1
History:
6
Units
Length began
by using
partsin…
of the body:
TheofEnglish
system
began
Cubityou
 length
of a it:
person’s
forearm
England
…yup,
guessed
[earliest
known measurement]
Foot  size of a person’s foot [usually the
But,king’s
measuring
or ruler’s]things was
Inch
 size of
the before
middle bone
a person’s
important
long
weofhad
a
pinky finger
‘system’
Units of volume began by filling objects
with stuff and counting how many fit:
Grain  fill a space with wheat/oat
seeds and count them
Carat  same as above, but using
Carob seeds. Still used to
measure diamonds today.
3
Today, in America, we use a standard system 7
to measure length.
Length
Inches
Feet
Yards
Fathoms
Furlongs
Miles
Leagues
Inches
1
1/12
1/36
1/72
1/7920
1/63360
1/90080
Feet
12
1
1/3
1/6
1/660
1/5280
1/15840
Yards
36
3
1
½
1/220
1/1760
1/5280
Fathoms
72
6
2
1
1/110
1/880
1/2640
Furlongs
7920
660
220
110
1
1/8
1/24
Miles
63360
5280
1760
880
8
1
1/3
Leagues
190080
15840
5280
2640
24
3
1
~ Not Listed: Mil, Link, Chain, Rod, Pole, Perch, & Hand
If we were to use this ‘standard’ English 5
We
could
be
here
all
day!!!
This
system in science class you would have to
would
beofcrazy
to try to
know
what all
those measurements
were, plus
you would and
also need
know all
memorize
use,toso
of the measurements for the following:
Let’s Not
Do That!
Power:
Mass:
Energy:
Volume:
Horsepower,
Pound,
apothecary
inch-pound/second,
pound,
footcalorie,
Gallon,
Calorie,
liquid
quart,
inch-pound,
dry ounce
quart,
foot-pound,
liquid
pound/second,
apothecary
ounce,
yard-pound/second…
dram,
apothecary
yard-pound,
pint, dry pint,
mile-pound…
fluid
ounce,
teaspoon,
dram,
grain, carat,
tablespoon,
fluidscruple,
dram, gill, peck,
pennyweight,
short
long
bushel, cubic
inch,hundredweight,
cubic foot, cubic
hundredweight,
short ton, long ton…
yard, cubic fathom…
3
The Beauty of the Metric System
You can measure all of the things listed
above using the following units:
Length: Meter (m)
Volume: Liter (L)
Mass: Gram (g)
Energy: Joule (J)
Power: Watt (W)
Metric Meanings & Measurements
The system of measurement used by most
people around the world is called the
International System of Units (SI). It is the
modern version of the Metric System.
The
measurement
“standards”
ofby
the
The specific
Metric system
was invented
in 1670
a
meter,
& gram &changed
as science
and
French liter,
Astronomer
Mathematician
named
technology
improved. Today there are very
Gabriel Mouton.
exact specifications for each. These amounts
were agreed upon by many nations (including
the US) at the Treaty of Meter in 1875.
2
Length
13
History:
Comparisons:
Definition: Length is a measurement
Originally, the
meter
was
supposed
to
from here to there.
one
inch  2.5
centimeters
be 1 millionth
of the
circumference
30 mm of
the
Earth.
Later,
people
realized
that
Tool:
You
measure
length
using
a
Meter
The
standard
of length
is the
Meter.
One
Meterunit
is slightly
longer
than
a
the Stick.
Earth is 16.8
NOT acm
perfect sphere, so
Yard.
this distance would be different
depending
on where
you measured.
1 Kilometer
= .6 miles
Today, the meter is defined as the
distance light travels in a vacuum
during a specific fraction of a second.
Mass
6
Tool: You
measure
mass using aof the
Definition:
Mass
is the measurement
amount of matter (stuff) in an
Balance.
object.
MASS IS NOT
THE SAME AS
WEIGHT
The standard unit of mass is the Kilogram
(grams are too tiny to be useful)
Conversions:
One Kilogram (Kg) is a little over two pounds
{On132.5
EARTH}
150.5
1 Kg = 2.2 lbs
grams
grams
Weight
5
The moon’s gravity is 1/6 of that of the
Definition:
Weight
is
a
measure
of
how
Earth’s. So, if you weighted 120 pounds
gravity
affects
mass.
on Earth and traveled to the moon what
would happen? (remember, Gravity is the
Tool: You measure weight using a Scale.
force of attraction between
any two objects)
Weight: 20 lbs
The standard unit for measuring weight is
NOT CHANGE!!!
Mass: IT WOULD
the Newton
Area
4
Instructions:
Definition: Area is the amount of flat
Measure the
Length
of the
object
space
inside
a set
of = L units
Measure the
Width of the object = W units
boundaries.
To
measure
area
you
have
to
Multiply
them
together:
2m
2
2m
x
3m
=
6m
combine two units of Length.
