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Units Objectives At the end of this chapter you should be able to: do conversions from one unit to another identify the most common prefixes used with the SI system convert between exponents and common prefixes Units A lot of time has been spent on reviewing mathematical concepts and introducing several new ones. Numbers by themselves, however, are relatively meaningless. The numerical value .!"# by itself is meaningless unless information about .!"# $what% is given. Is the numerical value telling you about a distance& as in .!"# miles. Is the numerical value telling you about a time& as in .!"# seconds. 'hat is the .!"# giving information about& Units give us information about what scale or standard is being used. There are two popular systems in use: the (nglish system, which the )nited States uses, and the SI system *based in the metric system+ which most of the rest of the world uses. The table below lists the base units of each system. ,ase units can be thought of as the units that are most convenient in si-e to use *although other units are available+. Unit .ength Time 0ass Temperature (nergy Table 5.1 English system /oot *ft+ Second *s+ 1ound *lb+ /ahrenheit */+ 4alorie *cal+ SI system 0eter *m+ Second *s+ 2ilogram *3g+ 2elvin, 4elsius *2 or 4+ 5oule *5+

There are other units in the (nglish system that are more convenient than the base units for certain situations. (ven though the base unit of length in the (nglish system is a foot, we 3now that we can use other units, li3e inches and miles to describe length. 'e can use gallons or pints to tal3 about volumes. The same is true for every base unit in the (nglish system, there are always other units that are more appropriate to use because they are closer in si-e to the measurement we are ma3ing. If I was measuring the mass of an elephant, it would certainly ma3e more sense to use a unit li3e the ton as opposed to a unit li3e the pound. Suppose I told you that a length of string was 6 feet long. I then as3ed you how many inches that was. 7ou would probably not hesitate long before you answered, $6" inches%. 7ou would be right. Suppose I as3ed you how you solved the problem& 7ou might say, $Since there are !6 inches in a foot, and the string was 6 feet long, I multiplied !6 by 6 *or added !6 and !6 together+ and got 6" inches%. 7ou 8ust did two incredibly important operations that are constantly used in chemistry. /irst, you 8ust used something called a conversion factor. Conversion factors show numerically how one unit is

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related to another *and they typically ta3e the form of a fraction.+. The second operation you did is a procedure scientists call dimensional analysis, the process of converting from one unit to another unit. 'hen used together, they provided a powerful tool for scientists. .ets loo3 at the conversion factor first. 7ou 3now that: !6 inches : ! foot If we divided both sides by $! foot% we would end up with: !6 inches !foot = but, anything divided by itself is !, so !foot !foot !6 inches =! !foot The conversion factor we 8ust generated relates the unit of inches to the unit of a foot. There are thousands of conversion factors *some of which are given to you on the last page of the chapter+ that relate all 3inds of units to each other. 7ou probably 3now several of them already, although you might not have thought of them as $conversion factors%. I could also have divided both sides by !6 inches, the conversion factor I would have arrived at then would loo3 a little bit different: !6 inches !foot = but, anything divided by itself is !, so !6 inches !6inches ! foot =! !6 inches ;egardless of the way the conversion factor loo3s, it still relates inches and a foot together. <ow are conversion factors used& /irst, I ta3e the information I=m given and I set it up as a fraction. I can write any number as a fraction, simply by putting the numerical value in the numerator and a $!% in the denominator. I also ma3e sure to include the unit I was given. I then multiply it by the conversion factor I need. The conversion factor must contain both the unit you=re trying to get rid of *in this case feet+ and the unit you want to end up with *in this case inches+. This leads to:
6 feet !6 inches ! ! foot
6 feet !6 inches ! ! foot

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This may loo3 a little confusing, with so many units present. ;emember, that 8ust li3e we could cancel out the same number if it appeared in both the numerator and the denominator of a fraction, we can do the same thing with units if they appear in both the numerator and denominator of a fraction *8ust li3e simplifying a fraction+. This leaves:
6 !6 inches !! = 6" inches ! = 6" inches

?ften times, I will cancel units first before doing the arithmetic. Exam le 5.1 <ow many @uarts are in !.# gallons& ANS'(;
!.# gallons ! " @uarts ! gallons = !.# " @uarts ! = .6 @uarts

Exam le 5.! <ow many gallons are in A." @uarts& ANS'(;:

