where m is the mass, a is the acceleration and t is the time.

• An ore loader moves 1200 tons/h from a mine to the surface. Convert this rate to lb/s, using 1 ton = 2000 lb.

• A rectangle has a length of 1.323 m and a width of 4.16 m. Using significant figure rules, what is the area of this
rectangle?

• The Pyramid of Khufu has a height of 481 ft and its base covers an area of 13.0 acres. If the volume of a pyramid is given
by the expression V = 1/3Bh, where B is the area of the base and h is the height, find the volume of this pyramid in cubic
meters. (1 acre = 43 560 ft2; 1 ft = 0.3048 m).

• What is the mass of air in a room that measures 5.0 m x 8.0 m x 3.0 m? (The density of air is 1/800 that of water)

• A 2.00 m by 3.00 m rectangular plate of aluminum has a mass of 324 kg. What is the thickness of the plate? (The density
of aluminum is 2.70 x 103 kg/m3.)

• If you drove day and night without stopping for one year at 100 km/h, what is the distance you would cover?

• What are the dimensions of the quantity presented by mv2/r, where m is the mass, v is the speed and r is the radius.

34
Any questions?

35