Physics for Scientists & Engineers & Modern Physics, 9th Ed

Objective Questions
1. 
denotes answer available in Student Solutions Manual/Study Guide
Conceptual Questions
1. 
denotes answer available in Student Solutions Manual/Study Guide
 1. Suppose the three fundamental standards of the met-
ric system were length, density, and time rather than 
length, mass, and time. The standard of density in this 
system is to be defined as that of water. What consid-
erations about water would you need to address to 
make sure that the standard of density is as accurate as 
possible?
 2. Why is the metric system of units considered superior 
to most other systems of units?
 3. What natural phenomena could serve as alternative 
time standards?
 4. Express the following quantities using the prefixes given 
in Table 1.4. (a) 3 3 10
2
4
m (b) 5 3 10
2
5
s (c) 72 3 10
2
g
Concepts and Principles
When you compute a result from several measured 
numbers, each of which has a certain accuracy, you 
should give the result with the correct number of sig-
nificant figures.
When multiplying several quantities, the number of 
significant figures in the final answer is the same as the 
number of significant figures in the quantity having 
the smallest number of significant figures. The same 
rule applies to division.
When numbers are added or subtracted, the number 
of decimal places in the result should equal the small-
est number of decimal places of any term in the sum or 
difference.
The method of dimensional analysis is very power-
ful in solving physics problems. Dimensions can be 
treated as algebraic quantities. By making estimates 
and performing order-of-magnitude calculations, you 
should be able to approximate the answer to a prob-
lem when there is not enough information available to 
specify an exact solution completely.

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problems