Physics Unit One: Quantities in Physics
Schedule 2013 (Subject to Change)
Unit One Learning Targets
1.
2.
3.
4.
Students should be able to convert between scientific and ordinary notation
Students should be able to do calculations with numbers expressed in scientific notation.
Students should be able to identify the standard metric unit for length, time or mass.
Students should be able to convert between quantities with metric (SI) prefixes (M, k, c, m, µ
).
5. Students should be able to convert between any units (metric or not) given the conversion
factor.
Date
Thursday,
August 15
Friday,
August 16
Monday,
August 19
Block, August
21, 22
Activity/Topic
Intro to physics
Discuss Class Directives
Exponential Notation
Discuss math review
Metric Conversions
Non-Metric Conversions
Assignment due next day
Worksheet 1: Mathematics Review
Unit One Quiz
TBA
Worksheet 2: Metric Review
Worksheet 3: Conversions Worksheet
Note: This unit is a short one. It is stuff you should already be able to do.
Included in this packet are extra practice materials which you may do but are not
going to be assigned as homework. You'll be provided with answers and you'll be
able to find out how you're doing. Whether you choose to do this work is up to
you ... for now.
Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn.
-- Benjamin Franklin (Poor Richard's Almanack, 1755)
You can always tell a physicist, but you can't tell him much.
-- Anonymous
Unit 1: Worksheet 1: Mathematics Review
Write the following in proper scientific notation:
1. 156.90
________________
4. 0.0365
_______________
2. 12
_______________
________________
5. 0.00089
3. 23,000,000 _______________
6. 0.0000000023 ______________
7. The speed of light in air is approximately 300,000,000 meters per second. Write this in
scientific notation. (BTW that is about 186,000 miles per second.)
Expand the following numbers into ordinary notation:
8. 1.23 x 106 _____________
11. 2.5 x 10-1 ________________
9. 1.54 x 104 _____________
12. 9.09 x 10-5 _______________
10. 455 x 100 _____________
13. 0.0076 x 10-3 ______________
14. The mass of the Earth is about 5.97 x 1024 kg. The combined mass of all the people on Earth
is about 4.5 x 1011 kg. Write these below in ordinary notation.
Solve the following and express your answer in scientific notation. Be careful when putting
these #’s in your calculator. Use the [EE] or [EXP] button rather than
[x 10^]. Round your answers so that the significand has three digits only (1.23 x 104 and
not 1.234567 x 108).
15. (7.4 x 1010) / (3.7 x 103)
=
_________________
16. (2.67 x 10-3) – (9.5 x 10-4)
=
_________________
17. (1.56 x 10-7) + (2.43 x 10-8) =
_________________
18. (2.3 x 104) x (2.0 x 10-3)
_________________
=
Solve for the “x” in the following equations. Your final answer will still have variables in
it.
19. 3x = 6g
x=
20. 2x2 = 20y
x=
t
d
x
x=
21.
2 x
x=
y
c
Find the value of the variable indicated in the following equations given values for the
other variables. These are real physics equations and we will learn how to do this with
units later.
23. p = mv
find p if m = 3.0 and v = 2.4
22.
24. K = ½mv2
find K if m = 3.0 and v = 2.4
25. vf = vo + at
find t if vf = 1.9, vo = 4.3 and a = 5.7
26. x = vot + ½ at2
find t if vo = 0.54, x = 3.0 and a = 0
Unit 1: Worksheet 2: Metric (SI) Review
SI Units
1. What is the base metric unit for length? _________
Note: This is the unit you would generally use in calculations for anything from the
radius of an atom to the size of the universe although at times other units may be more
convenient.
2. What is the base metric unit for time? _________
3. What is the base metric unit for mass? ________
4. What are the abbreviations for each of these? ____, ____, ____
SI Prefixes
There are many different metric prefixes but the ones that you must know for this class are
shown below:
Mega (M) = 1000000 = 106
Kilo (k) = 1000 = 103
(none) = 1 = 100
Centi (c) = .01 = 10-2
Milli (m) = .001 = 10-3
Micro ()= .000001 = 10-6
These should be
memorized!!!
5. How would you abbreviate each of the following metric units: millimeter, kilometer,
centigram, megasecond, microsecond, and gram? ____, ____, ____, ____, ____, ____
6. Write out the full version of each of the following metric abbreviations: mg, ks, Mm.
SI Conversions
In this course you will be expected to make metric-metric conversions between units with the
prefixes given above without the use of a table. Conversions between imperial units (the ones
we use) and metric will often be done and we’ll learn about them next.
Perform the following conversion to review metric-metric conversion:
8. 5798 mm = __________ m
18. 11 cm = __________ mm
9. 3 km = __________ m
19. 55.3 mm = __________ m
10. 45 cm = __________ mm
20. 0.0062 Mg = __________ g
11. 34.5 m = __________ Mm
21. 3 x 1026 cg = __________ mg
12. 79.8 m = ___________ mm
22. 31 mm = __________ cm
13. .00489 kg = __________g
23. 5.55 km = __________ m
14. 2.4 x 10 Ms = __________ s
24. 28 mm = __________ km
-5
3
15. 6.38 x 10 km = __________ m
25. 18.0 mg = __________ kg
16. 556 cm = __________ km
26. 3500 km = __________ Mm
17. 4.2 km = _________ cm
27. 94 cg = __________ g
Answers: 8) 5.798 m; 10) 450 mm; 12) .0798 mm; 14) 2.4 x 10 7 s; 16) 0.00556 km
7. Find a resource (like the interweb) to help you write out the full version of each of the
following metric abbreviations: ng, zs, Ym, hm, Ts
Unit 1: Worksheet 3: Conversions Worksheet
A. Convert each of the following quantities into the unit shown .
1.
