Physics Units and Measurements Quiz

Study Notes

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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