1. Home
  2. College physics arranged for
  3. Week 1
  4. 11 physical quantities and units

1.10 11 physical quantities and units  (Page 4/18)

<< Chapter < Page
  College physics arranged for     Page 4 / 18
Chapter >> Page >
Metric prefixes for powers of 10 and their symbols
Prefix Symbol Value See Appendix A for a discussion of powers of 10. Example (some are approximate)
exa E 10 18 size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{"18"} } } {} exameter Em 10 18  m size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{"18"} } " m"} {} distance light travels in a century
peta P 10 15 size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{"15"} } } {} petasecond Ps 10 15  s size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{"15"} } " s"} {} 30 million years
tera T 10 12 size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{"12"} } } {} terawatt TW 10 12  W size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{"12"} } `W} {} powerful laser output
giga G 10 9 size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{9} } } {} gigahertz GHz 10 9  Hz size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{9} } `"Hz"} {} a microwave frequency
mega M 10 6 size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{6} } } {} megacurie MCi 10 6  Ci size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{6} } `"Ci"} {} high radioactivity
kilo k 10 3 size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{3} } } {} kilometer km 10 3  m size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{3} } " m"} {} about 6/10 mile
hecto h 10 2 size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{2} } } {} hectoliter hL 10 2  L size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{2} } " L"} {} 26 gallons
deka da 10 1 size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{1} } } {} dekagram dag 10 1  g size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{1} } `g} {} teaspoon of butter
— — 10 0 size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{0} } } {} (=1)
deci d 10 − 1 size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{ - 1} } } {} deciliter dL 10 − 1  L size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{ - 1} } `L} {} less than half a soda
centi c 10 − 2 size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{ - 2} } } {} centimeter cm 10 − 2  m size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{ - 2} } `m} {} fingertip thickness
milli m 10 − 3 size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{ - 3} } } {} millimeter mm 10 − 3  m size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{ - 3} } `m} {} flea at its shoulders
micro µ 10 − 6 size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{ - 6} } } {} micrometer µm 10 − 6  m size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{ - 6} } `m} {} detail in microscope
nano n 10 − 9 size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{ - 9} } } {} nanogram ng 10 − 9  g size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{ - 9} } `g} {} small speck of dust
pico p 10 − 12 size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{ - "12"} } } {} picofarad pF 10 − 12  F size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{ - "12"} } F} {} small capacitor in radio
femto f 10 − 15 size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{ - "15"} } } {} femtometer fm 10 − 15  m size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{ - "15"} } `m} {} size of a proton
atto a 10 − 18 size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{ - "18"} } } {} attosecond as 10 − 18  s size 12{"10" rSup { size 8{ - "18"} } `s} {} time light crosses an atom

Known ranges of length, mass, and time

The vastness of the universe and the breadth over which physics applies are illustrated by the wide range of examples of known lengths, masses, and times in [link] . Examination of this table will give you some feeling for the range of possible topics and numerical values. (See [link] and [link] .)

A magnified image of tiny phytoplankton swimming among the crystal of ice.[
Tiny phytoplankton swims among crystals of ice in the Antarctic Sea. They range from a few micrometers to as much as 2 millimeters in length. (credit: Prof. Gordon T. Taylor, Stony Brook University; NOAA Corps Collections)
A view of Abell Galaxy with some bright stars and some hot gases.
Galaxies collide 2.4 billion light years away from Earth. The tremendous range of observable phenomena in nature challenges the imagination. (credit: NASA/CXC/UVic./A. Mahdavi et al. Optical/lensing: CFHT/UVic./H. Hoekstra et al.)

Unit conversion and dimensional analysis

It is often necessary to convert from one type of unit to another. For example, if you are reading a European cookbook, some quantities may be expressed in units of liters and you need to convert them to cups. Or, perhaps you are reading walking directions from one location to another and you are interested in how many miles you will be walking. In this case, you will need to convert units of feet to miles.