2
Area
=
(
L
x
W
)
Units
Tools: the same for measuring length
(meter stick)
3m
Volume
4
Tools:
Definition: Volume is the amount of 3D
space
takesyou
up.
For Solids:
use an
theobject
same tools
would for length (meter
stick) unless using Water
To measure volume:
Displacement
(seeof
later
notes)
For solids: combine
three units
length
For or
Liquids: use a Flask, Beaker, or
Graduated
For Liquids: use
Liters Cylinder
7
Flask
Beaker
Graduated
Cylinder
How to measure Volume:
For solids you measure & multiply:
Volume = Length Units x Width Units x Depth Units
3
4m
4m
x
3m
x
2m
=
24
m
For liquids you measure to the
bottom of the Meniscus.
The meniscus is the curve
3m the
surface of the liquid gets
when it’s put into a glass
container.
2m
4
5
36.5 ml
39.25 ml
73 ml
Measuring the volume of an Irregularly
shaped solid object:
Let’s face it; very few solid objects are perfect cubes.
There is an extremely accurate method,
though, of measuring the volume of nearly any
solid object, regardless of shape. It fact, it
was invented by Archimedes during the Greek
Empire, circa 1500 BCE. This is known as
Water Displacement.
3
Water Displacement:
9
Definition: When a solid object is placed into
Example: You need to find the volume of a small bag
water it will displace (move) an
of decorative marbles.
amount of water
= 25exactly
cc (orequal
cm3) to its
volume.
Begin with 20
ml of water in a Graduated Cylinder.
Add we
thedon’t
marbles
to the
graduated
cylinder.
But,
measure
solids
in ml, so
we need to
45cc).
The final level
of the
water
ml.
convert
it to
cm3is(or
The marbles then have a total volume of:
This is the easiest conversion ever.
45ml – 20ml = 25 ml
1 ml = 1 cc
Temperature
9
Important
Definition: Temperature is a measurement
Temperatures:
Water boilsscale
at 100
°C
Note: The SI
temperature
is
known
of how fast atoms are moving,
as Kelvin
(°K).
It
is
the
preferred
Water
Freezes
°C
or in general, how hotat
or0cold
temperature
measurement
scale
The actual
temperatures
change
depending
on the
something is.
We
willvery,
be using
material,for
but scientists.
when atoms are
moving
very fast
matter Celsius
tends tois
be
in the
form are
of
gas.
As atoms
(°C).
They
exactly
the
Temperature
measured
in aDegrees.
(°)
slow downsame
that “state”
intoKelvin
a liquid. If atoms
scale,changes
but the
slowed
even
we getto
a solid.
Tool:areYou
usedown
a Thermometer
measure
temperature
ismore
273.15°
higher
temperature.
than the Celsius.
Ice 
Steam
Water

(for reasons I’ll explain in a second)
Temperature
There is a theoretical
temperature where atoms
STOP moving. It is called
Absolute Zero. They
know what the
temperature is, but have
never been able to reach
it. No one knows what
would happen to matter at
this temperature.
1
Thermometer
3
30°C
-5°C
Human
Body
Temp?
8
Boiling
water?
Ave. Room
Temp?
Water
Freezing?
Number Bank
37
100
98.6
32
0
20
70
212
Density
12
VERY
HARD QUESTION:
Definition:
The
amount
of
Mass
Equation:
Tool: YouDensity
use
the
=same
Masstools
/ Volume
fora
Would a rectangular
block
measuring
material
has
in
a
certain
measuring
volume
&
mass.

cube that
ismeters
3 centimeters
on all
10Ameters
x
2
x
1
meter,
Volume.
sides
has of
a mass
grams.
with
a mass
1000ofKg45float?
Important
Density:
The density of liquid
What
is its density?
Explain.
3
water
=
1.0
g/cm
33
Volume =Density
10 m x= 2
45mgrams
x 1m /=920
cmm
So,
Mass
anything
= 1000
with
Kg a
Density
= density
5 g/cm3smaller than
3 would float. Anything with a
1.0
g/cm
3
Density
is measured
using
themsame
units for
Density
= 1000 Kg
/ 20
3 would 3sink.
3
density
larger
than
1.0
g/cm
mass & volume; usually g/cm
or kg/m .
3
Density = 50 Kg/m
Lets think about this…
3
Density
of
object
=
50
Kg/m
Volume = 10 m x 2 m x 1m
x100
x100
x100
3
Density
of
water
=
1
g/cm
Mass
= 1000
Volume
= 1000Kgcm x 200 cm x 100 cm
x1000
3
Volume
=
20,000,000
cm
The
Units
don’t
match!!!
Mass
Density
= 1,000,000
= 1,000,000
g g / 20,000,000
cm3
3 this…
We=need
rethink
Density
.05tog/cm
How
many
cm
are
in
a
m?
IT
FLOATS!
How many g are in a kg?
So well, in fact, it could hold another 40,000 lbs before sinking.
Some Easier ones now…