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 d’Unites) 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