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PHY 1200 Worksheet 1 Solutions

This document provides a worksheet with physics problems involving units, scientific notation, prefixes, and significant figures. It contains questions about writing units in fundamental and derived forms, standard scientific notation conversions, unit prefix conversions, and calculations with appropriate significant figures and uncertainty.

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Reddy Ang
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471 views

PHY 1200 Worksheet 1 Solutions

This document provides a worksheet with physics problems involving units, scientific notation, prefixes, and significant figures. It contains questions about writing units in fundamental and derived forms, standard scientific notation conversions, unit prefix conversions, and calculations with appropriate significant figures and uncertainty.

Uploaded by

Reddy Ang
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PHY 1200 – Foundation Physics

Worksheet 1

Base (fundamental) and Derived Units


1. A joule is equal to a newton metre and a newton is a kilogram metre per second2. Write a joule in
its fundamental units. 𝑘𝑔𝑚2 𝑠 −2
2. A watt is equal to a joule per second. Write a watt in its fundamental units. 𝑘𝑔𝑚2 𝑠 −3
3. A watt is equal to a volt multiplied by an ampere. Write a volt in its fundamental units.
𝑘𝑔𝑚2 𝑠 −3 𝐴−1
4. Electric charge (units are coulombs) is equal to electric current multiplied by time. Write a
coulomb in its fundamental units. 𝐴𝑠
5. A farad is equal to a coulomb per volt. Write a farad in its fundamental units. 𝐴2 𝑠 4 𝑘𝑔−1 𝑚−2
6. An ohm is a volt per amp. Write an ohm in its fundamental units. 𝑘𝑔𝑚2 𝑠 −3 𝐴−2
7. The units of electrical conductance are equal to the reciprocal of ohms. Write the fundamental
units of electrical conductance.kg −1 𝑚−2 𝑠 3 𝐴2
8. A tesla equals a volt second per metre2. Write a tesla in its fundamental units. 𝑘𝑔𝑠 −3 𝐴−1

Standard Form / Scientific Notation


1. Express the following in scientific notation.
a) 237 = 2.37 × 102
b) 37529035903475 = 3.7529035903475 × 1013
c) 0.00354 = 3.54 × 10−3
d) 0.02020202 = 2.020202 × 10−2
2. Convert the following to decimal form.
a. 2.369× 106 = 2 369 000
b. 7.85 × 10-5 = 0.000 078 5
3. Solve the following.
a. 1.25 × 105 + 2.8 × 104 = 1.5 × 105
b. 2.36 × 103 × 4.51 × 103 = 10.6 × 106
c. (2.22)4 = 24.2
4. 1.26 × 102 / 385 = 3.25 × 10-1
5. Express the following in scientific notation.
a) 13 μm + 18 μm = 3.1 × 10-5 m
b) 2.5 Mm + 5600 km = 2.5 × 106 m
Prefixes
1. One light-year is the distance light travels in one year. This distance is equal to 9.461  1015 m.
After the sun, the star nearest to Earth is Alpha Centauri, which is about 4.35 light-years from
Earth. Express this distance in
a) megameters.
b) picometers.

2. It is estimated that the sun will exhaust all of its energy in about ten billion years. By that time,
it will have radiated about 1.2  1044 J (joules) of energy. Express this amount of energy in
a) kilojoules.
b) nanojoules.
3. The smallest living organism discovered so far is called a mycoplasm. Its mass is estimated as
1.0  10−16 g. Express this mass in
a) petagrams.
b) femtograms.
c) attograms.

4. The “extreme” prefixes that are officially recognized are yocto, which indicates a fraction equal
to 10−24, and yotta, which indicates a factor equal to 1024. The maximum distance from Earth to
the sun is 152 100 000 km. Using scientific notation, express this distance in
a) yoctometers (ym).
b) yottameters (Ym).

Significant Figures
1. Indicate how many significant figures there are in each of the following measured values.

246.32 5 1.008 4 700000 1

107.854 6 0.00340 3 350.670 6

100.3 4 14.600 5 1.0000 5

0.678 3 0.0001 1 320001 6

2. Calculate the answers to the appropriate number of significant figures.

32.567 246.2 658.0


4
135.0 238.278 23.5478
+ 1.4567 + 98.3 + 1345.29
169.0 587 2026.8

3. Calculate the answers to the appropriate number of significant figures.

a) 23.7 x 3.8 = 90.1 e) 43.678 x 64.1 = 2.80× 103

b) 45.76 x 0.25 = 11 f) 1.678 / 0.42 = 4.0

c) 81.04 x 0.010 = 0.81 g) 28.367 / 3.74 = 7.54

d) 6.47 x 64.5 = 417 h) 4278 / 1.006 = 4252


Absolute, Relative(fractional) and Percentage Uncertainty
1. A student measures a line to be 3.8 cm  0.1 cm.
a) What is the absolute uncertainty in the measurement?
0.1 cm
b) Find the fractional uncertainty in the measurement.
1/38

c) Find the percentage uncertainty in the measurement.


2.6 %

2. A flagpole is placed on the roof of a house. A student measures the flagpole to be 4.25 m  0.05 m.
The same student measures the height from the ground to the base of the flagpole to be 6.40 m 
0.15 m. If the flagpole is mounted vertically upward (straight up), how far is the tip of the flagpole
above the ground? Be sure to use significant figures and include an uncertainty with your answer.

10.65 m  0.20 m.

3. A car travels 250 m  15 m in 12.2 s  0.2 s. Calculate its speed. Be sure to use significant figures and
include an uncertainty with your answer.

21 m/s  8%

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