Physics Units and Measurements Quiz

Basic Fundamentals

• Units and measurements are crucial in physics; fundamental and derived quantities exist.
• Only seven fundamental quantities include length (meter), mass (kilogram), time (second), electric current (ampere), thermodynamic temperature (kelvin), amount of substance (mole), and luminous intensity (candela).
• Special supplementary units: Plane angle (radian) and solid angle (steradian).
• CGS (Centimetre-Gram-Second) system uses cm, g, s, with force measured in dyne and work in erg.
• FPS (Foot-Pound-Second) system uses foot, pound, s, with force measured in poundal.
• Common SI prefixes indicate powers of ten: mega (10^6), kilo (10^3), centi (10^-2), milli (10^-3), micro (10^-6), nano (10^-9), pico (10^-12).

Vector and Scalar Quantities

• Physical quantities are classified as either scalar or vector.
• Scalar quantities are described solely by magnitude (e.g., mass, volume).
• Vector quantities require both magnitude and direction (e.g., displacement, velocity, acceleration).
• Electric current has a direction but is not a vector because it does not obey the parallelogram law of vector addition.

Representation of Vectors

• The Parallelogram Law states R = Resultant of vectors A and B; R's magnitude calculated as:
  R = √(A² + B² + 2AB cos θ).
• Max R when θ = 0° (R = A + B); Min R when θ = 180° (R = A - B); R when θ = 90° equals √(A² + B²).
• The Triangle Law allows summing two vectors by placing the tail of one at the head of the other, giving R = A + B.

Velocity & Projectile Motion

• Rectilinear motion describes movement along a straight path.
• Distance is the total length of the path taken by an object, a scalar quantity.
• Displacement measures the change in position, defined as the distance between the final and initial points, hence a vector quantity.
• Speed is defined as the rate of change of distance over time; it's a scalar measurement.

About the Author

• M S Palanichamy is the Vice Chairman of the Tamil Nadu State Council for Technical Education.
• He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from PSG College of Technology.
• Holds MTech and PhD degrees from the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai.
• Over 35 years of teaching experience in civil engineering.
• Former faculty member at Anna University’s Structural Engineering Department for a decade.
• Served as Professor and Head of the Civil Engineering Department and Principal at Mepco Schlenk Engineering College.
• Vice Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Open University for two terms.
• Authored four books and published 60 research papers.
• Supervised four PhD candidates.
• Member of several professional organizations including:
  • American Concrete Institute (ACI)
  • Indian Roads Congress (IRC)
  • Indian Buildings Congress (IBC)
  • Institution of Engineers (India)
  • Indian Concrete Institute (ICI)
  • Indian Geotechnical Society
• Served on the National Executive Council of the Indian Society of Technical Education.
• Participated on committees in engineering education accreditation in New Delhi.
• Chaired the Board of Studies for Civil Engineering at multiple universities in Tamil Nadu.

Publication Information

• Published by Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Limited, New Delhi.
• ISBN (13): 978-0-07-070796-2, ISBN (10): 0-07-070796-0.

Additional Information

• The book cannot be reproduced or distributed without permission from the publishers.
• Acknowledgment that the information is believed to be reliable, but accuracy is not guaranteed.
• Professional assistance is advised for engineering or other services.