METRIC AGAIN?
The standards of measurement used by scientists are those of the metric system. The metric system is important because of its simplicity and convenience. All the units are based on 10 or multiples of 10. As a result, conversions between units are easy to do. The metric system was originally established in France in 1790. The International System of Units (abbreviated SI, after the French name Le Systeme International dUnites) is a revised version of the metric system. It was adopted by international agreement in 1960. The SI has seven base units of measurement (meter, kilogram, second, ampere, kelvin, mole, candela). From these, other SI units of measurement such as volume, density, and pressure are derived. It is possible to report all measured quantities in SI units, however non-SI metric units are preferred for convenience or practical reasons.
Quantity | SI base unit or derived SI unit | More Common Metric Unit |
Length | Meter (m) | |
Volume | Cubic meter (m3) | Liter (L) |
Mass | Kilogram (kg) | Gram (g) |
Density | Grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm3) | Grams per liter (g/L) |
Temperature | Kelvin (K) | Degree Celsius (șC) |
Time | Second (s) | |
Pressure | Pascal (pa) | Atmosphere (atm) or Millimeter of mercury (mm of Hg) |
Energy | Joule (J) | Calorie (cal) |
Important to remember about water
1 g water = 1 cm3 1 L water at 4șC = 1 kg therefore 1L = 1Kg = 1000 cm3 = 1000 g
1000 mL or 1L 10cm x 10cm x 10cm = 1000 cm3
Metric to Metric Conversions
K h D Base Unit d c m
Prefix | Symbol | Sci. Notation | Meaning |
Giga | G | 109 | 1,000,000,000 |
Mega | M | 106 | 1,000,000 |
Kilo | K | 103 | 1,000 |
Hecto | h | 102 | 100 |
Deka | D | 101 | 10 |
Deci | d | 10-1 | 0.1 |
Centi | c | 10-2 | 0.01 |
Milli | m | 10-3 | 0.001 |
Micro | ” | 10-6 | 0.000001 |
Nano | n | 10-9 | 0.000000001 |
Pico | p | 10-12 | 0.000000000001 |