CHM131

CHAPTER 1:

UNITS OF
MEASUREMENT
Miss Asnida Yanti Ani
Faculty of Applied Sciences
Universiti Teknologi MARA (Perlis)
A 117-P (Al-Farabi 3)
Ext – 2812

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 At the end of this chapter,
students should be able to:

 identify the basic units of measurement in the

metric and SI systems of measurement.

 determine how many significant figures are in a

number, and use the concept of significant figures in
expressing the answer to a calculation.

 explain rules for rounding numbers.

 explain the concept of scientific notation

 calculate density of substance

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 SI Units
 1960 - international agreement specifying a particular
choice of seven metric units for scientific measurements
 Scientists worldwide use common measurement units
called the International System of Units (SI)

Physical Quantity Name of Unit Symbol

Length Meter m
Mass Kilogram Kg
Time Second S
Temperature Kelvin K
Amount of substance Mole mol
Electric current Ampere A
Luminous intensity Candela cd

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 SI derived units expressed in terms of SI
base units
Measure of Unit Symbol
Area square meter m2
Volume cubic meter m3
Velocity meter per second m/s

Acceleration meter per second squared m/s2

Density kilogram per cubic meter kg/m3

Current density ampere per square meter A/m2

Magnetic field strength ampere per meter A/m

Specific volume cubic meter per kilogram m3/kg

Luminance candela per square meter cd/m2

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 SI Prefixes
Selected Prefixes Used in the Metric
System Exponential  A prefix used in the
Prefix Symbol Numerical International System
Tera T
1,000,000,000,00
1012
to indicate a power of
0 10
Giga G 1,000,000,000 109
Mega M 1,000,000 106
Kilo k 1,000 103  eg:
Hecto h 100 102  Gigahertz (GHz)
Deca da 10 101
 Megabytes (MB)
No prefix means: 1 100
Deci d 0.1 10¯1
Centi c 0.01 10¯2
Milli m 0.001 10¯3
Micro μ 0.000001 10¯6
Nano n 0.000000001 10¯9
Pico p 0.000000000001 10¯12

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  A prefix name attaches directly to the name of a unit, and a prefix symbol

attaches directly to the symbol for a unit.

 For example, one kilometer, 1 km, is equal to one thousand meters, 1000 m

or 103m.

103m = 1000 m = 1 kilometer = 1 km Unit

SI prefix Name of a Prefix

unit symbol

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 COMMON UNITS
IN LAB.
MEASUREMENTS

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 Length

 The SI unit for length, the meter (m), is too

large for most laboratory purposes.

 More convenient units are the centimeter

(cm) and the millimeter (mm).

1 m = 100 cm = 1000 mm

1 cm = 10 mm

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 1pm = 1 x 10-12 m

Example 1
Convert 100 m to pm

100 m ? Pm New unit

= 100 m X p m
(10-12) m
= 1 x 1014 pm
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Example 2 1nm = 1 x 10-9 m
1mm = 1 X 10-3 m

• Convert 210 nm to mm
• 210 nm ? mm

= 210 nm X 1 x 10-9 m X m m

n m 1 x 10-3 m

= 210 nm X (1 x 10-9) m X m m
n m (1 x 10-3) m

= 2.1 x 10-4 mm
 Area (m2)
Convert 212 dm2 to km2

= 212 dm2 X (10-1)2 m2 X k m2

d m2 (103)2 m2

= 2.12 x 10-6 k m2

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 Volume
 Volume is a derived unit
with dimensions of
(length)3.
 SI unit for volume is the
cubic meter, m3.
 Volume units typically use
the Liters base
 Very convenient for
measuring the volume of
irregularly shaped
containers
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 Some volume equivalents:

 1 m3 = 1000 dm3
 I dm3 = 1000 cm3
= 1 L = 1000 mL
 1 cm3 = 1000 mm3
= 1 mL = 1000 µL
 1 mm3 = 1 µL

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 Volume (m3)
 Convert 121 mm3 to nm3

= 121 mm3 X (1 x 10-3)3 m3 X n m3

m m3 (1 x 10-9 )3m3
= 1.21 x 1020 nm3

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 Mass
 In the SI, the base unit for mass is the
kilogram (kg).

