Chapter 2:

Scientific Measurement
Lesson 1
Significant Figures
Definitions
Quantitative:
Expressed numerically

Qualitative:
Descriptive, non-numeric


Its chilly
outside!
Definitions
Accuracy:
How close a measurement is to the true or theoretical
value

Precision:
Concerned with reproducibility of a measurement
Significant Figures (Sig Figs)
Include all digits that
can be known precisely
plus a final digit which
must be estimated


Significant Figures (Sig Figs)
RULES OF SIG FIGS:
1. Every non-zero is significant.
2. Zeros in front of non-zeros are not significant. They are just
placeholders.
3. Zeros between non-zeros are significant.
4. Zeros at the end of a number and to the right of a decimal
are significant.
5. Zeros at the end of a number and to the left of a decimal are
not significant unless a decimal point is present
o Example: 300 has 1 sig fig but 3.00 x 10
2
has 3 sig figs

Sig Figs in Calculations
An answer cannot be more
precise than the least precise
measurement!
Rounding:
o If the number immediately
following the last sigfig is less
than 5, drop all digits after the
last sigfig
o If the digit after the last sigfig is
5 or more, round the last digit
up by 1
Sig Figs in Calculations
Addition/Subtraction:
The answer can have no more sig figs to the right of the
decimal than are contained in the measurement with the
least number of digits to the right of the decimal.
Example 1
12.52 m + 349.0 m + 8.24 m =
Example 2
74.626 m - 28.34 m =
Sig Figs in Calculations
Multiplication/Division:
The answer must contain no more sig figs than the
measurement with the least number of sig figs.
Example 3
7.55 m x 0.34 m =
Example 4
2.10 m x 0.70 m =
Example 5
2.4526 m/8.4 m =
Example 6
0.365 m/0.0200 m =
Lesson 2
The Metric System
The Metric System
All units based on 10 or multiple of 10
International System of Units (SI) is a revised version
of the metric system
o 7 base units
o From these, we can derive other units
SI Units
Quantity Measured:
1. length
2. mass
3. time
4. electric current
5. thermodynamic
temperature
6. amount of substance
7. luminous intensity
Unit & SI Symbol:
1. meter (m)
2. kilogram (kg)
3. second (s)
4. ampere (A)
5. kelvin (K)
6. mole (mol)
7. candela (cd)
Quantity Measured:

1. volume

2. density

3. temperature
4. pressure
5. energy

SI Units
SI Derived Unit or Non-SI Unit:

1. m
3
; L
2. g/cm
3
; g/mL
3.
o
C
4. Pa; atm; mmHg
5. J; cal




Prefixes:

1. kilo (k)
2. deci (d)
3. centi (c)
4. milli (m)
5. micro ()
6. nano (n)

Relative Size:

1. 1,000 times larger
2. 10 times smaller
3. 100 times smaller
4. 1,000 times smaller
5. 1 million times smaller
6. 1,000 million times smaller
SI Prefixes
1 km is about 5 city blocks
10 dm is about the height from the floor to a doorknob
1 cm is about the width of a shirt button
1 mm is about the thickness of a dime
1 m is about the diameter of a bacterial cell
1 nm is about the thickness of the RNA molecules

Visualizing Size
Length
SI unit: m
Measured with:
o Ruler
o Meter stick
o Measuring tape
Volume
The space occupied by matter
Derived unit
SI unit: cm
3
Metric unit: L
1,000 cm
3
= 1,000 mL = 1 L

Volume
Measure with:
o Graduated cylinder
o Pipet
o Volumetric flask
o Syringe
Volume changes with
temperature therefore
devices should be
calibrated at 20 C (room
temperature)

Mass
The amount of matter an object contains
NOT the same as weight
o Weight is a force!
Weight changes with location, mass remains constant
Measure with:
o Balance
o Scale
Density
The ratio of the mass of an object to its volume
o D = M/V
As density increases, volume decreases
o Inversely proportional
Density usually decreases as temperature increases,
but mass remains the same
Whats the exception to the above rule?
Specific Gravity
Comparison of density of a substance to the density of
a reference substance
o Usually at same temperature
Commonly use water at 4 C; density of 1 g/cm
3

Specific gravity = density of a substance/density of
water
o Note: units cancel!
Temperature
Degree of hotness or
coldness of an object
Determines the direction of
heat transfer

Temperature
Heat Transfer:
Occurs when 2 objects of different temperature contact
each other
Always flows hot to cold because of the 2nd law of
thermodynamics
o Entropy!


Temperature
Entropy:
Measure of a microscopic disorder
within a system
Entropy of an isolated system not in
equilibrium increases over time


Temperature
Almost all substances expand with an increase in
temperature and contract with a decrease in
temperature
o Except water!
This property forms the basis of a mercury thermometer
o It expands/contracts more than the volume of the
bulb it holds
Temperature
All thermometers work because of the change of some
property of matter with a change of temperature
o Solubility of solids, pressure of gases, rate of
chemical reactions



Temperature
Celsius scale:
Freezing point of water: 0 C
Boiling point of water: 100 C
100 equal intervals

Kelvin scale (absolute scale):
Freezing point of water: 273
K
Boiling point of water: 373 K



Heat
Joule: SI unit of energy

Calorie: 1 cal is the quantity of heat needed to raise 1 g of
pure water by 1 C

1 J = 0.239 cal
4.18 J = 1 cal
Heat
Kilocalorie:
Used on nutrition labels as Calories
10 g of sugar has 41 Calories means 10 g of sugar will
release 41 kcal of heat if it is burned completely to CO
2

and water by fire
Same amount of heat released when 10 g of sugar is
burned into CO
2
and water by our bodies
Specific Heat Capacity
Heat capacity:
The quantity of heat required to change an objects
temperature by exactly 1 C
Depends partly on mass (greater mass = greater
capacity) and on the type of substance


Specific Heat Capacity
Specific heat capacity:
Quantity of heat required to raise temperature of 1 g of
a substance by 1 C
Important because we can use it to calculate how many
cals are required to heat a known mass of substance
from one temp. to another

Specific Heat Capacity
C
p
= q/mT; measured in J/gC
o q is heat in joules
o m is mass in grams
o T is temperature in celsius
Percent Error
% error =
|theoretical value - experimental value| / theoretical value *100