1 / 17

Mastering the Metric System for Science

Learn about the Metric System with equivalencies in English units, benefits, common units, prefixes, examples, and conversion techniques. Discover mnemonic devices and the Metric Line for easy measurement conversion in scientific applications.

arianam
Download Presentation

Mastering the Metric System for Science

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Metric System AKA – How to measure stuff in Science class!

  2. Equivalencies (English System) • 12 inches = 1 foot • 3 feet = 1 yard • 5,280 feet = 1 mile • 2 pints = 1 quarts • 4 quarts = 1 gallon • 16 ounces = 1 pound • 24 hours = 1 day

  3. Why Do We Use the Metric System? • Easy to Use – based on powers of 10 • Scientists from around the world needed a standardized method of measuring (to duplicate experiments) • Also known as the International System of Units (SI Units)

  4. What Do These Countries Have in Common? Burma United States Liberia

  5. How Do We Use the Metric System? • Two Parts: • Base Units – these are your starting points • Prefixes (pre- means “before”) – to express quantities that are larger and smaller than the base units, you add a prefix to the base unit • Prefixes represent multiples of 10 • Sometimes base units are written by themselves; other times, the base units have a prefix attached

  6. Common Metric Base Units

  7. Common Metric Prefixes

  8. Examples • Base units written alone: • m (meter) • L (Liter) • g (gram) • Base units with prefixes: • km (kilometer) • mL (milliliter) • dag (dekagram) If there is only a one letter abbreviation used, then you will have a baseunit If there is a two- or three-letter abbreviation used, then you will have a prefix listed before the base unit (last letter will ALWAYS be the base unit abbreviation)

  9. Examples • If you have one meter, you simply write 1m • If you have 10 meters, you can write 10m, or you can express this number as 1 dekameter (1 dam) • If you have 100 meters, you can write 100m, or you can express this number as 1 hectometer (1 hm) • If you have 1000 meters, you can write 1000m, or you can express this number as 1 kilometer (1 km)

  10. More Examples • If you have 1/10 of a meter, you can write 1/10m, or you can express this number as 1 decimeter (1 dm) • If you have 1/100 of a meter, you can write 1/100m, or you can express this number as 1 centimeter (1 cm) • If you have 1/1000 of a meter, you can write 1/1000m, or you can express this number as 1 millimeter (1 mm)

  11. How to Remember Metric Prefixes • Mnemonic Device – a saying that is used to help a person remember something • King Henry Died by Drinking Chocolate Milk • Kilo, Hecto, Deka, (Base), Deci, Centi, Milli

  12. Metric Line • Used to help convert metric measurements kilo- hecto- deka- base deci- centi- milli-

  13. Using the Metric Line • Convert 160.3 centimeters to decimeters • 1. Find the decimal point 160.3 cm • 2. Find your starting prefix (centi-) • 3. Move from your starting prefix to your ending prefix (centi- to deci-) • 4. Move the decimal point accordingly 16.03 dm kilo- hecto- deka- base deci- centi- milli-

  14. Try Some! • Convert 25.9 cm to m (meters) • Centimeters to meters (base) on the metric line is 2 spaces to the left • Move your decimal point two spaces to the left • Don’t forget to change your units! • 25.9 cm = .259 m

  15. Try Some! • Sometimes, zeroes must be used as placeholders • Convert 8.7 cm to hm (hectometers) • Centimeters to hectometers on the metric line is 4 spaces to the left • Move your decimal point 4 spaces to the left • Add zeroes as placeholders • 8.7 cm = .00087 hm

More Related