The Metric System Base Ten Measurement Why bother

The Metric System Base Ten Measurement

Why bother with the Metric System? • Scientists use the metric system as their system of measurement (International System of Units, SI). • The Metric System is a decimal system, based on the number “ 10” and multiples of ten. • Scientists use metric units to measure WHAT ? ? ? Length Volume Mass Temperature

Length • The basic unit of length is the meter (m) • 1 m = 39. 4 inches • All other lengths in the metric system are measured in relation to the meter. milli-meter centi-meter kilo-meter nano-meter What about the mega-meter or the giga-meter?

Length is usually measured with a ruler Length is also called distance. Distance is used to determine velocity Velocity = distance time

Mass • Mass is a measure of the amount of matter in an object • The basic unit of mass was originally the gram (g) • The basic unit of mass has since been changed to the kilogram (kg) bigger atoms or More matter means one of three things: more atoms or both

Mass is usually measured with a scale Mass is sometimes called weight, though they are not quite the same. Changes in gravity result in changes in weight, but mass stays the same

Volume • Volume is the amount of space an object takes up • The basic unit of volume is the liter (L) • The metric unit to measure the volume of a solid is a cubic centimeter (cm 3 or cc), but … 1 cm 3 = 1 m. L also 1 g of H 20 at 1° Celsius = I m. L = 1 cm 3

Liquid volume is usually measured with a graduated cylinder or beaker (or a 2 L bottle) 5 cm Solid volume is measured with a ruler 5 cm 5 x 5 = 125 cc (or cm 3) 5 cm

Temperature • Temperature is a measure of the energy contained in the motion of the particles of a substance • The basic unit of temperature is the degree • Many scales are used to measure temperature, and the metric system uses degrees Celsius (C) H 20 freezes at 0° C H 20 boils at 100° C

3 O° Celsius is pretty darn hot! 2 O° Celsius feels quite nice 10° Celsius, grab a coat dude O° Celsius, you’re seeing ice So what is the temperature today, you’d say?

Prefixes to Know bigger smaller • kilo = one thousand • centi = one hundredth • mega = one million • milli = one thousandth • giga = one billion • micro = one millionth • nano = one billionth

Now put it together prefix + unit • centi • kilo • mega • giga • milli • micro • nano meter + liter gram Want more prefixes?