Physics Chapter 1: The Basics

Unrelated

Two items without association or relationship

Example: IQ & hair color

Related (Proportional)

2 items that are associated by the relationship doesn’t need specified

Example: Santa to Christmas

Directly Related/Proportional

Two items that are associated. When one value increases or decreases the other increases or decreases

Inversely Related/Proportional

When one item increases the other decreases

Example: the more money spent, the less money saved

Reciprocal Relationship

Two terms equal 1 when multiplied together

Example: 2 & ½

Unit

Defines a value

Example: length, area, volume

Length

Distance, circumference

Measured in inches, cm, miles, etc

Area

Length Squared (L²)

Measured in ft², m², cm²

Volume

Length Cubed (L³)

Measured in ft³, cc’s, cm³

Giga-

Meaning: Billion

Symbol: G

Multiplication Factor: 10^9

Mega-

Meaning: Million

Symbol: M

Multiplication Factor: 10^6

Kilo-

Meaning: Thousand

Symbol: k

Multiplication Factor: 10³

Hecto-

Meaning: Hundred

Symbol: h

Multiplication Factor: 10²

Deca-

Meaning: Ten

Symbol: da

Multiplication Factor: 10^1

Base Unit

Multiplication Factor: 10^0 =1

deci-

Meaning: Tenth

Symbol: d

Multiplication Factor: 10^-1

Centi-

Meaning: Hundredth

Symbol: c

Multiplication Factor: 10^-2

Milli-

Meaning: thousandth

Symbol: m

Multiplication Factor: 10^-3

Micro-

Meaning: Millionth

Symbol: µ

Multiplication Factor: 10^-6

Nano-

Meaning: Billionth

Symbol: n

Multiplication Factor: 10^-9

Scientific Notation

Shorthand for writing a very large or very small number of

Shown as 1.1×10²

• move the decimal to the right until you get a number between 1 & 10