Metric System Basics

1. Metric System Basics

2. Measurement • A measurement is a repeatable observation of a quantity that includes a number and a unit. • Examples: • 43 meters • 16 seconds • 5 liters • 20 minutes • 20.5 centimeters

3. SI SYSTEM OF MEASUREMENT • Scientists worldwide have agreed to use the SI system of measurement in their work. • SI stands for “Systeme’ International” • Each type of measurement in SI has a base unit, such as the meter for distance or the second for time. • A common name for this system is the metric system.

4. Steps of the metric system • Divide your top two planner page boxes into 24 sections by dividing it in half vertically, then each of those sections in half and then in half again. • Divide it horizontally in thirds like the following:

5. Fill out your table with information • List the saying that is going to help us remember the prefixes used in the metric system. • Then fill in the name of the prefixes along with their abbreviations. • This is what the skinnier box should look like.

6. SI BASE UNITS • The base units we are going to work with this year are: • Meter – that is used for measuring distance • Gram – that is used for measuring mass • Liter – that is used for measuring liquid volume.

7. Fill out your table with base unit information and sayings • Change the saying for each of the saying for the other two base units. • List the base units that are used for each of the measurements.

8. Prefix names + base words • Fill in the names of each unit by adding the prefixes to the base words. • List the abbreviations for each • This is what the larger box should look like.

9. Before we began, lets do some mental math. YAY!

10. Don’t reach for that calculator!!!

11. Let’s begin!

12. Multiply each of the following numbers by 10 27 x 10 = 157 x 10 = 56.4 x 10 = 458.87 x 10 = 23.516 x 10 = 270 1570 564 4588.7 235.16

13. Multiply each of the following numbers by 100 22 x 100 = 156 x 100 = 45.1 x 100 = 74.32 x 100 = 3.567 x 100 = 2200 15600 4510 7432 356.7

14. Divide each of the following numbers by 10 330  10 = 7600  10 = 268.1  10 = 1.78  10 = 18.395  10 = 33.0 or 33 760.0 or 760 26.81 0.178 1.8395

15. Divide each of the following numbers by 100 210  100 = 7800  100 = 521.6  100 = 82.1  100 = 7.666  100 = 2.10 or 2.1 78.00 or 78 4.216 0.821 0.07666

16. Guess What! If you were able to do all that without a calculator, you can do metrics.

17. Metric System • The metric system is based on a base unit that corresponds to a certain kind of measurement • Length = meter (m) • Volume = liter (L or l) • Weight (Mass) = gram (g) • Prefixes added to the base units make up the metric system • Example: • Centi + meter = Centimeter = cm • Kilo + liter = Kiloliter = kL or kl

18. Common Prefixes • The three prefixes that we will use the most in class are: • kilo • centi • milli

19. Example for Length • So if you needed to measure length you would choose meter as your base unit • Length of a tree branch • 1.5 meters • Length of a room • 5 meters • Length of a ball of twine stretched out • 25 meters

20. Powers of 10 • These prefixes are based on powers of 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

21. 40 41 1 mm 1 mm 1 mm 1 mm 1 mm 1 mm 1 mm 1 mm 1 mm 1 mm 40 41 1 cm For Example • A centimeters is 10 times longer than a millimeter so it takes more millimeters for the same length 1 centimeter = 10 millimeters Example not to scale

22. The “Steps” • For each “step” to right, you are multiplying by 10 • For example, let’s go from a base unit to centi- 1 liter = 10 deciliters = 100 centiliters 2 grams = 20 decigrams = 200 centigrams ( 1 x 10 = 10) = (10 x 10 = 100) (2 x 10 = 20) = (20 x 10 = 200)

23. More “Steps” • An easy way to move within the metric system is by moving the decimal point one place for each “step” desired Example: change meters to centimeters 1 meter = 10 decimeters = 100 centimeters or 1.00 meter = 10.0 decimeters = 100. centimeters

24. Applying “Steps” • Now let’s try our previous example from meters to kilometers: 16093 meters = 1609.3 decameters = 160.93 hectometers = 16.093 kilometers • So for every “step” from the base unit to kilo, we moved the decimal 1 place to the left (the same direction as in the diagram below)

25. Moving to the “Steps” • If you move to the left in the diagram, move the decimal to the left • If you move to the right in the diagram, move the decimal to the right

26. Moving the “Steps” • Now let’s start from centiliters and convert to kiloliters 400000 centiliters = 4.00000 kiloliters 400000 centiliters = 4 kiloliters

27. Moving the “Steps” • Now let’s start from meters and convert to kilometers 4000 meters = 4 kilometers • Now let’s start from centigrams and convert to grams 4000 centigrams = 40 grams

28. Keep on Moving the “Steps” • Now let’s start from liters and convert to centiliters 5 liters = 500 centiliters • Now let’s start from kilograms and convert to grams .3 kilograms = 300 grams

29. Keep on Moving • Now let’s start from kilometers and convert to millimeters 4 kilometers = 4000000 millimeters or 4 kilometers = 40 hectometers = 400 decameters = 4000 meters = 40000 decimeters = 400000 centimeters = 4000000 millimeters

30. Finally • Summary • Base units in the metric system are meter, liter, gram • Metric system is based on powers of 10 • For conversions within the metric system, each “step” is 1 decimal place to the right or left • Using the diagram below, converting to the right, moves the decimal to the right and vice versa