Physics 1 – Physics Fundamentals I
Fundamental Units
 Length (m)
 Mass (kg)
 Time (s)
 Electric Current (A)
 Temperature (K)
 Luminous Intensity (cd)
 Amount of Substance (mol)
Length, Mass and Time are the fundamental
units of mechanics with an additional unit:
force.
Significant Figures
- Are the number of reliably known digits
in a number
o All non-zero digits are
significant
o Leading zeroes are not
significant
o Captive zeroes (in between sig.
figs.) are also significant
o Trailing zeroes after the decimal
are significant and otherwise
are not.
o When multiplying or dividing,
follow the number with least
number of significant figures
o When adding or subtracting,
follow the number with the
least number of decimal places
o When quantities are given in a
problem, follow the datum with
the least number of significant
figures
Rounding Of
o When the digit after the last position of
the desired rounded number is in the
range of 0 to 4, retain the number in the
last position of the desired number
o If the digit is between 6 and 9 inclusive,
then the final digit of the desired
number will be one added to the
number in that position in the original
number
o If the digit is 5, then the penultimate
digit will become the even number
above it if it is odd, and otherwise
retained.
Kinematics in One Direction
 Mechanics – the study of force, energy
and motion
 Kinematics – a branch of mechanics
dealing with motion
 Scalar Quantity – deals with magnitude
only
 Vector Quantity – deals with magnitude
and direction
 Motion – change of position with
respect to a point of reference
o Distance – a variable of motion
which defines how long an
object travels in its actual path
taken; a scalar quantity
o Time – a scalar quantity
o Displacement – how far an
object is from its starting pint;
the shortest distance from an
object and where it came from;
a scalar quantity
o Speed – rate of change in
distance; scalar quantity
distance
s peed =
time
o Displacement – rate of change
of displacement; vector
quantity
displacement
v elocity=
time
o Average Speed – total distance
over elapsed time
 o Acceleration – rate of change in proportional to the square of
velocity time
 steeper, the incline, greater the
Three Fundamental Equations in Physics acceleration
 vave = dt-1  free-fall has greatest acceleration taking
 vave = (vi + vf) t-1 in to account no initial velocity
 a = (vf – vi) t-1  in a vacuum, all objects fall at the same
time
Additional Equations  g = -9.8 ms-2 = -32 fts-2
 velocity going up = velocity going down
 vf = vi + at
at the same y or height
 d = vit + 0.5at2
 vf2 = vi2 + 2ad Projectile Motion
Motion Graphs  When an object is thrown horizontally
Distance-Time Graph on a certain height, gravity works upon
o How far was travelled it and it follows a parabolic curve with
o Slope is instantaneous velocity the following equations:
o d-t, s-t, x-t graphs  horizontal time = vertical time =
 Velocity-Time Graph parabolic time
o How fast the object is moving  d = 0.5at2 + vit for free fall or vertical
o Slope is instantaneous distance covered
acceleration  d = vavet for horizontal distance covered
o v-t graph
o Area under the graph is
distance covered
 Acceleration-Time Graph
o How the velocity changes over
time
o a-t graph

Motion Diagrams

 pictorial representations of an object I

motion taken in equally spaced intervals
of time

Free Fall Motion

 Galileo Galilei
o an object rolling down an
incline picks up the same
amount of speed in successive
seconds
o distance travelled by uniformly
accelerating object is