Index/Glossary

This is a comprehrensive index of useful physical data, frequently used math symbols and SI units that you will see a lot through physics. This is not a complete list, but it will only cover those that are most relevant to the content in this course.

Frequently Used Math Symbols

• $=$ - equal to
• $\neq$ - not equal to
• $\propto$ - proportional to
• $>$ - greater than
• $<$ - less than
• $\approx$ - approximately equal to
• $|x|$ - absolute value of $x$ (always a positive quantity)
• $\Delta$ - change in, or difference in a variable (for example, $\Delta t$, which would denote change in time)
• $\Sigma$ - sum, or net

Frequently Used SI Units

• $\textrm{m}$ - meter, the SI unit of length
• $\textrm{kg}$ - kilogram, the SI unit of mass
• $\textrm{s}$ - second, SI unit of time
• $\textrm{K}$ - kelvin, SI unit of temperature
• $\textrm{N}=\textrm{kg}\cdot\frac{\textrm{m}}{\textrm{s}^2}$ - newton, SI unit of force
• $\textrm{J}=\textrm{kg}\cdot\frac{\textrm{m}^2}{\textrm{s}^2}$ - joule, SI unit of energy
• $\textrm{W}=\frac{\textrm{J}}{s}$ - watt, SI unit of power
• $\textrm{Pa}=\frac{\textrm{kg}}{\textrm{m} \cdot \textrm{s}^2}$ - pascal, SI unit of pressure
• $\textrm{rad}$ - radian, SI unit of plane angle measure ($\frac{180}{\pi} \cdot \textrm{radians} = \textrm{degrees}$)

Additional Derived Units

• Velocity - $\dfrac{\textrm{m}}{\textrm{s}}$
• Acceleration - $\dfrac{\textrm{m}}{\textrm{s}^2}$
• Impulse/Momentum - $\textrm{N} \cdot \textrm{s} = \textrm{kg} \cdot \dfrac{\textrm{m}}{\textrm{s}}$
• Angular Velocity - $\dfrac{\textrm{rad}}{\textrm{s}}$
• Angular Acceleration - $\dfrac{\textrm{rad}}{\textrm{s}^2}$
• Torque - $\textrm{N} \cdot \textrm{m} = \textrm{kg} \cdot \dfrac{\textrm{m}^2}{\textrm{s}^2}$
• Density - $\dfrac{\textrm{kg}}{\textrm{m}^3}$