Alloy Nodica

CICT-125
1.4 Measurements
Most of the hypotheses, theories, and laws that describe the behavior of matter and energy in
both the macroscopic and microscopic domains of chemistry rely on measurements and are thus
dependent on measurement data. In every measurement, there are three pieces of information: a
number, a standard, and an indication of uncertainty. When you write out a quantity, both the number
and the unit are spelled out. But there is another aspect of measurement results that is more implicit,
and it will be addressed later.

It's also possible to show the number in decimal form and scientific notation. The notation used
in scientific and engineering notation, also known as exponential notation, is known as scientific
notation. Appendix B reviews this topic in more detail. An example of a common misnotation is the
maximum takeoff weight of a Boeing 777-200ER, which is 2.98 × 105 kg. For an average mosquito, the
mass is about 2.5 × 10−6 kg, which is equal to 0.0000025 kg.

Measurements have their standards of comparison in the form of units, such as liters, pounds,
and centimeters. Everyone believes that when they buy a 2-liter bottle of a soft drink, the drink volume
is always measured. One-fourth of a pound of ground beef is used to prepare a 0.25-pound hamburger.
A number that is not represented by units is meaningless, confusing, or dangerous. Consider the case of
a doctor who prescribes phenobarbital to control seizures and, without giving a dosage in units, tells the
patient to take “100” of the medication. 100 mg given three times a day can be an anticonvulsant, but a
single dose of 100 g is almost 10 times the lethal dose.

Measurements in the metric system and listed in Table 1.2 are typically reported in SI units, a
modern revision of the metric system, using the units shown in Table 1.2. There are numerous other
units that can be created from these basic units. International standards for these units are defined and
called the International System of Units (SI) or the SI (as in the French phrase, Le the). US National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been using SI units since 1964.
 Fractions or multiples of a base unit can be used as units. Quarts (a familiar, non-SI base unit),
pints (0.5 quart), or gallons (a popular, non-SI unit) are offered for sale (4 quarts). However, in the SI
system, we use numbers of fractional or multiple units that have a power of 10. Prefixes and base unit
names are used for multiple or fractional SI units. Kilo means "one thousand" in scientific notation,
which translates to 103 (1 kilometer = 1000 m = 10 3). Table 1.3 lists the prefixes used and the powers to
which 10 is raised.