General Physics 1 – Units of Measurement

30 question–answer flashcards covering SI base and derived units, prefixes, scientific notation, unit conversions, and significant figures rules.

What is the difference between fundamental and derived physical quantities?

Fundamental quantities are the seven base quantities defined in the SI system, while derived quantities are obtained by mathematically combining these base quantities.

Name the seven fundamental SI quantities.

Length, mass, time, electric current, temperature, amount of substance, luminous intensity.

What is the SI base unit for mass?

Kilogram (kg).

Which SI base unit corresponds to electric current?

Ampere (A).

What derived unit is defined as kg·m/s²?

Newton (N), the unit of force.

What derived unit is equivalent to N·m?

Joule (J), the unit of energy or work.

Which derived quantity is measured in pascals (Pa)?

Pressure (force per unit area).

Provide the formula for density and its common SI unit.

Density = mass/volume; often expressed in kg/m³ (or g/cm³ for smaller scales).

Convert 5,923 millimeters to meters.

5.923 m.

How is 27,000 written in scientific notation?

2.7 × 10⁴.

Write 0.00046 in scientific notation.

4.6 × 10⁻⁴.

Express 3.5 × 10⁵ in standard (decimal) form.

350,000.

What power of ten does the prefix ‘mega’ (M) represent?

10⁶.

Match the prefix ‘nano’ with its power of ten.

10⁻⁹.

Which prefix corresponds to 10¹⁵?

Peta (P).

Give the symbol and value for the prefix ‘centi’.

c, 10⁻².

What is the metric prefix for 10¹?

Deka (da).

Convert 3 km to meters.

3,000 m.

How many joules are in 5 × 10⁶ μJ?

5 J (because 1 μJ = 10⁻⁶ J).

Convert 1.2 × 10⁻² cm to nanometers.

120,000 nm (1 cm = 10⁷ nm).

What are significant figures?

The meaningful digits in a measured or calculated number that convey its precision.

State the rule for determining sig figs in multiplication and division.

The result must have the same number of significant figures as the factor with the fewest significant figures.

According to sig-fig rules, how many significant figures does 3.005 g have?

Four significant figures (all non-zero digits and captive zeros count).

Are leading zeros significant?

No, they only serve as placeholders and are not significant.

When adding or subtracting, which quantity dictates the decimal places in the answer?

The term with the fewest decimal places.

How many sig figs are in 0.0405021 kg?

Six (leading zeros are not significant; all other digits are).

Define scientific notation.

A method for expressing very large or very small numbers as a product of a coefficient (between 1 and 10) and a power of ten.

Write 5,200,000 in scientific notation.

5.2 × 10⁶.

Which SI prefix represents 10⁻¹?

Deci (d).

What is the SI base unit for temperature?

Kelvin (K).