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Understanding Units and Quantities in Physics

This document discusses units and quantities in physics. It defines a unit as describing the meaning of a quantity, which can be measured and expressed with numbers. There are two types of quantities: base quantities that stand alone, and derived quantities obtained from base quantities using algebraic relationships. By international convention, seven base quantities were chosen including length, mass, and time. The most commonly used system of units is the International System of Units (SI), with base units including the meter, kilogram, and second. Derived units are obtained from the base units and examples include the radian, square meter, and meter per second.

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Karlina Maya
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582 views2 pages

Understanding Units and Quantities in Physics

This document discusses units and quantities in physics. It defines a unit as describing the meaning of a quantity, which can be measured and expressed with numbers. There are two types of quantities: base quantities that stand alone, and derived quantities obtained from base quantities using algebraic relationships. By international convention, seven base quantities were chosen including length, mass, and time. The most commonly used system of units is the International System of Units (SI), with base units including the meter, kilogram, and second. Derived units are obtained from the base units and examples include the radian, square meter, and meter per second.

Uploaded by

Karlina Maya
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Name

: Karlina Maya Mulyana

NPM/Kelas

: 1413022039/A

UNIT AND QUANTITY


In physics known the term "Unit" and Quantity. Unit is a statement that describes
the meaning of a quantity. Quantity is anything that can be measured, has a value that
can be expressed with numbers, and have specific units. In physical quantities, there
is two quantities. That is base quantities and derived quantities. Base quantities is the
quantity which stand alone and are not derived from other quantities. Other physical
quantities are obtained from the base quantities using the appropriate algebraic
relationships and these are called derived quantities . lets see the example below.
velocity = displacement / time.
Base quantities are said to have base units and derived quantities have derived units.
For example, if displacement and time are chosen to be base quantities, then velocity
is a derived quantity.
By international convention the following seven physical quantities are chosen for
use as dimensionally independent base quantities.
Physical Quantity
Length
Mass
Time
electric current
thermodynamic temperature
luminous intensity
amount of substance

Symbol for the Quantity


L
M
T
I
T
Iv
N

Unit system usually used on base quantities and derived quantities is International
Units (SI) or commonly known as the metric system is meter, kilogram and second
abbreviated MKS. In addition to other metrics system is CGS (centimeter, gram,
second). There is also a British Engineering System, commonly referred to as system

FPS (foot, pound, second). SI units are widely accepted and are established by law in
most countries (the United States being a notable exception).
In the metric system, the unit of the larger and smaller defined in multiples of 10 than
standard units. So 1 kilometer (km) is 1000 m or 10 3 m, 1 centimeter (cm) is 1/100 m
or 10 -2 m and so on. The prefix "centi", "kilo", "milli", and others can be applied not
only to the unit of length, but also units of volume, mass, or other metrics. For
example, one centiliter (cL) is 1/1000 liter and 1 kilogram is 1000 grams.
The SI base units are shown in the table below.
Physical Quantity
Length
Mass
Time
electric current
temperature
luminous intensity
amount of substance

BASE UNITS
Name of Unit
metre
kilogram
second
ampere
kelvin
candela
mole

Symbol
m
kg
s
A
K
cd
mol

SI derived units:
SOME EXAMPLES OF DERIVED SI UNITS
Physical Quantity
SI Unit
Angle
radian
solid angle
steradian
Area
square metre
Volume
cubic metre
density
kilogram per cubic metre
Speed
metre per second
acceleration
metre per second squared

Symbol
rad
sr
m2
m3
kgm-3
ms-1
ms-2

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