PreLab:MeasurementTools

Preparation
Normallyyouwouldalsohaveprepworktocompletebeforecomingtolab,butsincethisisthe
firstweekoflabandyoudidnotreceivethishandoutinadvanceyouarenotresponsibleforprep
work.

Reference
TheattachedAppendixincludestablesofmetricunitsandofequivalencesbetweenEnglishand
metricunits.

Objectives
1. Identifythemetricunitsusedtomeasurelength,mass,volume,andtemperature.
2. Knowalloftheprefixesandsymbolslistedonp.2,statewhattheymean,andbeableto
usethem.
3. Beabletoconvertameasurementfromonemetricunittoanotherwithoutconsultingalist
ofdefinitions.
4. Beabletousemetricmeasuringtoolscorrectly.
5. UnderstandtheformulasthatrelateFahrenheitandCelsiustemperaturescalesandbeable
toconvertatemperaturereadingfromonescaletotheother.

MeasurementWorksheet

Introduction
Unitsofmeasureinthemetricsystem
ThemetricsystemispartoftheSystmeInternationale(S.I.),thestandardinternationalsystem
ofmeasurementinscience.TheUnitedStatesisaloneamongsocalleddevelopednationsinnot
adoptingmetricunitsforeverydaymeasurements.
ThereareninebasicS.I.unitsformeasuringdifferentkindsofquantities(time,space,mass,
electriccurrent,andothers),plusmanyotherunitsderivedfromthem.Theunitsweuseinclude
bothbasicandderivedunits:themeter(m)tomeasurelength1,thegram(g)tomeasuremass2,
theliter(L)tomeasurevolume,andthedegreeCelsius(C)tomeasuretemperature.Theother
unitsweusearenamedbyattachingaprefixtooneoftheunitsnamedabove;theprefix
designateseitheramultipleorafractionofthebasicunit.Allofthemarerelatedtoeachotherby
multiplesof10.Themostcommonlyusedprefixesarelistedinthetablebelow.
Nameand
Symbol

Meaning

giga(G)
mega(M)
kilo(k)

billion
million
thousand

basicunits: liter(L),meter(m),gram(g)
centi(c)
milli(m)
micro()
nano(n)

hundredth
thousandth
millionth
billionth

RelativeValuetoBaseUnit
asdecimal
aspowerof10
1,000,000,000.
1,000,000.
1,000.

109
106
103

1.

100

.01
.001
.000001
.000000001

102
103
106
109

Theunitsoflength,mass,andvolumearealsorelatedtoeachother:1mL=1cm3(acubic
centimeterorcc).ThegramisderivedasthemassequaltoonemL(oronecc)ofwater
understandardconditions.

ConstructionofNames
1

ThemeteristheonlyoneoftheseunitsthatisanS.I.basicunit.AlloftheothersarederivedfromrelatedS.I.unitsandare
moreusefulforordinarypurposesthanthebasicS.I.units.
2

Thegramistechnicallyaunitofmassratherthanweight.Massistheamountofmatter;weighttakesintoaccounttheeffectof
gravityonmass.MassisequivalenttoweightaslongasweretalkingaboutobjectsonEarth,wheretheforceofgravityis1.

MeasurementTools

Unitsthatarelargerorsmallerthanthebasicunitarenamedbyattachingaprefixtothe
nameofthebasicunit.Thesamesetofprefixesisusedforallofthebasicunits.
Example: onethousandmeters(1000m)isthesameas 1kilometer(1km)
Example: onehundredthofagram(0.01g)isthesameas 1centigram(1cg)
Example: onethousandthofaliter(0.001L)isthesameas1milliliter(1mL)

Part1:ConvertingMeasurementsfromOneMetricUnittoAnother
Sinceallofthemultiplesandfractionsofaunitarerelatedtoeachotherbypowersof10,
conversionfromoneunittoanothercanbedonebysimplymultiplyingordividingbythe
appropriatefactorof10mosteasilyaccomplishedbysimplymovingthedecimalpoint.You
donothavetousecalculatorsorlongdivision/multiplicationwhenconvertingmeasurements
withinthesamemetricscale(andyouwillnotbeabletousecalculatorsontheexam!).
1)Whichdirectionshouldyoumovethedecimalpoint?
Whetheryoumovethedecimalpointtotheleftorrightdependsonwhichunitislarger:theone
youarestartingwith,ortheoneyouwanttoendupwith.Ittakesmanysmallunitstoequalone
largeunit(justlikeittakesmanypenniestoequalonedollar),sotheoperationyouperformmust
beonethatwillgiveyoualargernumberofthesmallunitsthanofthelargeunits.
Hereisaneasywaytorememberhowtomovethedecimal:
multiply

