1. PHYSICS 101 (Physics for the Nonscientist)
Dr. Anatoli Frishman
Web Page:

2. Introduction Course organization What is physics? A science
A basic science
The most basic science
Discovered by several generations of scientists
Physics and measurements
Relationships between experiments and theory
Mathematics - language of science
Course organization
Lectures
Homework
Exams (multiple choice)
two midterm exams and a comprehensive final exam
Formula sheet
Syllabus

3. Physical quantities, units and standards
What do we measure? - Physical quantities.
Units - a unit is a measure of the quantity that is defined to be exactly Examples: meter, mile, gram, kilogram.
Standard - a reference to which all the other examples of the quantity are compared.
Base quantities, and their standards.
The International System of Units (metric system)
Quantity
Unit name
Unit symbol
Standard
Length
Meter m
Distance traveled by light in 1/299,792,458 second
Time
Second s
Time required for 9,192,631,770 periods of radiation emitted by cesium atoms
Mass
Kilogram kg
Platinum-iridium cylinder in International Bureau of Weights and Measures at Sevres, near Paris

4. centimeter, gram, second 1m = 100cm 1kg = 1000g
Other systems of units
CGSE System of Units (metric system):
centimeter, gram, second
1m = 100cm
1kg = 1000g
British engineering system
This system has force instead of mass as one of its basic quantities, which are feet, pounds, and seconds.
1 m = ft; 1 inch = 2.54 cm
1 kg = slug (Not the same as weight!)
on Earth 1 kg weighs lb, on the Moon 1 kg weighs lb

5. Conversion of units: Multiples of Units
Multiply by the appropriate representation of 1 to cancel the unwanted units away
Converting between metric units is easy, as it only involves powers of 10.
Example 1: Convert 3kg into gram
Multiples of Units
10-24
yocto- y
10-21
zepto- z
10-18
atto- a
10-15
femto- f
10-12
pico- p
10-9
nano- n
10-6
micro- 
10-3
milli- m
10-2
centi- c
103
kilo- k
106
mega- M
109
giga- G
1012
tera- T
1015
peta- P
1018
exa- E
1021
zetta- Z
1024
yotta- Y
Example 2: Convert 10 mph into m/s

6. Measurements and uncertainty
When we measure something, there’s a limited accuracy:
result  error (or accuracy)
Example 1: 2.35  0.01
Example 2:
Wrong:  0.1
Correct: 2.4  0.1
Significant figures
Example 1:
1sf 0.2
2sf 0.25
3sf
4sf
5sf
Example 2:
Not so clear in some cases: (1,2,3 ?)
Scientific notation is crystal clear:
2  102 (or 0.2  103) 1sf
2.0  102 (or 0.20  103) 2sf
2.00  102 (or  103) 3sf

7. Physics Electromagnetism Optics Atoms & particles Mechanics
Thermal properties
Geometrical optics
Wave optics
Electrostatic
Electric current
Magnetism
Condensed Mater
High energy
Biophysics
Classical physics Quantum physics
Relativistic physics Quantum relativistic physics

8. MECHANICS KINEMATICS 1. Motion Motion of what? Material point
Kinematics is the study of motion, without the investigation of the cause of the motion
1. Motion
Motion of what?
Material point
(An object with an irrelevant dimension for the purposes of a particular problem)
Development of models
Example: linear motion versus rotational
Motion is relative to the object of reference
Examples: the motion of an airplane passenger relative to the airplane, or the motion of an airplane passenger relative to the ground.

9. 2. One dimensional (1D) uniform motion
(Motion along a straight line with a constant speed)
Example:
Time interval:
Distance:
Speed:
Note: In science, the capital Greek letter Δ means difference.

10. 3. Speed a) Average speed: (total distance over total time)
Definition:
b) Instantaneous speed:
Definition:
Question: If the average speed is non-zero over some time interval, does this mean that the instantaneous speed is never zero during the same interval?
A) Yes B) No C) It depends

11. Example 1
Given: A B
Formula used:
Solution:
Answer:

12. Example 2
Given:
Formula used:
Solution:
Answer: