UNITS, PHYSICAL QUANTITIES,

AND MEASUREMENT

MEASUREMENT PROBLEMS
INVOLVING CONVERSION
OF UNITS, EXPRESSION OF
MEASUREMENTS IN
SCIENTIFIC NOTATION
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of the discussion, the student is

able to:
1. Define measurements
2. Identify the systems of measurements
3. Define scientific notation; and
4. Convert a quantity from one unit to
another.
 MEASUREMENT

 MEASUREMENT – is the process of obtaining

useful quantitative information of different physical
aspect of an object.

 Purpose of Measurement:
1. Specification/Identification
2. Uniformity (Standard)
3. Precision and Accuracy
A physical quantity is a property of a
material or system that can be quantified by
measurement.

Systems of Measurement - is a set of

units which can be used to specify anything
which can be measured.
Systems of Measurement
1. English System
- Oldest system of measurement based from a
specific thing as reference of measurement.
- Used FPS (foot-pound-second) system of
measurement
- Originated in England

2. Metric System or SI System

- Is an international decimalized system of
measurement most widely used around the world.
- Based on the powers of 10
- Used MKS (meter-kilogram-second) system of
measurement
- Started in France (1960)
 The SI System of Measurement

The original Metric System was first developed in France

back in 1670. The modern version, (since 1960) is correctly
called "International System of Units" or "SI" (from the
French "Système International de Unites").
7 Basic SI Units:

Quantity Name Symbol

Length meter / metre m
Mass kilogram kg
Time second s
Electrical Current ampere A
Temperature Kelvin K
Amount of substance mole mol
Luminous intensity candela cd
The Standard Systems of Measurement
1. English System
- Oldest system of measurement based from a
specific thing as reference of measurement.
- Used FPS (foot-pound-second) system of
measurement
- Originated in England

2. Metric System or SI System

- Is an international decimalized system of
measurement most widely used around the world.
- Based on the powers of 10
- Used MKS (meter-kilogram-second) system of
measurement
- Started in France (1960)
 PRE-ACTIVITY
Directions: Take a look at the picture below. Try to describe the given
picture.
 INTRODUCTION

 The simplicity of the metric system stems

from the fact that there is only one unit of
measurement (or base unit) for each type of
quantity measured (length, mass, etc.). The
three most common base units in the metric
system are the meter, gram, and liter.
 INTRODUCTION

 The meter is a unit of length equal to 3.28 feet; the

gram is a unit of mass equal to approximately
0.0022 pounds (about the mass of a paper clip);
and the liter is a unit of volume equal to 1.05
quarts. So length, for example, is always
measured in meters in the metric system;
regardless of whether you are measuring the
length of your finger or the length of the Nile River.
1 meter = 3.28 feet 1 gram = 0.0022 pound
1 liter = 1.05 quarts
 WHAT ARE THE BASIC
PREFIXES USED IN UNITS?

Prefixes are a syllable, or group of syllables, added to the

beginning of a word to alter its meaning. Prefixes help to
add complexity to the English language and make it
possible to create new words that are easily understood.

Examples:
Kilo means thousand
Mega means million
Milli means thousandth
Micro means millionth
 CONVERSION OF UNITS
Conversion ratios:
METRIC SYSTEM (SI) ENGLISH SYSTEM
(MKS)- meter kilogram second (FPS)- foot pound second
Basic Units:
1. Length
1,000 m = 1 km (kilometer) 12 inches = 1 foot
3 feet = 1 yard
5280 feet = 1 mile
1760 yards = 1 mile
2. Mass
1,000 g = 1 kg (kilogram) 16 ounces = 1 pound
3. Time
1 minute = 60 seconds 1 minute = 60 seconds
 CONVERSION OF UNITS
Conversion ratios:

Other units:

Volume
8 ounces = 1 cup
16 ounces = 1 pint
2 pints = 1 quart
4 quarts = 1 gallon
1,000 liters = 1 m3 (cubic meter)
 METRIC-ENGLISH CONVERSION
Conversion ratios:

Length
1 kilometer (km) = 0.621371 mile (mi)
1 meter (m) = 3.28 feet (ft)
Mass
1 kilogram (kg) = 2.205 pound (lb)
Volume
1 liter (L) = 0.26417 gallon (gal)
 TEMPERATURE
Conversion ratios:

