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02. Physical quantities

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Created on March 16, 2026

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physical

quantities

Educazion.net

Physical quantities

A Physical quantities is any property of an object or system that can be measured. That is, any characteristic or property of a body that can be measured numerically. In physics, there are two main types of magnitudes: scalar and vector.

Units of measurement

To measure any physical quantity, we need a unit of measurement. The unit of measurement is a defined pattern used to measure physical quantities. For example, we could measure length in meters, mass in kilograms, and time in seconds. These units are part of the International System of Units (SI), which is the most widely used system of units in the world.

Scalar quantities are those that are completely determined by a number and a unit of measurement. In other words, we only need a number to fully describe them. Some examples of scalar quantities include time, temperature, mass, and velocity. For example, if we say that an object has a mass of 2 kilograms, we are describing a scalar quantity. We only need a number (in this case 2) and a unit of measurement (in this example, kilograms) to fully describe the quantity.

Vector quantities, on the other hand, are those that require a direction and a sense, in addition to a magnitude and a unit, to be fully described. Some examples of vector quantities include force, velocity, and displacement. For example, if we say that an object moves at a speed of 2 meters per second toward the north, we are describing a vector quantity. We need a number (the number 2), a unit of measurement (meters per second), and a direction (toward the north) to fully describe the magnitude.