MEASUREMENT

Distance, Mass, Volume, and Density

English System vs. Metric System

• English: – No consistency between units– Inches, feet, miles, pounds, and quarts

• Metric:– Based on number 10– Just multiply or divide by 10– Called Systeme Internationale d’Unites

(International System or SI)– Used in all sciences for measurement

Prefixes• milli-

– Means “less than” the whole unit– One one-thousandth of the base unit– Ex: milligram is less than a gram

• centi-– Means “less than” the whole unit– One one-hundredth of the base unit– Ex: centimeter is less than a meter

• kilo-– Means “more than” the whole unit– One thousand times the base unit– Ex: kilometer is a thousand meters

Distance• How far it is between two different places

• Base unit is meter (m)

• Kilometer (km) is 1000 meters and is used for long distances

• Centimeter (cm) is .01 meters

• Millimeter (mm) is .001 meters• Ex: Distance from Schaumburg H.S. to Woodfield Mall-

5.14 miles or 8.27 kilometers

Distance Example:

• Question: If the distance of my desk is 120cm, how many mm is that?

• Answer: 1200mm

Mass• Amount of matter an object contains

• Base unit is gram (g)

• Kilogram (kg) is 1000 grams and is used for heavy objects

• Milligram (mg) is .001 grams, so 1 gram=1000 milligrams

• Ex: Mass of 1 male African elephant- 15,432 pounds or 7000 kilograms

Mass Example:

• Question: If a cow weighs 1000 kg, how many grams does it weigh?

• Answer: 1,000,000 g

Volume• Amount of space an object occupies• Solid

– Measured in cubic centimeters (cm3)– Multiply length x width x height

• Liquid– Measured in liters (L)

• 1 liter=1000 milliliters• One cubic centimeter is equal to one

milliliter (mL)• Ex: The human body needs approximately 10.6

cups or 2.5 liters of water daily

Volume Example 1:

• Question: If a bottle of pop is 2000 mL, how many liters is it?

• Answer: 2 L

Volume Example 2:

• Question: If an object has the dimensions of 20cm high, 20cm wide, and 20cm long, what is the objects volume in mL?

• Answer: 8000cm3 or 8000mL

Density• Dividing an object’s mass by its volume

• Unit of measurement is g/mL

• An item with higher density is more dense

• An item with lower density is less dense

• Water has a density of 1g/mL• Ex: Gold- has a density of 19.3g/mL

Density Example:

• Question: What is the density of an object that has a mass of 10 grams and a volume of 1000 mL?

• Answer: .01g/mL