What Are the Units of Constants A and B in the Equation x=At+Bt²?

  • Thread starter Thread starter tavo0116
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Position
AI Thread Summary
In the equation x=At+Bt², the position x is measured in meters, and time t is measured in seconds. To determine the units of constant A, it must satisfy the equation At, meaning A must have units of meters per second (m/s). For constant B, since it is multiplied by t², its units must be meters per second squared (m/s²) to ensure that Bt² also results in meters. The discussion emphasizes the importance of dimensional analysis in ensuring that all terms in the equation are consistent in terms of units. Understanding these units is crucial for correctly interpreting the motion described by the equation.
tavo0116
Messages
21
Reaction score
0
The position of an object is given by x=At+Bt^2, where x is in meters and t is in seconds.
a)What are the units of A?
(express answers in terms of m and s)
b)What are the units of B?
(express answers in terms of m and s)

I know this may sound silly, but I really don't understand what the questions are asking.
Please help, thank you.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
The dimension of x is length, its unit is meter. The dimension of both At and Bt^2 has to be length. You can multiply and divide dimensions, but you can add quantities of identical dimension only.
So the dimension of At [At]=dimension of A [A] times dimension of time [T], and it has to be length [L]: [At]=[A][T]=[L]. What is the dimension of A then?
If you measure length in meters and time in seconds, what is the unit of A? ehild
 
ehild said:
The dimension of x is length, its unit is meter. The dimension of both At and Bt^2 has to be length. You can multiply and divide dimensions, but you can add quantities of identical dimension only.
So the dimension of At [At]=dimension of A [A] times dimension of time [T], and it has to be length [L]: [At]=[A][T]=[L]. What is the dimension of A then?
If you measure length in meters and time in seconds, what is the unit of A?


ehild

Isn't it meters?
 
No. When multiplied by second, it will be meters.

ehild
 
I multiplied the values first without the error limit. Got 19.38. rounded it off to 2 significant figures since the given data has 2 significant figures. So = 19. For error I used the above formula. It comes out about 1.48. Now my question is. Should I write the answer as 19±1.5 (rounding 1.48 to 2 significant figures) OR should I write it as 19±1. So in short, should the error have same number of significant figures as the mean value or should it have the same number of decimal places as...
Thread 'A cylinder connected to a hanging mass'
Let's declare that for the cylinder, mass = M = 10 kg Radius = R = 4 m For the wall and the floor, Friction coeff = ##\mu## = 0.5 For the hanging mass, mass = m = 11 kg First, we divide the force according to their respective plane (x and y thing, correct me if I'm wrong) and according to which, cylinder or the hanging mass, they're working on. Force on the hanging mass $$mg - T = ma$$ Force(Cylinder) on y $$N_f + f_w - Mg = 0$$ Force(Cylinder) on x $$T + f_f - N_w = Ma$$ There's also...

Similar threads

Back
Top