A." @uarts ! ! gallon " @uarts = A. gallons " = !.A gallons

Notice the difference in the two examples. (ach problem involves units of @uarts and gallons, but re@uires you to use the conversion factor in two different ways. Notice in the first example that you needed to get rid of gallons, which was in the numerator. 7ou therefore had to set up your conversion factor so that the unit of gallons was in the denominator *so the units of gallons would cancel+. In the second example, you needed to get fid of @uarts, which was in the numerator. 7ou therefore had to set up your conversion factor so that the unit of @uart was in the denominator *so the units of @uarts would cancel+. Sometimes it is difficult to find a conversion factor that has both the unit you need to get rid of, and the unit you want to end up with. This re@uires you to use more than one conversion factor. The example below will illustrate the process. Exam le 5." 4alculate the number of inches in !.6# miles. ANS'(;:
!.6# miles ! 6B> feet ! mile !6 inches ! foot = C.C9 !>" inches

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7ou may as3 yourself about the number of significant figures I have showing in my final answer *you might expect to see two significant figures, not the three I have+. There are additional rules involving the determination of significant figures when doing dimensional analysis. 4ounted @uantities and defined @uantities do not have any error associated with them. /or example, there is no error in saying there are exactly !6 inches in ! foot, or in saying that there are !>> cents in ! dollar, or that there are 6B> feet in a mile, so they are not a factor in determining significant figures. Also, most conversion factors are so well 3nown, that when we use them we can consider them to be exact because they are so well 3nown. They do in fact have some error with them, but the error is well beyond the limits of the numbers with which we are wor3ing, and can essentially be ignored when considering the correct number of significant figures to use in our final answer. ,efore the discussion on converting from (nglish units to SI units is given, we are going to spend time on converting units within the SI system itself *8ust li3e we did for the (nglish system above+. )nit conversions in the SI system are much easier than in the (nglish system. All conversion factors in the SI system are based on multiples of $!>%. /or example, there are !> millimeters in a centimeter, there are !> centimeters in a decimeter, there are !> decimeters in a meter. 7ou may have noticed that in addition to being in multiples of $!>%, all the different unit names contain the distance base unit name D the meter. The same is true for every conversion factor unit. The base unit name is always a part of the new unit name. /or example the base unit name for the volume of a substance is the liter. ?ther volume unit include the milliliter, the centiliter, and the deciliter. The SI system eliminates all the odd number conversions found in the (nglish system *!6 inched in a foot, " @uarts in a gallon, !A o- in a pound+ and ma3es the numerical relationships easier to remember. In addition, the SI system also simplifies the names of the other units, 3eeping the name of the base unit as its root. In fact, the only thing that changes in the names of the new units is the prefix. The prefix is the group of letters preceding the base unit name. The table below lists some common prefixes used in the SI system and indicates what they are used for. #refix tera *T+ giga *E+ mega *0+ 3ilo *3+ hecto *h+ de3a *da+ deci *d+ centi *c+ milli *m+ micro *+ nano *n+ pico *p+ femto *f+ Table 5.! $eaning !>>>>>>>>>>>> !>>>>>>>>> !>>>>>> !>>> !>> !> >.! >.>! >.>>! >.>>>>>! >.>>>>>>>>! >.>>>>>>>>>>>! >.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>! Ex ressed in Scientific %otation !>!6 !>9 !>A !># !>6 !>! !>F! !>F6 !>F# !>FA !>F9 !>F!6 !>F!

It is now obvious why there are !> decimeters in a meter. $deci% represents a tenth. Therefore, a decimeter is &.1 meters or 1 x 1&'1 meters. <ow many decimeters *or tenths+ do I need to ma3e a whole

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meter& I need !> decimeters. The base unit of meters is only being used as an example the same would be true for any base unit. 'e said earlier that there were !>> centimeters in a meter. $centi% represents a hundreth. Therefore, a centimeter is &.&1 meters or 1 x 1&'! meters. <ow many centimeters *or hundreths+ do I need to ma3e a whole meter& I need !>> centimeters. The relation between the prefixes can now be seen. If there are !> decimeters in a meter, and !>> centimeters in a meter, each decimeter must be e@ual to !> centimeters *!> decimeters each containing !> centimeters gives !>> centimeters+. Exam le 5.( <ow many millimeters are there in a decimeter& ANS'(;: .oo3 at the prefixes. A millimeter is >.>>! meters or ! x !>F# meters. <ow many thousandths do I need to ma3e a whole& I need !>>> millimeters to ma3e a meter. I 3now there are !> decimeters in a meter. (ach decimeter must therefore contain !>> millimeters. Exam le 5.5 (xpress 6. " centimeters as a decimal number in units of meters. ANS'(;: 6. " centimeters is really the same as 6. " x !>F6 meters *centi is e@uivalent to !>F6+. This is 8ust li3e the problems we solved chapter #. Notice the number is now 6. " x !>F6 meters and N?T 6. " x !>F6 centimeters. 'hen I replace the prefix with the scientific notation e@uivalent, the prefix is removed. (xpressed as a decimal, the number is >.>6 " meters. *;ecall I need to move the decimal so that the exponent becomes !>>+. There is no difference in using a number expressed in scientific notation of using an e@uivalent prefix. I can even combine the two methods as shown in the following example. Exam le 5.) (xpress 6. " x !>F6 micrometers as a decimal number. ANS'(;: This is the same as >.>6 " micrometers. This, however, is the same as >.>6 " x !>FA meters. In decimal form the number can be expressed as >.>>>>>>>6 " meters. Exam le 5.* (xpress 6. " x !>F6 micrometers in units of nanometers. ANS'(;: 'e already 3now the value can be expressed as >.>6 " x !>FA meters. In order to use the prefix $nano% we must covert the exponent into !>F9. 0oving the decimal three places to the right results in 6 ." x !>F9. I can now remove the exponential and use the prefix $nano%. The final answer is 6 ." nanometers. 'e now have an idea of how to convert units in the (nglish system and the SI system. Several

