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Metric System. Thinking about measurement…. Why is it important to have a constant system? Base units: Meter Gram Second Liter. Pico (p). Examples: 1pg = mass of DNA in a cell 1pm = length of a hydrogen atom. Nano (n). Examples: 1ng= mass of one cell 1nm= width of DNA. Micro ( μ ).
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Thinking about measurement… • Why is it important to have a constant system? • Base units: • Meter • Gram • Second • Liter
Pico (p) • Examples: • 1pg = mass of DNA in a cell • 1pm = length of a hydrogen atom
Nano (n) • Examples: • 1ng= mass of one cell • 1nm= width of DNA
Micro (μ) • Examples: • 1µg = mass of one human egg • 1µ = width of human hair
Milli (m) • Examples: • 1mg = mass of a mosquito • 1mm = width of pen point
Centi (c) • Examples: • 1cg = mass of half of a fly • 1cm = width of a Cheerio
Deci (d) • Examples: • 1dg = mass of a cottonball • 1dm= width of a softball
Base (No Prefix) • Examples: • 1 g = mass of a paperclip • 1 m = width of a door
Kilo (K) • Examples: • 1kg = mass of a sneaker • 1km = distance from NSA to Penn Station NJ
Mega (M) • Examples: • 4Mg = mass of an elephant
Giga (G) • Examples: • 1/2Gg= mass of a space shuttle • 1Gm= traveling from NY to CA and back 125,000,000 times
Always ask yourself: Which is bigger? • We start with the base unit and either divide it into smaller pieces OR multiply it into bigger pieces. • Example: • 1 meter is about the width of a door • Helpful to have units of other sizes! • To measure large objects, we want a large unit! • To measure small objects, we want a small unit!
Pneumonic Devices • One way to memorize an ordered list of something, like the list of prefixes, is to create a pneumonic device • Example: PEMDAS (Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally) • Try to make one for pico-giga! (I’ll reveal mine in 7 minutes)