Measurement Notes

Name: ______________________Period______

I. Units of Measurement
A. Length: The basic unit of length, or linear measure is the __________________ (m).
B. Mass: The basic unit of mass, or the amount of matter, is the _____________ (kg).
C. Volume: The measure of how much space an object occupies; The most
commonly used metric units for volume are the ____________________ (L) and the
milliliter (mL).

A liter is a cube 1 dm long on each side.

A milliliter is a cube 1 cm long on each side.

1 mL = 1 _______

D. Temperature: A measure of the ________________ ________________

________________ of the particles in a sample.

In scientific measurements, the Celsius and __________________ scales are

most often used.
o The Celsius scale is based on the properties of water.
o 0C is the freezing point of water; 100C is the boiling point of water.

The Kelvin is the SI unit of temperature.

o At 0 K, -273.15 C (absolute zero) all molecule motion theoretically
stops.
o There are no negative Kelvin temperatures.
o K = C + 273.15

The Fahrenheit scale is not used in scientific measurements.

o F = 9/5(C) + 32 and C = 5/9(F 32)

For Labs & tests/quizzes! Read ALL measuring tools THIS WAY from now on in science:
Record the NUMBER , the value of the LINE, the value of the number measured BETWEEN the
lines!
40+(eachlineisworth.1mLso.4mLmore)+onthelinemeans0.0moremL
Answer=43.0mLEventhezeroiswritten=doneright!(43mLisNOT
correct
becausethisgraduatedcylinderCANmeasuretenths(0.3,0.5,0.8mL)between
lines!

Ruler:2+(thinkingeachlineis0.1here3rdlineso.3
more)

+(waybetweenthelinesso0.05more)=2.35cm

SI Base Units

II. Metric System

A.
SI Units: Systme
International dUnits;
B.
Uses different units and
abbreviations for each quantity
__________________ help convert
the base units into units that are
appropriate for the item being
measured.
Metric System Prefixes

Prefix

Abbreviation Means

example

1 more example

King

kilo-

1 x103 or 1000

1,000 g = 1 kg

0.001 kL = 1 L

Henry

Hecto-

1x 102 or 100

100 g = 1 hg

0.01 hL = 1 L

Died

deka-

da

1x 101

10 g = 1 dag

0.1 daL = 1 L

by

BASE
UNIT
deci-

NONE

1x 100 or 1

1g=1g

1L=1L

1x 10-1 or 0.1

0.1 g = 1 dg = 1/10th g

10 dL = 1 L

chocolate centi-

1x 10-2 or 0.01

0.01 g = 1 cg = 1/100th g

100 cL = 1 L

milli-

1x 10-3 or 0.001

0.001 g = 1 mg = 1/1000th g

1000 mL = 1 L

drinking
milk

III. Dimensional Analysis & Metric Conversions

________________: An expression that says this equals that
Example-

1 hour = 60 minutes

_________________ _________________: A ratio of the equivalent values in the

equality
1 hour

or

60 minutes

60 minutes

The unit we start with is always on the _______!

1 hour

__________ __________ : A method of problem-solving that helps convert between

the units used to describe matter
# given units
from problem
factor

# find units
# given units

from equality/conversion

This t-chart format is the same as:

# given units

# find units
# given units
2

Example 1: Oak Ridge students attend school from 7:16 am until 2:35 pm. This is
7.32 hours a day. How many minutes is this?
Given: 7.32 hours

Equality: 1hour = 60 minutes

Find: # minutes

Ratios: 1 hour or
60 minutes

7.32 hours
.

60 minutes
1 hour

60 minutes
1 hour

= 7.32 x 60 minutes
1

= 439.2 minutes

Example 2: A 5k (km) run is 3.1 miles. How many meters is this?

=
Example 3: A 10k (km) run is 6.2 miles. How many centimeters is this?
=
Example 4: At 20 weeks a zygote is about 17cm. How many millimeters is this?
=
Example 5: When eyes are dilated for an eye exam they expand 5 mm. How
many cm is this?
=

________

IV. Scientific Notation

Because sometimes numbers are just

too big or small to work with.
Consists of a number with only ________
DIGIT to the LEFT of the decimal times some
power of 10.

M. x 10n
_________

_____

Example : 3.254 x 103

A. Changing from Standard Numeral to
Scientific Notation
1. Whole numbers will have Positive power of
10; move decimal to left
Example:
8,500 = _____________
2. Decimal Numbers will have Negative power
of 10; move decimal to right
Example:
0.789 = _____________

More practice

In scientific notation:

1) 3500
2) 0.0006
3) 87,500,000
4) 0.00000092
5) 513,000
3

B. Changing from Scientific Notation to Standard Numeral

1. If the exponent is (+):
Move the decimal to the right!
Example:

1.50 x 10 = _____________

2. If the exponent is (-):

Move the decimal to the left!
Example:

In standard notation:

More practice

2.63 x 10-3 = _____________

6) 5.3 x 103
7) 4.9 x 10-2
8) 8.07 x 104
9) 6 x 10-5
10) 2.83 x 10-3

V. Calculations With Scientific Notation

*ALL NUMBERS IN THE BASE NUMBER ARE SIGNIFICANT*
A. Multiplication
1. Multiply base numbers
2. Add powers of 10