Let us consider a simple example of how to convert units. Let us say that we want to convert 80 meters (m) to kilometers (km).

The first thing to do is to list the units that you have and the units that you want to convert to. In this case, we have units in meters and we want to convert to kilometers .

Next, we need to determine a conversion factor    relating meters to kilometers. A conversion factor is a ratio expressing how many of one unit are equal to another unit. For example, there are 12 inches in 1 foot, 100 centimeters in 1 meter, 60 seconds in 1 minute, and so on. In this case, we know that there are 1,000 meters in 1 kilometer.

Now we can set up our unit conversion. We will write the units that we have and then multiply them by the conversion factor so that the units cancel out, as shown:

80 m × 1 km 1000 m = 0 .080 km. size 12{"80"" m" times { {"1 km"} over {"1000 m"} } =0 "." "080"`"km"} {}

Note that the unwanted m unit cancels, leaving only the desired km unit. You can use this method to convert between any types of unit.

Questions & Answers

how to create a software using Android phone
Wiseman Reply
how
basra
what is the difference between C and C++.
Yan Reply
what is software
Sami Reply
software is a instructions like programs
Shambhu
what is the difference between C and C++.
Yan
yes, how?
Hayder
what is software engineering
Ahmad
software engineering is a the branch of computer science deals with the design,development, testing and maintenance of software applications.
Hayder
who is best bw software engineering and cyber security
Ahmad
Both software engineering and cybersecurity offer exciting career prospects, but your choice ultimately depends on your interests and skills. If you enjoy problem-solving, programming, and designing software syste
Hayder
what's software processes
Ntege Reply
I haven't started reading yet. by device (hardware) or for improving design Lol? Here. Requirement, Design, Implementation, Verification, Maintenance.
Vernon
I can give you a more valid answer by 5:00 By the way gm.
Vernon
it is all about designing,developing, testing, implementing and maintaining of software systems.
Ehenew
hello assalamualaikum
Sami
My name M Sami I m 2nd year student
Sami
what is the specific IDE for flutter programs?
Mwami Reply
jegudgdtgd my Name my Name is M and I have been talking about iey my papa john's university of washington post I tagged I will be in
Mwaqas Reply
yes
usman
how disign photo
atul Reply
hlo
Navya
hi
Michael
yes
Subhan
Show the necessary steps with description in resource monitoring process (CPU,memory,disk and network)
samuel Reply
What is software engineering
Tafadzwa Reply
Software engineering is a branch of computer science directed to writing programs to develop Softwares that can drive or enable the functionality of some hardwares like phone , automobile and others
kelvin
if any requirement engineer is gathering requirements from client and after getting he/she Analyze them this process is called
Alqa Reply
The following text is encoded in base 64. Ik5ldmVyIHRydXN0IGEgY29tcHV0ZXIgeW91IGNhbid0IHRocm93IG91dCBhIHdpbmRvdyIgLSBTdGV2ZSBXb3puaWFr Decode it, and paste the decoded text here
Julian Reply
what to do you mean
Vincent
hello
ALI
how are you ?
ALI
What is the command to list the contents of a directory in Unix and Unix-like operating systems
George Reply
how can i make my own software free of cost
Faizan Reply
like how
usman
hi
Hayder
The name of the author of our software engineering book is Ian Sommerville.
Doha Reply
what is software
Sampson Reply
the set of intruction given to the computer to perform a task
Noor
Got questions? Join the online conversation and get instant answers!
Jobilize.com Reply
<< Chapter < Page Page > Chapter >>
Practice Key Terms 12

Read also:

Get Jobilize Job Search Mobile App in your pocket Now!

Get it on Google Play Download on the App Store Now




Source:  OpenStax, College physics arranged for cpslo phys141. OpenStax CNX. Dec 23, 2014 Download for free at http://legacy.cnx.org/content/col11718/1.4
Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google Inc.

Notification Switch

Would you like to follow the 'College physics arranged for cpslo phys141' conversation and receive update notifications?

Ask