SCIENCE 9: Atoms & Elements – Measurement
1.



Measurements: all measurements have some uncertainty because of the instrument
used to make the measurement.
Measuring instruments have markings called graduations.
There are spaces between the graduations and these spaces are the source of the
uncertainty. The larger the spaces, the greater the uncertainty.
The last digit in any measurement is an estimate by the person carrying out the
measurement.
a. If the measurement falls directly on a graduation, then the measurement
should end in a zero (0) to show that the measurement is directly on the
graduation.
cm 0
10
20
30
40
50
b. If a measurement falls between two graduations, then the experimenter should
estimate where the measurement falls between the graduations.
cm 0
10
20
30
40
50
2. Units of Measure: All measurements include some form of unit used to express the
type of measurement.
a)
Length units: metre, cm, mm, km, light-year
b)
Time: second, minute, hour, year
c)
Mass: gram, kg, mg, tonne
d)
Volume: litre, ml, cm3, cc
e)
Temperature: ºC, Kelvin
Measurement Practice:
LENGTH:
This page: Length =
cm
This line:
cm
VOLUME:
Example #1:
Example #2:
Example #3:
Width =
cm
MASS:
Example #1:
g
Example #2:
g
Example #3:
g
Example #4:
g
TEMPERATURE:
Example #1:
Example #2:
SCIENCE 9: METRIC MEASUREMENT
 Length Measurement:
o millimeter – mm
o centimeter – cm
o metre – m
o kilometer – km

Mass Measurement:
o gram – g
o kilogram – kg

Volume Measurement:
o cubic centimeter – cm3 – cc
o millilitre – mL
o litre – L
Metric Prefixes:
kilo (k) = 1000
Move DECIMAL
to the RIGHT
hecto (h) = 100
deka (dk) = 10
BASE UNIT (metre or gram or litre)
deci (d) = 1/10 = 0.1
Move DECIMAL
to the LEFT
centi (c) = 1/100 = 0.01
milli (m) = 1/1000 = 0.001
Common Conversions
1 km = 1000 m
1 cm = 1/100 m = 0.01 m
1 m = 100 cm
1 mm = 1/1000 m = 0.001 m
1 m = 1000 mm
1 kg = 1000 g
1 L = 1000 mL
1 m3 = (100 cm)3 = 1 000 000 cm3
1 cm3 = 1 mL
FOR H2O: 1 cm3 = 1 mL = 1 g
SCIENCE 9: METRIC CONVERSION
1. 2.5 m =
cm =
mm
2.
3.8 m =
mm
3.
3.4 km =
m=
cm
4.
10.2 km =
m=
cm
5.
1.7 kg =
6.
3.6 kg =
7.
6.4 L =
mL
8.
8.8 L =
mL
9.
150 cm =
m
10. 225 cm =
m
11. 28 mm =
cm
12. 45 mm =
cm
cm =
g
g
13. 450 g =
kg
14. 715 g =
kg
15. 591 mL =
L
16. 1250 mL =
L
17. 591 mL =
cm3
18. 325 cm3 =
mL
19. 800 mg =
g
20. 450 mg =
g
Graduated Cylinder Worksheet
A graduated cylinder can have numerous scales.
1) Determine the value for the minor grids on the cylinder.
a) ______ mL
a) __________ mL
b) _______ mL
c) _______ mL
b) _________ mL
c) _______ mL
3) Draw in the meniscus for the following readings:
a) 49.21 mL b) 18.2 mL c) 27.65 mL d) 63.8 mL
d) _______ mL
d) _________ mL