The Metric System

Way Back When . . . When people first started to measure things, the systems were different in different parts of the world. Many systems were based on parts of the body. Foot Inch

History of Metric System Developed by the French in the late 1700’s. Based on powers of ten. Used by almost every country in the world, with the notable exception of the USA. Especially used by scientists. Abbreviated SI, which is French for Systeme International.

Why the Metric System? NASA still works in imperial units and has had difficulty when needing to work with other groups that use metric In 1999 the Mars Climate Orbiter was lost because the altitude control system used imperial units (English Standard) and the navigation software used metric.

Metric System Units can be scaled by factors of 10 depending on what you are measuring So it can be used for small measurements as well as large Kilo- Hecto- Deca- Base- Deci- Centi- Milli- 1000 100 10 1 0.1 0.01 0.001

Mass Mass is the amount of matter that makes up an object. Unit used: Gram (g) Tool Used: Balance A paper clip has the mass of about 1 gram.

Length Length is the distance between two points. Unit used: Meter (m) Tool Used: Ruler or meter stick

Volume Volume is the amount of space an object takes up. Unit used: Liter (l) Tool Used: graduated cylinder

Volume Volume is the amount of space an object takes up. Unit used: Liter (l) Tool Used: graduated cylinder Liquids form a meniscus (curved, upper surface) To correctly read the volume, read the bottom of the curve.

Volume V = Length x Width x Height We can find the volume of box shapes by the formula: V = Length x Width x Height We can use water displacement to find the volume of irregular shaped objects

Volume Ex: We can put water in a graduated cylinder. If a rock causes the level to rise from 7 to 9 ml, the rock has a volume of 2 ml. 1cm3 water =1 ml of water = 1 gram

Temperature Unit used: Celsius (C) Tool Used: Thermometer 0o Celsius= freezing 100o Celsius= boiling 32o F= freezing point 212o F= boiling point

Metric System Base unit Meter (m) Liter (L) Gram (g) 1 Prefix Abbreviation Power of 10 Kilo k 1000 Hecto h 100 Deka da 10 Base unit Meter (m) Liter (L) Gram (g) 1 Deci d 0.1 Centi c 0.01 Milli m 0.001