 However, gram (g) is a more convenient unit

for laboratory measurements

1 kg = 1000 g

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Exercise
 Convert 414 pg to cg

 414 pg ? cg

 Answer:

= 414 pg X 1 x 10-12 g X c g
p g 1 x 10-2 g
= 4.14 x 10-8 cg
 Density
The density of an object is its mass per unit
volume,
m
d
V
where d is the density, m is the mass, and V
is the volume.
 The SI unit of density is kilogram per cubic
meter (kg/m3).
 Typically, density is in units of g/L (g/dm3) or
g/mL (g/cm3).

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 Problem 1
 A sample of the mineral galena (lead sulfide)
weighs 12.4g and has a volume of 1.64 cm3.
What is the density of galena?

Density = mass
volume
12.4 g
=
1.64 cm3

= 7.5609 = 7.56 g/cm3

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Density

 Density = mass = g
volume cm3

 Convert 6.6 g/cm3 to pg/Mm3

= 6.6 g x p g x 1 cm3 x (1 x 106)3 m3

cm3 1 x 10-12 g (1 x 10-2)3 m3 1 Mm3

= 6.6 x 1036 pg/Mm3

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 EXERCISE 1
Seawater has a density of about 1.03 g/mL.

a)What mass of seawater would fill a

sampling vessel to a volume of 225 mL.

b)What is the volume, in mL, of 45.0 g of

seawater?

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 Temperature
 Temperature is a measure of the
intensity of heat.
 The Celsius scale is the
temperature scale in general
scientific use.
 The SI base unit of temperature
is the kelvin (K).

K = °C + 273.15

°F = (1.8 x °C) + 32
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Temperature
 Units of temperature: °C, °F, K

 Example 1:

Convert 100 °C to °F

°F = (1.8 x °C) + 32
= (1.8 x 100) + 32

= 212 °F

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Temperature
 Example 2:

Convert 38 °F to °C

°F = (1.8 x °C) + 32
38 = (1.8 x °C ) + 32

°C = 3.3 °C

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Temperature
Exercise:

 200 °F to K…………..?????

Answer: 366.45 K

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 SIGNIFICANT
FIGURES

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 Significant Figures (s.f)

 All digits in a number that are known with

certainty plus the first uncertain digit

 The more significant digits obtained, the

better the precision of a measurement

 The concept of s.f. applies only to

measurements

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  An exact number is a number that arises
when you count items or when you define a
unit.

 Example:
 You have nine coins in a bottle, you
mean exactly nine.
 There are 12 inches in a foot, you mean
exactly 12.

Exact numbers have no effect on

significant figures in calculation.
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 Rules for Counting s.f.
1. Any digit that is not zero is significant
 845 – 3 s.f.
 1.234 – 4 s.f.

2. Zeroes between non-zero digits are significant

 606 – 3 s.f.
 40,005 – 5 s.f.

3. Zeroes to the left of the first non-zero digits

are not significant
 0.08 L – 1 s.f.
 0.00039 – 2 s.f.
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 4. If a number is greater than 1, then all
zeroes written to the right of the decimal
point is count as significant figures
 2.0 mg – 2 s.f.
 3.040 dm3 – 4 s.f.

5. If a number is less than 1, then only the

zeroes that are at the end of the number
and zeroes that are between non-zero digits
are significant
 0.090 kg – 2 s.f.
 0.3005 L – 4 s.f.
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 6. For numbers that do not contain decimal
points, zeroes after the last non-zero digits
may not be significant
 400 cm may have 1 s.f. (the digit 4)
 2 s.f. (40)
 3 s.f. (400)

By using scientific notation, we can express

the number 400 as
 4 x 102 – 1 s.f.
 4.0 x 102 – 2 s.f.
 4.00 x 102 – 3 s.f

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 s.f. in Calculations

Multiplication and
Division: the number of s.f.
in the answer should not be
greater than the factor with
the fewest s.f.

