QUESTION OF THE

DAY…..
WHY, IN SOCIETY, DO YOU THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO HAVE A
UNIVERSAL SYSTEM OF MEASURING? TAKE ONE SITUATION OR
EXAMPLE AND DISCUSS IT IN YOUR JOURNAL! FOR EXAMPLE, IT
IS IMPORTANT FOR ALL CARPENTERS TO USE A UNIVERSAL
MEASURING SYSTEM, WHEN PURCHASING WOOD, BUILDING
HOUSES TOGETHER, SHARING MEASUREMENTS FOR
FLOORING, ENSURING SAFETY ON THE JOB, CONSTRUCTING
WALLS AND ROOFS PROPERLY, ETC. DO NOT USE THIS
EXAMPLE!
 The SI system
MEASUREMENT! rocks. It is
based on a
system of ten!

The international System of Units, or SI system, was

established by the General Conference of Weights and
Measures (CGPM) in 1960. It is the revision and extension
of the metric system, which is a decimal system of
measurement, used by almost all of the countries of the
world except the United States and, to some extent, the
United Kingdom countries. Even in the excepted countries,
it is used exclusively in scientific work, and to a limited
extent by the general population.
 MEASUREMENT!
In the SI system, a base unit, or a unit derived from it, is defined for each type of measurement.
The base and derived units of the SI system are listed in Tables 1 and 2. A base unit is just that; it is
a basic, fundamental thing in our world that can be measured directly. A derived unit must be
derived, or calculated. It is a combination of one or more base units.

Quantity Name of Unit Symbol

area square meter m2
volume cubic meter m3
density kg per cubic meter kg / m3
concentration mol per cubic meter mol / m3
TABLE 1
molar mass kilogram per mole kg / mol
molar volume cubic meter per mole m3 / mol
pressure Newtons per square meter N / m2
energy joule (J) (kg x m2) / sec2
Quantity Name of Unit Symbol
length meter m
mass kilogram kg
time second s
TABLE 2
electric current ampere A
temperature Kelvin K
amount of substance mole mol
force Newton N
Multiples and subdivisions of SI units can be obtained by attaching a prefix to the unit.
The SI prefixes are listed in Table 3. Not all are used in this course. A prefix is just a
number; if you have 1 kilo cheeseburgers, that means you have 1000 cheeseburgers,
because kilo means 1000.
TABLE 3 – THE METRIC LADDER!

Prefix Symbol Multiple of unit Number Fraction

tera- T 1012 1,000,000,000,000
giga- G 109 1,000,000,000
mega- M 106 1,000,000
kilo- K 103 1,000
hecto- H 102 100
deka- D 101 10
BASE UNIT meter, gram, liter, etc. 100 1

deci- d 10-1 .1 1/10

centi- c 10-2 .01 1/100
milli- m 10-3 .001 1/1000
micro-  10-6 .000001 1/1,000,000
nano- n 10-9 .000000001 1/1,000,000,000
pico- p 10-12 .000000000001 1/1,000,000,000,000
femto- f 10-15 .000000000000001 1/1,000,000,000,000,000

atto- a 10-18 .000000000000000001 1/1,000,000,000,000,000,00

0
• SI, and also the metric system of which SI is a refinement, is a decimal system. In other words, SI is a
system based on multiples and subdivisions of 10. That means that when you are converting from one
unit into another, you are either multiplying or dividing by 10. This means you are either moving a
decimal to the left or to the right!

• It is very easy to use this system once the basic units become familiar. Converting the SI or metric
system to the English system used in the United States is difficult and is avoided when the metric
system is used exclusively, as it is in science.

• The relationships between common units of the metric and English systems are listed in Table 4. These
measurements used in the laboratory are units of length, mass, volume, and density. A discussion of
these units is helpful before doing problems involving these measurements. Other units used in
experiments in this course are listed in Table 5.
Metric or SI unit Metric equivalent English equivalent
kilometer 1,000 meters 1.00 km = 0.62 mile
meter   1.00 meter = 39.37 inches
centimeter 1/100 meter 2.54 cm = 1.00 inch TABLE 4
kilogram 1,000 grams 1.00 kg = 2.20 lb
gram 1/1,000 kilogram 1.00 lb = 454 grams
liter 1,000 millimeters 1.00 liter = 1.06 quarts

Unit Abbreviation Definition or equivalent

angstrom Å 10-10 m
atmosphere atm 760 mm Hg (or Torr)
TABLE 5
calorie cal 4.184 J
Celsius temperature scale 0
C 0
C = K - 273
Kelvin temperature scale K K = oC + 273
atomic mass unit u 1.6605 x 10-24 g
 LENGTH AND MASS

• The basic unit of length in the SI is the meter, a

distance slightly longer than a yard. Commonly,
scientists also use centimeters (cm; 1 meter = 100
cm) and millimeters (mm; 1 meter = 1,000
millimeters).

