Measurement

History of Measurement
1. cubit
2. span
3. palm
4. digit
Early measurements used body
parts to determine length

Egyptians realized the need for a
standard measurement
Local Leaders used their arm
lengths

Imperial System
Customary Units
Examples: feet, inches, yards, miles, quarts, pounds
We do NOT use these in physics (very often)
Metric System (SI)
Le Systeme Internationale d Unites
Based on powers of 10 (like money)
All we need to do is slide the decimal.
Base units
Length = meter
Volume = liter
Mass = gram
Why we use the metric system!


http://www.schooltube.com/video/c9eb3ad6ce2745e2
8b98/Why-science-uses-the-metric-system
English vs. Metric Units
Left Image: http://webapps.lsa.umich.edu/physics/demolab/controls/imagedemosm.aspx?picid=1167
Right Image: http://share.lancealan.com/N800%20ruler.jpg
Which is longer?
A. 1 mile or 1 kilometer
B. 1 yard or 1 meter
C. 1 inch or 1 centimeter
1.6 kilometers
1 mile
1 yard = 0.9444 meters
1 inch = 2.54 centimeters
Metric Units
The basic unit of length in the metric system in the meter and is represented by a
lowercase m.
Standard: The distance traveled by light in absolute vacuum in 1299,792,458 of
a second.
Metric Units
1 Kilometer (km) = 1000 meters
1 Meter = 100 Centimeters (cm)
1 Meter = 1000 Millimeters (mm)
Which is larger?
A. 1 meter or 105 centimeters
B. 4 kilometers or 4400 meters
C. 12 centimeters or 102 millimeters
D. 1200 millimeters or 1 meter
Click the image to
watch a short video
about the meter.
Measuring Length
Ruler: http://www.k12math.com/math-concepts/measurement/ruler-cm.jpg
How many millimeters are in 1 centimeter?
What is the length of the line in centimeters? _______cm
What is the length of the line in millimeters? _______mm
What is the length of the line to the nearest centimeter? ________cm
HINT: Round to the nearest centimeter no decimals.
1 centimeter = 10 millimeters
Metric System
Prefi
x
Symbo
l
Factor by which Unit is
multiplied
Exponential
Notation
exa E 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 10
18

peta P 1,000,000,000,000,000 10
15

tera T 1,000,000,000,000 10
12

giga G 1,000,000,000 10
9

mega M 1,000,000 10
6

kilo k 1,000 10
3

hecto h 100 10
2

deca da 10 10
1

THE UNIT 1 10
0

deci d 0.1 10
-1

centi c 0.01 10
-2

milli m 0.001 10
-3

micro 0.000001 10
-6

nano n 0.000000001 10
-9

pico p 0.000000000001 10
-12

femto f 0.000000000000001 10
-15

atto A 0.000000000000000001 10
-18

Kilo = 1000


centi = .01


milli = .001
Prefixes


kilo hecto deca Base unit deci centi milli
1000 100 10 Meter 1/10 1/100 1/1000
Liter
Gram

You need to memorize kilo, centi, and milli !
Metric Exercises Answers
1. What is the basic unit of length used in the SI system?
___________________
2. What does SI stand for? _______________________________________

3. How many cents (pennies) are in a dollar?
__________________________

How many centimeters in a meter? ____________________________

4. Complete this analogy: 45 cents is 0.45 dollars as 45 centimeters
is _______
5. Complete this analogy: 5 dollars is to 500 cents as 5 meters is to
_______
6. Complete this analogy: 1 grand is to 1000 dollars as 1 kilometer
is to ______

meter
Le System International or
Metric System
100
100
1000 meters
500 centimeters
.45 meters
Metric Exercises Answers
7.5000 dollars is how many grand? 5000 meters is how many kilometers?
____________________________
8. Which metric unit is as thin as a dime? ________________________
11. Which metric unit is used to measure distances between cities?
_____________________
12. Which metric unit is about the size of a yard stick?
___________________________
13. If you measure the height of the door, it would be approximately 2
___________________

14. If you measured your height, you probably would be between 150 and
200 _______________

5, 5
millimeter
kilometer
meter
meters
Centimeters
(cm)
Metric Conversions
Conversions:


15. 67 cm = __________m

16. 598 cm = _________m

17. 12 m = ___________ cm

18. 500 m = __________km

22. 3 km = ___________ m











19. 128 cm =
_________________mm

20. 45 mm =
__________________cm

21. 5 km =
_____________________ m


.67
5000
4.5
1280
3000
.5
1200
5.98
Addition and Subtraction
26. 56 cm + 2 m = ______________ cm

27. 6 km + 4000 m = _____________km


10
256
Unit Analysis
Your European hairdresser wants to cut your hair 8.0 cm
shorter. How many inches will he be cutting off?
8.0 cm 1 in
2.54 cm

= 3.1 in
cm in
Unit Analysis
Taft football needs 550 cm for a 1st down. How many
yards is this?
550 cm 1 in
2.54 cm
= 6.0 yd
cm yd
1 ft
12 in
1 yd
3 ft
Unit Analysis
A piece of wire is 1.3 m long. How many 1.5 cm pieces can
be cut from this wire?
1.3 m 100 cm
1 m
= 86 pieces
m pieces
1 piece
1.5 cm
Convert 5m/s to 20 Mi/Hr
= 10.8 mi/hr
5 m
1 s
.6 mi
1Km
1 Km
1000m
3600 s
1 hr