Unit Conversions Physics 6A Prepared by Vince Zaccone For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB Units are very important when dealing with physical quantities. Here are a couple of examples for practice: Prepared by Vince Zaccone For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB The speed of light is 3.00x108 m/s. What is this speed in miles per hour? Prepared by Vince Zaccone For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB The speed of light is 3.00x108 m/s. What is this speed in miles per hour? We will need to convert meters to miles, and seconds to hours. Prepared by Vince Zaccone For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB The speed of light is 3.00x108 m/s. What is this speed in miles per hour? We will need to convert meters to miles, and seconds to hours. Looking up a conversion factor from the book (or internet): 1 mile = 1609 meters Now we can do some simple multiplying to do the conversions: Prepared by Vince Zaccone For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB The speed of light is 3.00x108 m/s. What is this speed in miles per hour? We will need to convert meters to miles, and seconds to hours. Looking up a conversion factor from the book (or internet): 1 mile = 1609 meters Now we can do some simple multiplying to do the conversions: 3.00 108m 1mile 60s 60 min iles ( )( )( )( ) 671224362.958 mhr 1s 1609m 1 min 1hr Prepared by Vince Zaccone For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB The speed of light is 3.00x108 m/s. What is this speed in miles per hour? We will need to convert meters to miles, and seconds to hours. Looking up a conversion factor from the book (or internet): 1 mile = 1609 meters Now we can do some simple multiplying to do the conversions: 3.00 108m 1mile 60s 60 min iles ( )( )( )( ) 671224362.958 mhr 1s 1609m 1 min 1hr Of course that answer is very cumbersome to work with and it has the wrong number of significant digits. A better answer would be rounded off and be placed in scientific notation: 6.71 108 miles hr Prepared by Vince Zaccone For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB A beaker has a radius of 5 cm and is filled with water to a depth of 10 cm. Suppose that a water molecule can be modeled as a cube with side length 0.1nm. Approximately how many water molecules are in the beaker? 10 cm 5 cm Prepared by Vince Zaccone For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB A beaker has a radius of 5 cm and is filled with water to a depth of 10 cm. Suppose that a water molecule can be modeled as a cube with side length 0.1nm. Approximately how many water molecules are in the beaker? This is a question about volumes. We need to be careful with our units and make sure they all match up. One way to do this is to convert everything to the same units (meters are convenient here). 10 cm 5 cm Prepared by Vince Zaccone For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB A beaker has a radius of 5 cm and is filled with water to a depth of 10 cm. Suppose that a water molecule can be modeled as a cube with side length 0.1nm. Approximately how many water molecules are in the beaker? This is a question about volumes. We need to be careful with our units and make sure they all match up. One way to do this is to convert everything to the same units (meters are convenient here). What is the volume of the beaker? 10 cm 5 cm Prepared by Vince Zaccone For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB A beaker has a radius of 5 cm and is filled with water to a depth of 10 cm. Suppose that a water molecule can be modeled as a cube with side length 0.1nm. Approximately how many water molecules are in the beaker? This is a question about volumes. We need to be careful with our units and make sure they all match up. One way to do this is to convert everything to the same units (meters are convenient here). What is the volume of the beaker? 10 cm 5 cm It is a cylinder, so the volume is 𝜋 ∙ (𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠)2 ∙ (ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡) Prepared by Vince Zaccone For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB A beaker has a radius of 5 cm and is filled with water to a depth of 10 cm. Suppose that a water molecule can be modeled as a cube with side length 0.1nm. Approximately how many water molecules are in the beaker? This is a question about volumes. We need to be careful with our units and make sure they all match up. One way to do this is to convert everything to the same units (meters are convenient here). What is the volume of the beaker? 10 cm 5 cm It is a cylinder, so the volume is 𝜋 ∙ (𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠)2 ∙ (ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡) Vbeaker (0.05m)2 (0.10m) 7.85 104m3 Prepared by Vince Zaccone For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB A beaker has a radius of 5 cm and is filled with water to a depth of 10 cm. Suppose that a water molecule can be modeled as a cube with side length 0.1nm. Approximately how many water molecules are in the beaker? This is a question about volumes. We need to be careful with our units and make sure they all match up. One way to do this is to convert everything to the same units (meters are convenient here). What is the volume of the beaker? 10 cm 5 cm It is a cylinder, so the volume is 𝜋 ∙ (𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠)2 ∙ (ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡) Vbeaker (0.05m)2 (0.10m) 7.85 104m3 What is the volume of a water molecule? Prepared by Vince Zaccone For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB A beaker has a radius of 5 cm and is filled with water to a depth of 10 cm. Suppose that a water molecule can be modeled as a cube with side length 0.1nm. Approximately how many water molecules are in the beaker? This is a question about volumes. We need to be careful with our units and make sure they all match up. One way to do this is to convert everything to the same units (meters are convenient here). What is the volume of the beaker? 10 cm 5 cm It is a cylinder, so the volume is 𝜋 ∙ (𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠)2 ∙ (ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡) Vbeaker (0.05m)2 (0.10m) 7.85 104m3 What is the volume of a water molecule? We are assuming these are cubes, so volume is side length cubed. Prepared by Vince Zaccone For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB A beaker has a radius of 5 cm and is filled with water to a depth of 10 cm. Suppose that a water molecule can be modeled as a cube with side length 0.1nm. Approximately how many water molecules are in the beaker? This is a question about volumes. We need to be careful with our units and make sure they all match up. One way to do this is to convert everything to the same units (meters are convenient here). What is the volume of the beaker? 10 cm 5 cm It is a cylinder, so the volume is 𝜋 ∙ (𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠)2 ∙ (ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡) Vbeaker (0.05m)2 (0.10m) 7.85 104m3 What is the volume of a water molecule? We are assuming these are cubes, so volume is side length cubed. Vmolecule (0.1 109m)3 1 1030m3 Prepared by Vince Zaccone For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB A beaker has a radius of 5 cm and is filled with water to a depth of 10 cm. Suppose that a water molecule can be modeled as a cube with side length 0.1nm. Approximately how many water molecules are in the beaker? This is a question about volumes. We need to be careful with our units and make sure they all match up. One way to do this is to convert everything to the same units (meters are convenient here). What is the volume of the beaker? 10 cm 5 cm It is a cylinder, so the volume is 𝜋 ∙ (𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠)2 ∙ (ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡) Vbeaker (0.05m)2 (0.10m) 7.85 104m3 What is the volume of a water molecule? We are assuming these are cubes, so volume is side length cubed. Vmolecule (0.1 109m)3 1 1030m3 How many molecules will fit in the beaker? Prepared by Vince Zaccone For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB A beaker has a radius of 5 cm and is filled with water to a depth of 10 cm. Suppose that a water molecule can be modeled as a cube with side length 0.1nm. Approximately how many water molecules are in the beaker? This is a question about volumes. We need to be careful with our units and make sure they all match up. One way to do this is to convert everything to the same units (meters are convenient here). 10 cm What is the volume of the beaker? 5 cm It is a cylinder, so the volume is 𝜋 ∙ (𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠)2 ∙ (ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡) Vbeaker (0.05m)2 (0.10m) 7.85 104m3 What is the volume of a water molecule? We are assuming these are cubes, so volume is side length cubed. Vmolecule (0.1 109m)3 1 1030m3 How many molecules will fit in the beaker? # molecules 7.85 10 4 m3 1 1030 m3 m olecule 7.85 1026molecules Prepared by Vince Zaccone For Campus Learning Assistance Services at UCSB
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