• The SI unit of mass is the kilogram, but the gram is

more frequently used in chemistry because it is
more accurate. The prefix kilo- indicates that 1
kilogram = 1,000 grams. One way to get a feeling for
the smallness of the gram unit is to remember that a
nickel has a mass of about 5 grams.
 VOLUME

• Volume is derived from length and may be

expressed as length x length x length, or length
cubed. Thus, the SI base unit of volume is the
cubic meter (m3), as it comes from the SI base
unit for length, the meter. The smaller multiple,
the cubic centimeter (cm3), is used in the
laboratory. These are used primarily to measure
the volume of solid objects.
 VOLUME
1 liter of liquid

• In measuring the volume of liquids, either

the liter or its subdivision, the milliliter, is
used. The prefix milli- tells us that 1 liter =
1,000 milliliters. A graduated cylinder is a
good device to measure the volume of a
liquid.
• How do solid volumes relate to liquid
volumes? One liquid liter can be pictured as 1 ml
a cube that measures 10 centimeters on
each edge. It is slightly larger than a quart.
One milliliter is equal to 1 cm3, which means
that if you had a cube that had a volume of
1cm
1cm3, hollowed it out, and filled it with V=lxwxh
water, it would hold a volume of 1 mL. V = 1 cm x 1 cm x 1cm = 1 cm3
1cm
1 cm
 DENSITY REALLY DENSE!
• The density of an object is a derived
quantity. It is not measured directly
but can be calculated from other
direct measurements. Density (D) is a
ratio of the mass of an object divided
by its volume:
• D = mass / volume. Density is
expressed in kilograms per cubic
meter, grams per cubic centimeter, or,
for gases, grams per liter. Density is
really a measurement of how much
matter can be packed into a given
amount of space, or volume – how
compact a substance is!
NOT VERY DENSE!
 DENSITY REALLY DENSE!

• For something like gold, there is a

large amount of matter packed into a
small amount of space, or volume.
For something like a feathered pillow,
there is very little matter, and it is
packed into a large amount of space,
or volume. The important thing to
remember is that density is a ratio
that does not change for a particular
substance, no matter how much or
how little of it you have. Therefore, it
is useful for identifying unknown
substances!
NOT VERY DENSE!
 Get out your metric ladder too!
 
To convert from one metric unit to another, you look at
how many powers of ten you are moving through on the
ladder – that is it!
 
Here are some simple steps:
 
Subtract the numbers on the exponents, ignoring the
negative numbers.
That tells you how many decimal moves you have.

If you move up the ladder, you move the decimal to the

left.

If you move down the ladder, you move the decimal to

the right.

 
• Make sure you stop at the base if you go through the
base!
• for example, if you go from nano to Kilo, that would
be 9 decimal moves from nano to the base, and then
3 decimal moves from the base to Kilo.
• That is 12 total decimal moves, and you move it to
the left, since you moved up the ladder.
• DON’T COUNT STEPS ON THE LADDER – ONLY LOOK
AT HOW MANY POWERS OF TEN YOU ARE GOING
THROUGH!
• If you have liters, grams, or meters, without a prefix,
you are at the BASE – that is 100!
 
• Here’s an example:
• A mole can dig over 7,523 cm of tunnel in a single night!
That’s over 750 feet, by the way! Let’s convert 7,523 cm into
Hm.
• A cm, which is where we start, is = 10-2.
• We are going to a Hm, which is = 102
• Going from 10-2 to 102, is four powers of ten: from –2 to 0, and
then from 0 to 2.
• You subtract 2-0, and get 2. Then, you subtract 0-2, and get 2
(ignore the negatives!)
• This is FOUR TOTAL DECIMAL MOVES!
• We are moving up the ladder, and that means MOVE THE
DECIMAL TO THE LEFT four places!
• So, that would equal: 7,523. cm = .7523 Hm
LET’S TRY #1: ONE HUMAN HAIR CAN SUPPORT UP
TO 3.01 KGRAMS. THAT’S ALMOST 7 POUNDS!
CONVERT 3.01 KGRAMS TO DGRAMS.

• Step 1: Determine where I am starting on the metric ladder – Kilo or K – 103

• Step 2: Determine where I am going on the metric ladder – I want to convert or go to Deka or
D – 101
• Step 3: Determine how many powers of ten I am going between – going from 103 to 101 is
two powers of ten – THAT IS TWO DECIMAL MOVES!
• We are moving down the ladder, so we move the decimal to the right by two!
• Step 4: Move the decimal: 3.01 Kgrams = 301 Dgrams

TWO PLACES
NOW TRY SOME PROBLEMS ON YOUR OWN!
• The last section of your homework deals with
estimating how large, or how long, or how heavy I’m a bacteria, and I’m
certain objects are! incredibly small! I would
• You are used to “thinking” in the English system – don’t have a mass of 1
nanogram!
worry if you don’t know all of these answers! This is to
try and get you to “think” in the SI or metric system!
• It might be useful to for you to look at the metric
ladder, and think about the size or magnitude of
certain metric prefixes!
• For example, the above slide discusses that 5 grams is
roughly the mass of a nickel. Therefore, if something
weighs one nanogram (1 ng), then it is one billionth of
a gram! That is incredibly small!