Physics Skills and Data Management:

Skill 1:

Unit Conversion

Standard metric units are used [meters (m), kilograms (kg), seconds(s)]
We use the factor label method (rate pairs) when converting units: multiply by the unit you
want, divide by the unit you dont.
Example: To change 25km/h to m/s, you must multiply by a series of
factors so that the units you do NOT WANT will cancel out and the units you
WANT remain.
25 km x 1000 m x 1 h
x 1 min
cancel)
1h
1 km
60 min
60 s

= 6.9 m (note: hours, min, and km

s

Carry out the following conversions using the factor-label method.

1. How many seconds in a year?

2. Convert 36 km/h to cm/s.

3. Convert 50 g/d to kg/a. (d = days, a = years)

4. Convert 45 kg to mg.

5. Convert 450 m/s to km/h.

6. Convert 54 L/h to mL/s.

7. Convert 85 cm/min to m/s.

8. Convert the speed of light, 3.0 x 108 m/s to km/d

Skill 2:

Significant digits

The use of significant digits in physics is important because almost all

calculations involve measurements. Measurements differ in the accuracy
with which they are made. For example you could measure the length of one
city block using the odometer in your car, or a stick that is exactly one metre
long. You could use a metre stick divided into centimetres or even
millimetres. You might find that one city block measures:
E.g.

0.2 km; or 179 m; or 17 864 cm; or 178 638 mm

These are all the same distances, measured with different accuracy.

Accuracy is measured in significant digits and the following rules apply:

All zeros following a whole number are significant (e.g. 43 000 = 5 sig. digs)
All digits are significant except preceding zeros (e.g. 0.004 3 = 2 sig. digs)
1)

State the number of significant digits in these measurements.

a) 3405 m
e) 120 cm
i) 54.00 g
b) 0.042 s
f) 100 004 km
j) 100.5 cm
c) 0.000 56 km/h
g) 0.240 7 cm
k) 500.05 mm
d) 0.002 0 g/d
h) 1.003 5 m/s
l) 54 000 a

2) When adding or subtracting your final answer must be expressed to the least precise
decimal place in the calculation:
Ex:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)

3.1 + 3.42 = 3.52 = 3.5 (to correct sig.digs.)

543 + 26
1.50 x 102 - 1.1
0.500 + 2.5
4.3 + 136
2 x 101 - 76.9
0.200 + 0.100
0.2 + 0.100
0.500 - 0.100

3) When multiplying or dividing your answer must be expressed using the

lowest number of sig. digs in the calculation. Round up or down
appropriately (if the last number if more than 5, round up; if less than 5,
round down e.g. 5.5 = 6, 5.4 = 5).
a) 10.0 x 5.3 = 53 (only 2 sig digs)
b) 0.10 x 122
c) 50.5 x 0.62
d) 100 m / 45 min
e) 0.5 km / 24.5 s

f) 25 x 1.5
g) 0.000 2 x 2500
h) 12.25 x 8.0
i) 2230 m / 3.00 h
j) 46.5 cm /10.01 s

Skill 3:

Scientific Notation

In Science you will often deal with very large or very small numbers (as you
may have noticed on the previous page). To be able to express these without
a lot of zeros physicists use scientific notation.
Scientific notation is always written:

a x 10b

where a is the coefficient

and b is the exponent

The coefficient indicates how many significant digits the number has
The coefficient must be a number equal to or greater than 1 and less than
10.
The exponent tells you where the decimal is.
A zero or a positive exponent tells you that the number is greater than one.
The decimal is to the right of the first number.
Example1:

1.23 x 104 = 12 300 units (move decimal 4 spaces right)

A negative exponent tells you that the number is less than one. The decimal
is to the left of the first number.
Example 2: 1.23 x 10-6 = 0.000 001 23 units (move decimal 6 spaces left)
Exercises:
1. Using three digits figures for each, express the following in scientific notation:
(a) 300
(g) 0.000183
(b) 85 000
(h) 0.0155
(c) 186 251
(i) 0.008 05
(d) 16 100 000
(j) 80.10
(e) 0.00513
(f) 0.000 009 40
2. Change each of the following prefix notation to three digits:
(a) 7.64 x 10-6
(b) 1.00 x 10-3
(c) 5.05 X 104
(d) 3.8 x 10-2
(e) 2.19 x 109
(f) 9.44 x 105
(g) 1.77 x 101
(h) 4.628 x 10-4
(i) 6.54 x 10-7

Skill 4:

Equation Manipulation

1. d = v ave t

2. v ave =

v1 + v 2
2

t=

v2 =

v 2 ! v1
t

v1 =

v 22 ! v12
4. a =
2d

d=

5. d = v1t + 1 at 2
2

a=

2!
r
T

T=

3. a =

6. vc =

vc2
7. a c =
r

v1 =

8. Fc =

4! 2 rm
T2

r=

9. F c =

mvc2
r

m=

10. F = !kx

k=

11. T =

1
f

f=

12. T = 2!

m
k

m=

13. T = 2!

L
g

L=

14. v = f!

f=

15. Q = mct

c=

16.

1
1
1
=
+
f do di

di =

xd
nL

d=

17. ! =

18. E k = 1 mv 2
2

v=

19. Fg = G

m1 m2
d2

d=

20. a g = G

m1
d2

d=

Skill 5:

Trigonometry

1. If the bottom of a 5 m ladder is 1.6 m from a wall, how high on the wall does it
reach?
2. A wire from the top of a telephone pole to a point on the ground 6 m from the pole is
10 m long. How high is the pole?
3. What is the length of each diagonal of a rectangle with dimensions 10 cm x 24 cm?
4. What distance would you save by walking along the diagonal of a rectangular lot 150
m by 200 m instead of walking along 2 adjacent sides?
5. How much wire is needed to connect the top of a 13 m pole to the eaves of a house if
the eaves are 7 m above the ground and 8 m from the pole?
6. If you travel 4 km east, then 5 km north and then 7 km east, you would have travelled
16 km. How far from the starting point will you be?
Using trigonometric ratios solve for or the identified variable x for the following
right triangles.
x
6

35

8
4

15
x

225

10
x

42

13
7

21

29

123

7. The angle of elevation to the top of the CN tower from a point 4 km away on the
same horizontal plane is 4.0. What is the height of the CN tower?
8. A sailboat moves in the direction 55 S of W for 2 h at 6 km/h. How far south and
how far west does he travel?
9. The navigator on an airplane finds that the angle of depression to an airport 6.18 km
away is 9.0. Determine the altitude of the plane.
10. The combined height of a flagpole and the building upon which it stands is 50 m. At
a point 35 m from the foot of the building the angle of elevation of the top of the
building is 42. Find the length of the flagpole to the nearest metre.