1. Metric System or Système International d’ Unitès (SI Units)
Objective 1.1

2. Why are System International Units important to me?
They are used by other countries.
By 2009 all products in Europe will be required to have only SI units.
Currently the US has dual labeling but with a global market that may change.
All scientists use SI units.
All of our work will measured in SI units.

3. Introduction to the Metric System:
A. There are four standard units of metric measurement that we will be working with in class.
1. These units will be used to measure length, volume, mass and temperature.
a. The unit for length is the ...
meter
b. The unit for volume is the ...
liter.
c. The unit for mass is the …
gram.
d The unit for temperature is …
Celsius 0° C water freezes
100° C water boils

4. Introduction to the Metric System (cont.):
B. There are prefixes that can be attached to meter, liter, and gram that will change the value of the unit making it either larger or smaller.
1. The prefix kilo- increases the standard unit by 1,000 times.
1000 meters = 1 kilometer
2. The prefix deci- decreases the standard unit by 10 times.
1 liter = 10 deciliters
3. The prefix centi- decreases the standard unit by 100 times.
1 gram = 100 centigrams

5. Introduction to the Metric System (cont.):
4. The prefix milli- decreases the standard unit by 1,000 times.
1 meter = 1,000 millimeters
5. The prefix micro- decreases the standard unit by1,000,000 times.
1 liter = 1,000,000 microliters

6. Introduction to the Metric System (cont.):
King Henry Died Monday Drinking Chocolate Milk (k) (h) (da) (unit) (d) (c) (m)
Using the above acronym we can remember the order of the units starting with the largest King (kilometer) and going all the way down to the smallest Milk (millimeter).
Larger than base unit Smaller than base unit
kilo
1,000 x
base
unit
hecto
100 x
deca
10 x
Base Units
Meter
Liter
Gram
deci
.1 or
1/10th of
base unit
centi
.01 or
1/100th of base unit
milli
.001 or
1/1,000th of base

7. Introduction to the Metric System (cont.):
These prefixes are based on powers of 10 or base 10. What does this mean?
From each prefix every “step” is either:
10 times larger or
10 times smaller
For example
Centimeters are 10 times larger than millimeters
1 centimeter = 10 millimeters

8. Objective 1.1 Vocabulary Quiz
1. What does SI stand for?

9. Système International d’ Unitès.

10. 2. What does a meter measure?

11. A meter is the base unit of measure for length.

12. 3. What is a centimeter?

13. A centimeter is 1/100th of a meter, or in decimal form 0.01 or a meter.

14. 4. What is a unit?

15. A unit is a measurement.

16. 5. What is a millimeter?