°F = °C × 9⁄5 + 32 °C = (°F − 32) × 5⁄9

K = °C + 273.15 Ra = K × 1.8

Where: °F - degree Fahrenheit

°C - degree Celsius
K - degree Kelvin
Ra – degree Rankine
 MAIN LESSON

 Example 1.1.1
Convert 20 km to meters.
Solution:
There are two ways in converting one unit to
another, first is using the following formula:
𝑏
𝑎 𝑥
𝑎
 MAIN LESSON

 a is the initial unit and b is the unit that you want to

convert the unit of a to.
 And 1km=103 m, therefore,
103 m
2okm 𝑥
𝑘𝑚
Inthis way, you can easily cancel out the unit
km and the final answer would have a meter
unit.
103 m
2okm 𝑥
𝑘𝑚
103 m
2o 𝑥
1
 MAIN LESSON
 The final answer is 20 x 10 3 m or 20 000 meters.
 The second way of converting is using the table
above. We can say that 20 km is 20 x 103 meters.
To expand 103 meters, look at the table if the initial
unit is below or above the final unit. If the initial unit
is below the final unit, move n decimal places to
the left. If the initial unit is above the final unit,
move n decimal places to the right. The “n” is the
difference of the powers of the initial and final
units.
 MAIN LESSON

 Meter has a multiple of 100 while millimeter is 10−3 .

Therefore, the difference of their powers is 3.
20.0 (move to the right because the initial unit is
above the final unit)
20.0
200.0 (1)
2 000.0 (2)
20 000 (3)
 3 places because the difference of the powers of the
initial and final units is 3.
 20 x 1000 is now equal to 20 000 meters.
 MAIN LESSON

 Example 1.1.2
What is the equivalent of 34 kilograms in milligrams?
Solution:
Using the formula,
𝑏
𝑎 𝑥
𝑎
 To make the problem easier, convert first the
kilograms to grams, before converting grams to
milligrams.
 a is the initial unit and b is the unit that you want to
convert the unit of a to.
 And 1 kg= 103 g, therefore
 MAIN LESSON

103 g
34kg 𝑥
𝑘𝑔
 In this way, you can easily cancel out the unit kg and
the final answer would have a gram unit.
103 g
34kg 𝑥
𝑘𝑔
103 g
34 𝑥
1
 34x 103 g or 34,000 grams. Now you can covert it to
milligrams.
 MAIN LESSON

 Using the formula,

𝑏
𝑎 𝑥
𝑎
1mg=10−3 g
mg
34, 000g 𝑥 −3
10 g
Notice that the grams is in the denominator.
This is because a is the initial unit.
mg
34, 000g 𝑥 10−3g
The final answer is 34x106 mg or 34,000,000
milligrams.
 MAIN LESSON

 A much shorter way would be putting all

conversion in a single line like this.
103 g mg
34kg 𝑥 𝑥 −3
kg 10 g
So,
103 g mg
34kg 𝑥 𝑥 −3
kg 10 g

 The only remaining unit is mg which is the one

that we want to convert the kg to mg.
 MAIN LESSON
103 mg
34 𝑥 𝑥
1 10−3
 The final answer is 34 x 106 mg or 34,
000, 000 milligrams.
 Using the table,
34 kilograms is simply 34 x 103
which is equal to 34 000 grams.
 MAIN LESSON
 The multiple of milli is 10−3 . To convert 34 x 103 to milli,
just move the decimal point three places to the right.
34 000.0
340 000.0 (1)
3 400 000.0 (2)
34 000 000.0 (3)
 Note that the direction of moving the decimal point is to
the right. This is because the initial unit (grams) is above
the final unit (milligrams). The difference between the
powers of the initial and final units is three, so move
three places to the right.
 34,000,000 milligrams is therefore equal to 34
kilograms.
Other Examples:
1) A basketball player playing at guard position stands 5
feet and 5 inches tall. What is his height in meter?
2) A women volleyball player weighs 50 kg. What is her
weight in pounds (lbs)?

3) Complete the data in the table below:

°C °F K Ra
Boiling pt. of water

Freezing pt. of water

Normal body temperature

Solutions:
1) 5 ft and 5 in = ______ meter

/ x m = 1.52 m
Step 1: 5 ft
/
3.28 ft

Step 2: 5 / / x m = 0.13 m
in x ft
/ 3.28 ft/
12 in

Step 3: 1.52 m + 0.13 m = 1.65 m

Solutions:
2) 50 kgs = ______ lbs

/ x 2.2lbs = 110 lbs

Step 1: 50 kgs
/
1 kg
Solutions:
3) Complete the data in the table below:

°C °F K Ra
Boiling pt. of water

Freezing pt. of water

0 32
Normal body temperature

Step 1: °F = °C × 9⁄5 + 32
°F = 0 × 1.8 + 32
°F = 32
Solutions:
3) Complete the data in the table below:

°C °F K Ra
Boiling pt. of water

Freezing pt. of water

0 32 273.15
Normal body temperature

Step 2: K = °C + 273.15
K = 0 + 273.15
K = 273.15
 Solutions:
3) Complete the data in the table below:

°C °F K Ra
Boiling pt. of water

Freezing pt. of water

0 32 273.15 491.67
Normal body temperature

Step 2: Ra = K x 1.8
Ra = 273.15 x 1.8
Ra = 491.67
 ASSESSMENT
Show the solution in a blank piece of paper, encircle or put in a
box your final answer then upload it your folder in google class
drive.

