Measurement

A number and a unit that define a quantity

Time Distance Length Volume Temperature

Rough values Estimations Guesses Not very accurate

or precise

About 10m Approximately 15g Around 5ml

Exact values Quantitative

observations Very accurate and

precise

6.7m 8.3g 14.0ml

Types of measurement Distance Volume Mass and weight Temperature Time

Distance

Measures length, width, or height

Units – cm, m, km Tools – ruler,

meterstick, trundle wheel

Volume

Measures capacity Units – mL, L, cm3

Tools – graduated cylinder, beaker

* volume of a regularly shaped object is

l x w x h measured with a ruler

Mass and weight Measures the

amount of matter an object has or how much it weighs.

Units – g, kg, mg Tools – scales and

balances

Mass and weight are not the same thing Mass is the

measurement of the amount of matter in an object

Mass does not change

It is the amount of stuff an object is made of

Weight is the measurement of the gravitational pull on an object

Weight changes based on the objects position in the uiverse

Your weight on the moon is 1/6 of your weight on Earth.

Your mass on the moon is exactly the same as your mass on Earth

Temperature

Measures how hot or cold something is

Measures the total kinetic energy of an object

Units – 0C, 0F, K Tools -

thermometer

Time

Measures the amount of time necessary for something to occur

Units – s, min, hr, day, week, etc…

Tools – stopwatch, clock, watch

SI Units International System of Units

Metric System

The metric system of measurement is based on multiples of 10

Prefixes are used to indicate what multiple of 10 the base unit is being multiplied by

Base Units For mass: gram (g)

For volume: liter (L)

For distance or length: meter (m)

For time: second (s)

Prefix Symbol Decimal Factor

Tera T 1000000000000 1 x 1012

Giga G 1000000000 1 x 109

Mega M 1000000 1 x 106

Kilo k 1000 1 x 103

Hecto h 100 1 x 102

Deka da 10 1 x 101

Deci d 0.1 1 x 10-1

Centi c 0.01 1 x 10-2

Milli m 0.001 1 x 10-3

Micro μ 0.000001 1 x 10-6

Nano n 0.000000001 1 x 10-9

Pico p 0.000000000001 1 x 10-12