1.827 m × 0.762 m = ?

0.762 has 3 s.f. so the

reported answer is 1.39 m2

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 Addition and Subtraction: the reported results
should have the same number of decimal places as
the number with the fewest decimal places

NOTE -
 Be cautious of
round-off errors in
multi-step problems.
 Wait until calculating
the final answer
before rounding.

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 EXERCISE 2

For each of the following quantities, determine the

number of significant figures in each quantity.
(a) 0.0030 L 2sf
(b) 0.1044 g 4sf
(c) 53,069 mL 5sf
(d) 57,600 s 5sf
(e) 0.0000007160 cm3 4sf

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 SCIENTIFIC
NOTATION

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 Purpose of Scientific Notation

Solve the
problem of
writing very
large and
small numbers

Maintain
correct
number of
significant
figures

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 Converting Numbers to
Scientific Notation

Numbers written in scientific notation have two

parts: a stem and a power of 10.

0.0 0 0 0 2 2 0 5 2.205 x 10-5

Stem Power
of 10
Between 1 to 10
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  The power of ten has two parts. There is a base
and there is an exponent.

2.205 x 10-5 Exponent = -5

Base
always be 10

 If decimal point had to be moved to the left:

exponent is positive.
 If decimal point had to be moved to the right:
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exponent is negative.
 ADDITION & SUBTRACTION:

 Must be converted to a form in which all the

exponents have the same values.

 Example:

a) 1.36 x 102 + 4.73 x 103

b) 6.923 x 10-3 – 8.756 x 10-4

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 MULTIPLICATION & DIVISION:

 When multiplying, multiplying the values of N and

sum the values of n.
 When dividing, dividing the values of N and
subtract the values of n.

 Example:

a) (6.022 x 10-3)(6.42 x 10-2)

b) (1.67 x 10-24)/(9.12 x 10-28)

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 RULES FOR ROUNDING OFF NUMBERS

When the answer to a calculation contains too many significant figures, it must be
rounded off.

i. If the digit to be dropped is greater than 5, drop the digit and add 1 to the
preceding digit. For example,
12.6 is rounded to 13.

ii. If the digit to be dropped is less than 5, drop the digit and leave the remaining
number unchanged. For example,
12.4 is rounded to 12.

iii. If the digit to be dropped is 5, and if any digit following it is not zero, drop
the digit and add 1 to the preceding digit. For example,
12.51 is rounded to 13.

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 RULES FOR ROUNDING OFF NUMBERS

4) If the digit to be dropped is 5 and is followed only

by zeroes, drop the digit and add 1 to the preceding
digit if it is odd, but leave the remaining unchanged
if it is even.
For example,
11.5 is rounded to 12,
12.5 is rounded to 12.

This rule means that if the digit to be dropped is 5 followed

only by zeroes, the result is always rounded to the even digit.
The rationale is to avoid bias in rounding: half of the time we
round up, half the time we round down.
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 GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR USING
CALCULATORS
 In a long calculation involving mixed operations, carry as many digits as possible
through the entire set of calculations and then round the final result
appropriately.
For example,
(5.00 / 1.235) + 3.000 + (6.35 / 4.0) = 4.04858... + 3.000 + 1.5875 = 8.630829...

 The first division should result in 3 significant figures. The last division should result in
2 significant figures. The three numbers added together should result in a number that is
rounded off to the last common significant digit occurring furthest to the right; in this
case, the final result should be rounded with 1 digit after the decimal. Thus, the correct
rounded final result should be 8.6. This final result has been limited by the accuracy in
the last division.

 Warning: carrying all digits through to the final result before rounding is critical for
many mathematical operations in statistics. Rounding intermediate results when
calculating sums of squares can seriously compromise the accuracy of the result.

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 EXERCISE 3
 Report the results of the following calculations
to the correct number of significant figure
 100.0 – 0.19 = ____
 135.08 + 109.2 + 50.296 = ____
 8.91 – 6.435 = ____
 100.0 x 0.125 = ____
 125/5.0 = ____
 14 cm x 25.60 cm = ____ cm2
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