1) Know your height in metric and English

measurements.

2) Know your weight in metric and English

measurements.

3) Complete the data in the given table.

 SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

Scientific notation is a way of writing numbers that

are too large or small to be conveniently written as a
decimal. For example, consider the number
840,000,000,000,000. It’s a rather large number to
write out. The scientific notation for this number is
8.40 × 1014. Scientific notation follows this general
format
x × 10y
 SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

Scientific notation (also referred to as standard

form or standard index form) is a way of
expressing numbers in decimal form.

Examples of scientific notation:

1) 2.6 x 10−6
2) 1.8 x 104
 WHY DO WE USE SCIENTIFIC NOTATION?

 Scientific Notation was developed in order to

easily represent numbers that are either
very large or very small. In this way, very
large or very small numbers can be
represented in a much simpler way.
(any number between 1 and 10) x 10n
EX:

3.0 x 108 m/s = 300,000,000 m/s

1.5 x 10-6 g = 0.0000015 g
 HOW TO CONVERT A REAL OR RAW
NUMBER INTO A SCIENTIFIC NOTATION?

1. Move the decimal place until you get a

number between one and ten (standard).
2. Count how many places you moved the
decimal point. The number of places would
be the exponent of the ‘10’ in the Scientific
Notation. If the decimal point is moved to
the right, then the power of ten would be
negative, and positive if it is moved to the
left.
 HOW TO CONVERT A REAL OR RAW
NUMBER INTO A SCIENTIFIC NOTATION?

 Example 1.1.3
Convert 2,890,000,000 to Scientific
Notation.
Step 1. Move the decimal place until you
get a number between one and ten.
2,890,000,000.0 – 2.89
 HOW TO CONVERT A REAL OR RAW
NUMBER INTO A SCIENTIFIC NOTATION?

Step 2. Count how many places you moved the

decimal point. The number of places would be the
exponent of the ‘10’ in the Scientific Notation. If the
decimal point is moved to the right, then the power
of ten would be negative, and positive if it is moved
to the left.
2, 890,000,000.0

Nine places to the left, therefore the resulting

scientific notation would be, 2.89 x 109 .
 USING SCIENTIFIC NOTATION IN
REPRESENTING UNITS

 Scientific Notation is used widely in a

number of fields. For example, The
Andromeda Galaxy contains at least
200,000,000,000 stars. The number is too
long to write, so to make it easier convert it
to Scientific Notation. Therefore, the
resulting notation would be 2.0 x 1011 .
 EVALUATION

Directions: Read and answer the following.

1.) Convert 165 mm to m
2.) Convert 280 g to mg
3.) Convert 56 mL to L
Scientific Notation
1.) 32,000,000
2.) 0.00000436
 ENRICHMENT
Directions: Write the following numbers in scientific
notation:
a) 5,500,000,000
b) 780
c) 0.091
d) 0.000003004
Directions: Write the following numbers in regular
notation:
a) 5.5 x 10-4
b) 7.1 x 106
c) 1.0 x 103
 ENRICHMENT
DIRECTIONS: CONVERT THE FOLLOWING METRIC
MEASUREMENTS.

1) 1000 mg = ____ g 9) 5 ML = _____mL

2) 198g = _____ kg 10) 26,000 cm = ___ km
3) 8 mm = _____ cm
4) 75 mL = _____ L
5) 6.3 cm = ____ mm
6) 109 Mg = _____ kg
7) 5.6 m = _____ cm
8) 250 m = _____ km
 SUMMARY

 The metric system is the standard system of

measurement in science. This module
describes the history and basic operation of the
metric system, as well as scientific notation.
The module explains how the simplicity of the
metric system stems from having only one
base unit for each type of quantity measured
(length, volume, and mass) along with a range
of prefixes that indicate multiples of ten.
 Answer key:
3) Complete the data in the table below:

°C °F K Ra
Boiling pt. of water
100 212 373.15 671.67
Freezing pt. of water
0 32 273.15 491.67
Normal body temperature
36 96.8 369.95 665.91
37 98.6 310.15 558.27