Office Hours
Mon: 11:30a to 12:30p & 1:45p to 3:00p
Tue: No office hours, unavailable
Wed: 11:30a to 12:30p
Thr: 9:15a to 12:30p
Fri: 10:00a to 12:00p
Course Syllabus can be found at:
http://www.wx4sno.com/portfolio/BSU/spring_2012/
This lecture will be posted AFTER class at:
http://www.wx4sno.com/portfolio/BSU/spring_2012/lectures/
Chapter 1
Metric Conversions
Types of Conversions


Two major sets of units
English system
◦ Feet, miles, Fahrenheit, etc.
◦ Used primarily in the U.S. among the public
population

Metric system
◦ Known as the Systeme International or S.I.
system
◦ Meters, kilometers, Celsius, etc.
◦ World-adopted
◦ Entire scientific community uses it!
English to S.I.
S.I. to English
Rounding
Always round your answer to the least
precise measurement given.
 e.g.
5.7 cm ÷ 1.75 min
= 3.2571429 cm/min
= 3.3 cm/min
 What about rounding up or down?

Rounding, cont.
If the first digit to be dropped is less than 5,
then the preceding digit is unchanged.
 If the first digit to be dropped is greater than
or equal to 5, the preceding digit is rounded
up.
 e.g.
1020.63 becomes?
1020.6

25.85 becomes?
25.9
Sample Problems

Convert the following metric measurements
to English units using exact conversion
factors. Round answers to one decimal
place.
1. 299,792,458 meters per second
? feet per second
2. -273.15 °C
? °F
3. 6,356.766 kilometers
? Miles?
Chapter 2
Location
Latitude & Longitude


Locations on earth can be pin-pointed using
a grid system of angular measures known as
latitude and longitude
Latitude: location north or south of
equator
◦ Lines of latitude are called parallels
◦ 1° latitude = 111 km

Longitude: location east or west of prime
meridian
◦ Lines of longitude are called meridians
◦ 1° longitude = function of latitude, varies
 Use formula: 1° longitude = cos(latitude) x 111 km
Latitude & Longitude, cont.

The prime meridian is located in Greenwich,
England at the Royal Observatory.
◦ This is also the starting location of UTC or GMT
time measurements used by meteorologists and
other scientists…more on this next week!

Locations east of the prime meridian are
considered “degrees east longitude,” while
locations west of the prime meridian are
called “degrees west longitude.”
Latitude & Longitude, cont.
From 0° to 90°
From 0° to 180°
Where is 78°S, 106°E
Where is 32°N, 13°E
Latitude & Longitude, cont.

More exact measurements of latitude and
longitude are sometimes required.
◦ Fractions of degrees in minutes and seconds

1 ° = 60’
◦ (one degree equals sixty minutes)

1’ = 60”
◦ (one minute equals sixty seconds)

e.g.
◦ 40° 11′ 36″ N, 85° 23′ 17″ W
Where is 46° 24’ 30” N, 105° 40’ 24” W
Where is 46° 24’ 30” N, 105° 40’ 24” W