Example:

B. Division
1. Multiply base numbers
2. Add powers of 10

Example:

(1.5 x 10 ) ( 2.0 X 10 ) = _______________________

4.0 x 10

2.0 x 10

= 2.0 x 10

(2 4)

= ___________

C. Addition and Subtraction with Scientific Notation

Exponents must be the same
(6.5 x 102) + (2.0 x 103) + (30.0 x 103)
(0.65 x 103) + (2.0 x 103) + (30.0 x 103)
(0.65 + 2.0 + 30.0) x 103 = 32.65 x 103 = 3.265 x 104
Every answer should be written in correct scientific notation!!
632 x 102 = 6.32 x 104

0.0754 x 103 = 7.54 x 101

VI. Uncertainty in Measurement

Different measuring devices have different uses and different degrees of
____________________ .
The more subdivisions an instrument has, the more ____________ that instrument is.
Reading Instruments:
Step 1 - Read the measurement to the smallest subdivision of your instrument
(Subdivision = the distance between two of the smallest lines) READ
the NUBMER, The SMALLEST Line and..
Step 2 - Estimate one more digit
4

Example: What is the proper measurement below?

VII. Accuracy and Precision

Accuracy: How close measurement comes to the true _______________ of that
measurement.
Precision: How often you get the same measurement; reproducibility; consistent
data.
How ___________

____________________ are to each other.

accurate / precise

accurate / precise

accurate /

precise
Example: Three different groups of students (A, B, and C) measured the mass of the
same piece of iron that has a known mass of 5.5 grams.
Trail 1
Trial 2
Trial 3

A
2.7
2.7
2.8

B
4.3
5.8
9.2

C
5.6
5.5
5.6

Which set is both precise and accurate? _______

Percent error: the ratio of an error to an accepted value

- smaller #
Percent error

NOTE: Error = larger #

error
x 100
accepted value

Example: A piece of wood has a labeled length value of 76.49 cm. You measure
its length three times and find that your average measurement is 76.53 cm.
Calculate the percent error of your measurement.
VI. Significant Figures

The term _________________ _____________________ refers to digits that were

measured.

When rounding calculated numbers, we pay attention to significant figures so we

do not overstate the accuracy of our answers.

A. Counting Sig Figs (tutorial at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b60RZqut0U )

1. All _________________ are significant.

5

2. Zeroes _________________ two significant figures are significant. (trapped zeros)

3. Zeroes at the _________________ of a number are never significant. (zeros in front)
4. Zeroes at the _________________ of a number are significant if a decimal point is
written in the number. (zeros at the end)
Example:

43.00 m

1.010 m

1.000 x 103 m

9.000 m

0.01010 m

43,010 m

All of these measurements contain ____ significant digits.

Number of Sig Figs
a________

Rule 1
a. 34 m

b________

b. 304 L

c________

c. 784,657 s
d. 9009 g

d________

Rule 2
f. 0.5 km

f________
g________

g. 0.002 L
h. 0.00304 s
i. 0.00010001 g

Rule 3
k. 10 cm
l. 50.0 L
m. 0.02020 g
n. 990.00 mL
Rule 4
p. 1.2X106kg
q. 3.03X109mm

Number of Sig Figs

k________
l________
m________
n________
p________
q________

h________

r. 4.30X1015g

r________

i________

s. 6.1010X1025s

s________

B. Calculations with Sig Figs

Multiplying & Dividing

( tutorial at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5BmoMDJLRY)

1) Multiply or divide to get an answer

2) Round your answer to the LEAST number of ____________ ________________ .
Example:

8.02 x 0.43 = 3.4486 = __________

More Calculations with Sig Figs

Adding & Subtracting (tutorial at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eXC6s9X6Wc )
1) Add or subtract to get an answer
2) Round your answer to the LEAST number of ________________ _______________ .
Example:

4.3
+ 5.4570
9.7570 = ____________

VII. Density
The ratio that compares the ______________ of an object to its ______________
It is an _____________________ physical property;
Formula:

Density =

mass
volume

d =

Units: g/mL or g/cm3

m
v

If substances do not mix, the ____________ dense substance will _____________ .

Given the densities of the four liquids:
0.69 g/mL

1.26 g/mL

1.00 g/mL

0.82 g/mL

LETTER
1) What is the density of substance A? _______
2) What is the density of substance D? _______
3) If an object with a density of 0.95 g/mL is dropped into the column, where
would it settle? __________________
Example 1: A block of wood measures 3.2 cm by 4.5 cm by 6.1 cm. When placed on the scale it
weighs 29 g. What is the density?

Example 2: A marble weighs 15 grams. When placed in a graduated cylinder that had a volume of 29
mL of water in it, the water level raised to 34 mL. What is the density of the marble?

Example 3: Pure Gold has a density of 19.32 g/cm3. If you have a chunk of gold that weighs
52 grams, what is the volume?

Example 4: An unknown substance from planet X has a density of 10 g/ml. It occupies a volume of
80 ml. What is the mass of this unknown substance?