1. International System of Measurement [SI/Metric]
Unit 1 – Lecture 3

2. The Metric System aka: the SI, or International System of Units
from the French, “Système international d'unités”
a “base 10” [increments of 10] system
one decimal place or zero
Used everywhere around the world EXCEPT
the USA
Báhrain [small island off of Saudi Arabia]
The official measurement system of the USA since the late 1800s

3. Why You Don’t Use It Yet Your parents didn’t know it
No incentive for companies to switch
You are still being taught the Imperial System through everyday experiences
imperial system = foot, yard, gallon, etc.
recipes
consumer goods
There is a slow, steady inclusion process
2 liters of soda

4. SI Prefixes Used to show a number of base units
Think of them as coefficients (multipliers)
Easy to convert by sliding the decimal

5. The Metric System – cont’d
How many zeros?
check the prefix
K – kilo?
H – hecto?
Da – deca?
b – [basic]?
d – deci?
c – centi?
m – milli?
good measure- ments have a number and a unit

7. SI Prefixes From the largest to the smallest
kilo- hecto- deka- BASE deci- centi- milli-
/10 1/ /1000
“King Henry died by drinking chocolate milk.”
Put your finger on the unit you have, move it to the unit you want
Move your decimal the same number of places in the same direction that your finger moved

8. Practice Problems
What is 25mm in m?
2.5m
0.25m
0.025m
0.0025m

9. Practice Problems – cont’d
How many grams are 1.12kg?
112g g
0.112g
1120g

10. Practice Problems – cont’d
How many Liters are 591 mL?
0.591L
59.1L
0.059L
5.91L

11. Practice Problems – cont’d
What is 2.5cm in mm?
250mm
.25mm
25mm
0.025mm

12. Practice Problems – cont’d
0.355L is how many mL?
3.55mL
35.5mL
355mL
3550mL

13. Base Units
Base units use only one measurement type.
KHDbdcm

14. Base Units – Length Length – the distance from one point to another
base unit = meter [m]
meter = a little longer than a yard [which is 3ft]
For smaller items, centimeters [about one knuckle], and millimeters [the thickness of a dime] are used

15. Base Units – Mass Mass – the amount of matter in an object
base unit = gram [g]
about the mass of one paperclip…much too small for many measurements
typically use kilogram [kg] for comparisons
1kg = ~2.2 lbs

16. Base Unit – Time Time = how long it takes for something to happen
aka “Time Elapsed” or “Elapsed Time”
base unit = seconds [s]
can lead to large numbers (1hr = 3600s)
often will convert seconds to a larger unit of hours

17. What would you use to measure…
liters, meters, grams, grams/milliliter, kilograms
…the length of your arm?
…the width of the room?
…how much sugar is in one teaspoon?
…how much you weigh?
…how much water is in a pool?

18. These are all derived units. What do you notice about them?

19. Derived Units in the SI System
Derived Units = units that involve two or more measurements

20. Derived Units – Volume
Volume - the amount of space taken up by a substance
base unit for…
liquids = liter [L] (a little more than a quart)
solids = meter cubed [m3]
liters can be too large for some measurements, so we often use milliliters (mL)
one mL = one cc [cubic cm; cm3]

21. Derived Units – Density
Density = the amount of matter in an object divided by the space taken up by the object
“How much stuff is in how much space.”
grams per milliliter [g/mL] used for smaller amounts
kilograms per liter [kg/L] for larger amounts

22. Derived Units – Density cont’d
mass / volume
Mass =
density x volume
Volume =
mass / density M D V

23. Homework Complete pages 8-9 Metric Conversions Word Puzzles
Honors metric conversions
OnLevel = complete 1-20, then 31-38
Honors = complete all