2.
3.
4.
25 km into m
________________
.015 m into cm
________________
9.56 g into kg
________________
7.3 x 1013 g into g________________
5.
6.
7.
8.
200 Ms into ks
________________
123.45 ml into L ________________
3.4 x 10-3 km into m ______________
0.76 kg into cg
________________
B. Convert each of the following using factor labeling. Be sure to show all of your work. I want to
see the work even if you can just do it on your calculator. Some conversions may take multiple steps.
1 meter = 3.28 feet
1 km = 1000 m
1 kg = .0685 slugs
1 pound = 4.45 N
1 mile = 1.61 km
9. 3.0 feet
= _________ inches
10. 16 years
= _________ minutes
11. 103 meters
= _________ feet
12. 0.00333 slugs
= _________ kg
13. 18 N
= _________ pounds
14. 18 in2
= _________ ft2
15. 55 km
hr
= _________ m
s
16. 25000 miles
day
= ____________ km
hr
C. Use the following equalities to make the conversions below. Make a conversion factor to cancel
out the unit you have and to leave you with the unit that you want.
32 glops = 2.9 blahs = 0.0125 quags = 8.5 x 105 ips
17. 1.11 glop
= ________ quags?
18. 3.10 quag
= ________ ips?
19. 0.184 blahs
= ________ quags?
D. Solve this problem.
20. You have traveled back in time to Ye Olde England via a hot tub time machine. To get back home,
you have to make sure that the tub has exactly the right amount of water. Unfortunately this village
measures all of their liquids in units of hogsheads! You know that the hot tub contained 450 gallons of
water. How many hogsheads is that given that 1 liter is 0.264 gallons and 1 hogshead is 238.5 liters?
Physics Unit 1: Extra Practice Worksheet 1
Convert each of the following #’s into scientific notation.
1) 0.0045
_______________
4) 0.12
2) 45,000,000 _______________
5) 0.000000029
3) 309,000
_______________
6) 0.00268
_______________
_______________
_______________
Convert each of the following #’s into ordinary notation.
7) 8.6 x 107 _______________
10) 2.2 x 10-2 _______________
8) 9.0 x 10-3 _______________
11) 8.4 x 104 _______________
9) 1.05 x 106 _______________
12) 5.5 x 100 _______________
Do the following problem and express your answer in proper scientific notation. Round
your answers so that the significand has three digits only (1.23 x 104 and not 1.23456 x 107).
13) 1.97 x 108 - 6.05 x 10-3
_______________
14) 8.44 x 10-3 x
15) 5.20 x 10
5
6.44 x 1014
6
÷ 9.77 x 10
_______________
_______________
Convert the quantity given into the units shown by the blank.
16) 3.4 kg = ____________g
19) 9.07 x 10-7 Mm = ______________cm
17) 490 mm = ___________ cm
20) 140 g = _______________mg
18) 2.5 x 105 s = ____________ ms
21) 0.127 cs = ____________ s
Use the following conversion factors to convert the quantities given on the left into the units
given on the right. Be able to show your work. Again, three significant digits are fine.
This means that even if your calculator gives you 12 digits, you shouldn't use them.
1 foot = 12 inches
5280 feet = 1 mile
1 mile = 1.61 km
3.28 feet = 1 meter $ 1 = 0.75 Euro
1 gallon = 3.79 liter
22) 29.2 inches
______________feet
23) 897 feet
______________km
24) 87.3 ft2
______________m2
25) 2.78 dollar
gallon
_____________ Euro
liter
Physics Unit 1: Extra Practice Worksheet 2
Convert each of the following #’s into scientific notation.
1) 0.00012
_______________
4) 12.3
2) 460,000,000 _______________
5) 0.0000091
3) 57,000
_______________
6) 0.000612
_______________
_______________
_______________
Convert each of the following #’s into ordinary notation.
7) 4.3 x 108 _______________
10) 6.4 x 10-2 _______________
8) 6.0 x 10-5 _______________
11) 0.11 x 104 _______________
9) 8.5 x 107 _______________
12) 5.5 x 10-1 _______________
Do the following problem and express your answer in proper scientific notation. Round
your answers so that the significand has three digits only (1.23 x 104 and not 1.23456 x 107).
13) 5.20 x 108 - 7.40 x 103
_______________
14) 1.44 x 10-7 x
15) 1.32 x 105
9.07 x 107
÷ 3.22 x 106
_______________
_______________
Convert the quantity given into the units shown by the blank.
16) 8.4 g = ____________kg
19) 1.96 x 10-7 g = ______________kg
17) 410 cm = ___________ m
20) 804 m = _______________m
18) 2.5 x 105 ks = ____________ Ms
21) 17.0 ms = ____________ s
Use the following conversion factors to convert the quantities given on the left into the units
given on the right. Be able to show your work. You should know the time
conversions.Again, three significant digits are fine. This means that even if your calculator
gives you 12 digits, you shouldn't use them. (So don't write down 0.021564789 ... I don't
like it ... It makes me mad ... then I look for the red pen.)
1 m3 ≈ 264 gal
1 m = 3.28 ft
1 ft3 = 7.48 gal
22) 25.2 hours
____________seconds
23) 450 gallons
______________m3
24) 92 ft3
______________m3
25) 600,000 ft3
sec
_____________ gal
min