Measurements

Systems of Measurement
• Widely used systems of measurement
• English system – based on early civilization, uses body
parts
• Metric System – adopts decimal system, use Greek
Prefixes
• SI System – Internationally adopted system of
measurement based on the metric system through a
convention held in Paris
• Base(Fundamental) units
• Derived units
Fill in the Table: SI base units
Physical Quantity SI Unit
Length meter
Mass kilogram
Time second
Temperature Kelvin
Amount of substance mole
Electric current ampere
Luminous intensity candela
Prefixes used in metric system

Greater than factor Less than the factor

the base base
Deka- (da) x101 Deci- (d) X10-1
Kilo- (K) x103 Centi- (c) X10-2
Mega- (M) x106 Milli- (m) X10-3
Giga- (G) x109 Micro- (μ) X10-6
Tera- (T) x1012 Nano (n) X10-9
Pico- (p) X10-12
Uncertainty in measurements
Uncertainty in measurements
Uncertainty in measurements
Uncertainty in measurements
• Measured quantities are generally
reported in such a way that only the
last digit is uncertain.
Precision vs Accuracy
Precision vs Accuracy
SIGNIFICANT FIGURES and
SCIENTIFIC NOTATION
Significant figures

• All digits of a measured quantity,

including uncertain one
Rules in Significant
Figures
 All nonzero digits are significant

• Example:
• 69 grams
• 345 km
CAPTIVE ZEROS

• Zeros between non-zero digits are

ALWAYS SIGNIFICANT.
Example

• 1005 kg (4 Significant Figures)

• 1.03 cm (___Significant Figures)
TRAILING ZEROS
• Final zeros after the decimal point and a
nonzero number ARE ALWAYS SIGNIFICANT.

• 0.200g (3 Significant Figures)

• 3.0cm (___Significant Figures)
LEADING ZEROS
• Zeros that precede all the non-zero digit.
They are used to indicate the placement of
the decimal point.

a. Zeros before the decimal point are NOT

SIGNIFICANT.

• 0.89 (2 Significant Figures)

• 0.12345 (___Significant Figures)
b. Zeros at the beginning of a number are
NOT SIGNIFICANT

• Example: 0.02 g (1 Significant Figure)

0.0026 cm (___Significant Figures)
5. FINAL ZERO in a whole
number may or may not be
significant
IF a number is greater than 1, then all zeros
written to the right of the decimal point are
SIGNIFICANT
• 13.0 (3 SF)
• 3.0400 (___SF)
• 20.00 (___SF)
For numbers that do not contain
decimal point, the trailing zero may or
may not be significant
• 4000 (1 SF)
• 4.0 X 103 (2 SF)
Determine the number of sf in the
following measurements:
• 478 cm
• 6.01 g
• 0.825 m
• 0.043 kg
• 1.310 X 1022 atoms
• 7000 mL
Significant Figures
in Calculation
In addition and subtraction

• result can have no more decimal

places than the measurements with
the fewest number of decimal places.
In multiplication and
division
• result must be reported with the
same number of significant figures as
the measurement with the fewest
significant figure.
Perform the following operations
• 11, 254.1 g + 0.1983 g
• 2.097 L – 0.12 L
• 7.310 km / 5.70 km
• 8.05 g X 3.00 g
• Compute for the area of the rectangle:
• length=6.221 cm and width=5.2cm
 SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

• Way of expressing very big or very small

number using the power-of-10 notation

• N X 10n

• N= number between 1 to 9
• n= positive or negative whole number
exponent
IF the decimal moves to the
• LEFT:POSITIVE
• 293000
• RIGHT: NEGATIVE
• 0.0023
Express in scientific notation

1. 568.762
2. 0.000000072
3. 625000
4. 0.00293
 OPERATIONS
IN
SCIENTIFIC NOTATION
In addition and subtraction
• Make sure that the exponent of
each quantity is the same then
perform the operation
• (7.4 X 103) + (2.1 X 103) = 9.5 X 103
• (4.31 X 104) + (3.9 X 103) =
(4.31 X 104) + (0.39 X 104)= 4.7 X 104
• (2.22 X 10-2) - (4.10 X 10-3) =
(2.22 X 10-2) - (0.41 X 10-2) = 1.81 X 10-2
Try this!
• (5 X 105) + (3 X 105)
• (52 X 103) + (4 X 105)
• (6.5 X 103) - (3.4 X 103)
• (5.11 X 10-4) + (8.9 X 10-4)
In multiplication
• Multiply the base and add the
exponents
• (2 X 104) (4 X 106)
• (2 X 10-3) (6 X 10-5)
In division
• Divide the base and subtract the
exponents
• 4X 106 /(2 X 104)
• 12X 10-5 /(3 X 10-2)
Try this!
○ (8.0X 104) (5.0X 102)
○ (4.0X 10-5) (7.0X 103)
○ (6.9X 107) / (3.0X 10-5)
End of Presentation