B divide

BiggerunittoSmallerunitmovedecimalright(multiplybypowerof10)
SmallerunittoBiggerunitmovedecimalleft(dividebypowerof10)
Example:1.0km=______m
Howtoapproachthis:
recognizeyouareconvertingfromabigtoasmallerunit(BS),meaning
yourdecimalmustmovetotheright

2)Howmanyplacesdoyoumovethedecimal?
Onceyouhavedeterminedwhichwhytomovethedecimal,usethechartonp.2todetermine
howmanydecimalplacestomove.First,findyourstartingpoint.Intheexampleabove,youare
startingwithkilometers(km).Second,findouthowmanypowersof10awayyourdesired
unitisfromtheoneyoustartedwith.Intheexample,meters(m)are3powersof10awayfrom

MeasurementTools

kilometers(km).Therefore,weshouldmoveourdecimalplace3spacesandwewillmoveit
totherightbecauseweareconvertingfromabigtoasmallerunit.
Solution:1.000km=1000.m

A.Toconvertfromalargerunittoasmallerunit,movethedecimalpointtotheright.Thisis
thesameideaasmultiplyingbytheproperpowerof10.Onelargeunitequalsmanysmallunits,
sotheanswermustbeabiggernumberofunits.
2.5km=______m
Method1:Movethedecimalpoint
*AreyougoingfromBSorfromSB?______________
*Therefore,doyoumovethedecimaltotherightorleft?_____________
*Howmanydecimalplacesarebetweenameterandakilometer?________
=2500.m
Method2:CrossMultiplywithconversionfactors
2.5 km*1000m

1km

2.5km*1000m

2500.m

1km

B.Toconvertfromasmallerunittoalargerunit,movethedecimalpointtotheleft.Thisis
thesameideaasdividingbytheproperpowerof10.Ittakesmanysmallunitstoequalonelarge
unit,sotheanswermustbeasmallernumberofunits.
1.0L=0.000001L
Whatifyourconversionasksyoutogofromonesideofthebaseunittoanother?
Problem:Convert53kgtomg.

MeasurementTools

Whetheryousimplymovethedecimalorcrossmultiply,alwaystakesuchquestions
intwosteps.Firstconvertyourstartingunitstothebaseunitandthenconverttothe
unit
neededforyouranswer.
Solution:53kg=53,000.g=53,000,000.mg
Thereisanotherwaytoapproachconversionfactorsusingexponentsifyouprefer:
Method3:Subtracttheexponentofthesmallerunitfromthelargerunit
kg(largerunit;kg=103g)MINUSmg(smallerunit;mg=103g)
subtract: 3(3)=3+3=6decimalplaces
Again,53kg=53,000,000mg
LetsPractice!Withoutusingacalculator,answerthefollowingquestions.Thefirstsetare
simplyaskingyoutomultiplyanddividebypowersof10.Thesecondsetrequireyouto
combinethisbasicmathskillwiththeSIcharttohelpyouconvertfromonemetricunitto
another.Whenyouarefinished,firstcheckyouanswerswiththoseatyourlabtabletoseeif
youareinagreement.Takethetimetohelpthosemembersofyourgroupthatmightneed
assistance.Onceyoufeelyouhavetherightanswersasatable,haveyourinstructorcheckyour
answers.
137x100=_______________

1.73210=_______________

137100=_______________

1.04x100=_______________

29.7x10=________________

1.04100=_______________

29.710=________________

23.24x1000=______________

1.732x10=_______________

23.241000=_____________

75mg=________________kg

MeasurementTools

0.003g=_______________mg

17L=________________mL

1.73nm=_______________m(asinglemismetermmismillimeter)
0.24L=________________nL

Whichislarger?56.0mgor0.04g______________________
7.5cm=________________mm=__________________m

Part2:MakingMeasurementsinMetricUnits
MEASURINGLENGTH
Obtainonetapemeasure.NoticethatthetapemeasurehasmetricunitsononeedgeandEnglish
units(inches)ontheotheredge.Onthemetricedge,thenumberedlinesarecentimeters(cm)and
thesmalldivisionsaremillimeters(mm).
Accordingtoyourtapemeasure,howmanymillimetersarethereinonecentimeter?1cm=
______mm
Accordingtoyourtapemeasure,howmanycentimetersarethereinaninch? 1inch=
______cm
Therefore,howmanymillimetersarethereinaninch(justconvert!)?
1inch=______mm
LeafExercise.Obtain5leavesforyourlabtable.Eachpersonatyourtableshouldusetheir
ownsmallrulertomeasurethewidth(cm,roundtodecimalplace)ofeachofthefiveleavesat
yourtable.Dothisseparately,withoutconsultingwithoneanotherabouthowyouare
measuring.Createadatatableinthespacebelowtorecordyourresults.Leaveroomto
alsowriteintheresultsofeachofyourlabpartnersforleaves15.Youshouldusearulerto
createyourtable(rows,columns).Makesureitiswelllabeled(Whatinformationisbeing
recorded?Unitsofmeasurement?).Youwillneedextracolumntoaddadditional
informationlaterinthelab.
DataTable:

MeasurementTools

Takealookatyourmeasurementsforleaves15.Theyareallthesametypeofleaffromthe
sameplant.Didyouobtainidenticalmeasurementsforeachoftheirwidths?_________Ifnot,
thedifferencescouldbeduetoindividualvariationintheleaves.Individualvariationisthereal
differencesbetweendifferentsamplesofthesamekind(ex:differentmapleleavesfromthesame
branch).
Nowtakealookathoweachmemberofyourtablemeasuredleaf#3.Didyoueachcomeup
withexactlythesamewidth?__________.Ideallyyoushouldbecauseafterall,itisthesame
leafanditswidthisnotchanging.Ifyourmeasurementsamongpeoplearenotthesame,the
differencesareduetomeasurementerror.Measurementerrorreferstodifferencesin
measurementofthesameobject,whetheritisrepetitivemeasurementsbythesamepersonor
measurementsmadebydifferentpeople(ordifferentinstruments).Measurementerrorisalso
sometimesreferredtoashumanerror.Humanerrormustbeeliminatedasmuchaspossiblein
ordertobeabletoseehowmuchindividualvariationthereis.
Givethreespecificsourcesofmeasurementerrorthatoccurred(ormighthaveoccurred)when
measuringtheleavesatyourtable.SimplysayingHumanerrorisnotanacceptableanswer.
Bespecificintheerrorsthatcouldhaveoccurred.
1. _____________________________________________________________________

MeasurementTools

2. _____________________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________________
Comparingaveragestosinglemeasurements.Calculatetheaveragemeasuredwidthofleaf1,
leaf2,leaf3,leaf4,andleaf5.Roundoffyourcalculationstoonedecimalplaceandrecord
thesevaluesinyourdatatableonthepreviouspage.Comparetheaverageleafwidthwiththose
madebytheindividualmembersofyourgroup.
Reportingaveragevaluesisonewayscientistscantrytoreduceboththeamountofindividual
variationandmeasurementerrorwhenreportingdatatothepublic.Typically,scientistswould
dosomestatisticsandnotonlyreporttheaveragevalue,buttherangeoutsideofthisaveragethat
samplescouldspan(oftenreportedas+standarddeviationvalues).
Inthespacesbelow,explaintheimportanceofreportingbothaveragevaluesandtheoriginal
datasetrangeforthefollowingscenarioandthetypeoferror(individualormeasurement)this
addresses.
1. Measuringyouryard2or3timesbeforeorderingtherightamountoffertilizer(basedon
area).
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Appendix
Reviewofmultiplicationanddivisionbypowersof10inthedecimalsystem
Startingfromthedecimal,eachplacetotherightisonetenthasmuchastheplacebeforeit:
tenths,hundredths,thousandths,etc.
Startingfromthedecimal,eachplacetotheleftistentimesasmuchastheplacebeforeit:
ones,tens,hundreds,thousands,etc.
Movingthedecimalpointtotherightinadecimalnumberismultiplication.
Eachplacethedecimalpointismovedmultipliesthenumberby10itmakeseachdigitworth
tentimesasmuchasitwasbefore.
Ifyoustartwith

1234.56andmovethedecimalpointoneplacetotheright,youget
12345.6

Ifyoustartwith

.1234andmovethedecimalpointoneplacetotheright,youget
1.234

MeasurementTools

Movingthedecimalpointtotheleftisdivision.
Eachplacethedecimalpointismoveddividesthenumberby10itmakeseachdigitworthone
tenthasmuchasitwasbefore.
Ifyoustartwith

1234.56andmovethedecimalpointoneplacetotheleft,youget
123.456

Ifyoustartwith

.1234andmovethedecimalpointoneplacetotheleft,youget
.01234

Tomultiplyordivideby10(oranymultipleoften),movethedecimalpointthesamenumber
ofplacesasthenumberofzeroesinthenumberyouwanttomultiplyordivideby.
Ex.Tomultiplyordivideby100,movethedecimalpoint2places.
Tomultiplyordivideby10,000,movethedecimalpoint4places.
Sampleproblems:
Multiply13by100.
Therearetwozeroesin100,sothedecimalpointismoved2placestotheright:
13.x100=1300.
Multiply23.4by10
Thereisonezeroin10,sothedecimalpointismoved1placetotheright:
23.4x10=234.
Divide13by100.
Thedecimalpointismoved2placestotheleft:

MeasurementTools

13100=.13