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examples below will illustrate the same concepts discussed above, but using (nglishFSI conversion factors. The last page of this chapter lists useful conversion factors. Exam le 5.+ <ow many 3ilograms are in !."# pounds& ANS'(;:
!."# pounds ! ! 3i log ram 6.6> pounds = >.A"9 3g

Exam le 5., <ow many pounds are in !."# 3ilograms ANS'(;:

!."# 3i log rams ! 6.6> pounds ! 3i log ram = #.! lb

Notice in examples .B and .9, that I used the same basic information in the conversion factor. The only thing I did differently was to arrange the conversion factors so that I had the unit I wanted to get rid of cancelled by the same unit in the conversion factor, leaving me with the unit I was interested in. Exam le 5.1& <ow many days are in !.6#C x !>A seconds& ANS'(;:
!.6#C x !>A sec onds ! ! min ute A> sec onds ! hour A> min utes ! day 6" hours = !."#6 x !>! days

Exam le 5.11 <ow many pounds are in 6#". grams& ANS'(;:

6#". grams ! ! 3i log ram !>>> grams 6.6> pounds ! 3i log ram = >. !C! lb

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End of cha ter -.estions !. Go the following (nglish to (nglish conversions. d+ how many seconds are in 6."6 wee3s& e+ how many ounces are in C.A pounds& f+ how many feet are in !C.B x !># inches

a+ how many yards are in ".#> inches& b+ how many feet are in #." miles& c+ how many cups are in 6.! gallons& 6. Go the following SI to SI conversions.

a+ how many liters are in #." x !>6 milliliters& b+ how many meters are in 6. " centimeters& c+ how many milliliters are in #." liters& #. Go the following (nglishFSI conversions.

d+ how many 3ilograms are in AC.9 grams& e+ how many nanosecond are in ! millisecond& f+ how many centimeters are in 6.! millimeters&

a+ how many milliliters are in ".9B! pints& b+ how many grams are in #. A ounces& c+ how many meters are in A.! yards&

d+ how many fluid ounces are in >." liters& e+ how many inches are in #." x !>F# meters& f+ how many deciliters are in #." @uarts&

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Common SI'English Conversion /actors 0ength1 ! 3ilometer *3m+ ! meter *m+ ! meter *m+ ! inch *in+ 2ol.me1 ! liter *.+ ! liter *.+ ! milliliter *m.+ $ass1 ! 3ilogram *3g+ ! gram *g+ : : 6.6> pounds *lb+ >.># 6C ounces *o-+ Common English Conversion /actors 0ength1 ! foot *ft+ ! mile *mi+ # feet *ft+ 2ol.me1 6 cups *c+ 6 pints *pt+ " @uarts *@t+ $ass1 !A ounces *o-+ 6>>> pounds *lb+ Time1 ! minute *min+ ! hour *hr+ 6" hours *hr+ C days #A days 6 wee3s *w3+ : : : : : : A> seconds *s+ A> minutes *min+ ! day ! wee3 *w3+ ! year *yr+ ! year *yr+ : : ! pound *lb+ ! ton : : : ! pint *pt+ ! @uart *@t+ ! gallon *gal+ : : : !6 inches *in+ 6B> feet *ft+ ! yard *yd+ : : : >.6A"6 gallons *gal+ !.> C @uarts *@t+ >.>##B! fluid ounce *fl o-+ : : : : >.A6!" mile *mi+ !.>9" yards *yd+ #9.#C inches *in+ 6. " centimeters *cm+