GENERAL CHEMISTRY 1

NAME: ____________________________________ DATE: ________________________

GRADE & SECTION: __________________________

CONCEPT NOTES 3
I. TOPIC: MEASUREMENTS
(Accuracy and Precision)

II. LEARNING GOAL: The students should be able to:

a. explain the need for measurements;
b. carry out a measurement of length, mass, and volume;
c. cite some situations in daily life where measurement is important.

III. CONCEPTS
✓ Measurement is a collection of quantitative or numerical data that describes a property of an object
or event.
✓ The International System (SI) of Measurement is being used in scientific measurement.

PROPERTY SI UNITS

Length Meter (m)

Mass Kilogram (kg)

Volume Cubic meter (m3)

Time Seconds (s)

Temperature Kelvin (K)

✓ Accuracy is a measure of how close a measurement is to the correct or accepted value of the quantity
being measured.
✓ Precision is a measure of how close a series of measurements are to one another.

✓ Systematic errors cause the result to be far from the true value (low accuracy).

✓ Random errors cause the result to be different from each other (low precision).
IV. ACTIVITY/EXERCISES
“MEASURE AND COMPARE”
Direction: Measure the length, width, and thickness of a book and compare their result to the true value.

1. Measure the length, width, and thickness of a book and record your results on the table below.

MEASUREMENTS TRIAL 1 TRIAL 2 TRIAL 3

Length

Width

Thickness

GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1. How many significant figures did you use in reporting your measurements?
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2. Are the results of each measurement (length, width, thickness) close to each other?
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3. Were the measurements accurate or precise?
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4. Are the results of each measurement (length, width, thickness) close to the true value?
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5. Why is there a need to use a common unit for measurement?
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6. What is the measurement system adopted in scientific measurements?
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V. ASSESSMENT
Direction: Read and analyze the following questions carefully. Write the letter of the correct answer on
your answer sheet.
1. How close a measurement is to the true value is called
a) Accuracy c) significant
b) Precision d) estimate
2. When a measurement is repeatable and consistent, it is said to have.
a) High precision c) high accuracy
b) Low precision d) low accuracy
3. Which tool for measuring volume provides the most accurate measurement?
a) Beaker c) burette
b) Graduated cylinder d) electronic balance
4. Martin is conducting an experiment. His first test gives him a yield of 5.2 grams. His second test gives
him a yield of 1.3 grams. His third test gives him a yield of 8.5 grams. On average, his yield is 5.0
grams, which is close to the known yield of 5.1 grams of substance. Which of the following are true?
a) His results are accurate but not precise c) His results are both accurate and precise
b) His results are precise but not accurate d) His results are neither accurate nor precise
5. A student performed an analysis of a sample for its calcium content and got the following results:
14.92%, 14.91%, 14.88%, and 14.91%. The actual amount of calcium in the sample is 14.90%. What
conclusions can you draw about the accuracy and precision of these results?
a) While precise, these results are not accurate
b) While accurate, these results are not precise
c) these results are both accurate and precise
d) these results are neither accurate nor precise
6. Three different people weigh a standard mass of 2.00 g on the same balance. Each person obtains a
reading of exactly 7.32 g for the mass of the standard. These results imply that the balance that was
used is:
a) Both accurate and precise c) Neither accurate nor precise
b) Accurate but not precise d) Precise but not accurate
7. What is the SI unit of length?
a) Mile c) meter
b) Inch d) foot
8. Which of the following is not a unit of temperature?
a) Celsius c) Kelvin
b) Joule d) Fahrenheit
9. Which of the following units is an official SI base unit?
a) Milligram c) Liter
b) Second d) Fahrenheit
10. The accuracy of a measurement is
a) Is how close it is to the true value
b) Does not depend to the instrument being used to measure the object.
c) Indicates that the measurement is also precise
d) Something that scientists rarely achieve.